New Ash Plume at the Summit - Kilauea Volcano going off!

Wow, Kilauea is turning a lot of heads these days. First, the new easily-viewable flows down by the ocean and now Halemaumau Crater at the summit is smoking! Amazing! For those of you who have been to the park before, this is the crater within a crater that is across from Kilauea Military Camp and seen best from Jaggar Museum. Halemaumau hasn't done this in almost 100 years! How fascinating (and a little scary) to think that this crater could start shooting lava miles into the air at any time! A few thousand people live within a few miles all around.

So, according to the local news, a few days ago the crater had a little "hiccup", shooting rocks in all directions. And since the day before yesterday, some lava is actually coming out, although it's not easily viewable.

My son and I went up yesterday afternoon and this is what we saw.

It was really cool. The road is closed after KMC because the fumes are deadly so getting to the Jaggar museum is impossible. We looked at it from the steam vents. As we drove into the parking area we could see the ash plume looming miles up in the sky. It was really neat to look at. We walked the short path to the viewing area and although you can't see lava from there, it was still very cool.

Next week is the Merrie Monarch festival, and it usually starts with a ceremony at the edge of that crater - about 50 feet from where that great ash plume starts. While we were there a group of hula dancers showed up where we were to apparently start the ceremony there instead. Double cool!

So, to recap, the lava is still flowing down at the Puna-side access road, and now, within the park is this great plume of ash and lava .. and who knows what will happen next!

New Lava Access Road - How to Get to the Lava

So, my son and I took a trip out to the lava flow yesterday. It is indeed located where the old barricades on Hwy 130 are. Just head into Puna on Highway 130, go past Pahoa, go past all the subdivisions, and DON'T turn left where it says Kalapana, instead continue straight to the "end of the road".

There were hundreds of cars and thousands of people. We gave four people a ride in and 2 people a ride out. Apparently the line was so bad at 2 p.m. when they opened that most people just parked on the side of the road and hiked in. I would NOT recommend this as it's 2.2 miles to get to the end of the road and another 2 miles in and out if the lava is doing it's thing far away.

The road is narrow, but smooth. There were 6 or 7 police, dozens of public works workers, and a few National Park Rangers. I have to hand it to the county - they did a really good job.

On the way, we passed two electronic road signs that both said "No active flows visible. Lava not entering the ocean". We went anyway, and luckily we saw both active flows and ocean entry! The lava can do anything at any time! :)

I took my almost-5-year-old out and he loved it. I saw babies and kids and quite old people. The walk out was challenging - there is no trail so it's on very bumpy, crumbly old lava. The nice thing about entering from the Puna side of the flow is there were no fumes - they were all blowing the other way with the trade winds.

Lava has Reached the Sea Again - Here's How to See It!

Lava covering the OLD access road on the Puna side of the flow.

Ok, lava has hit the sea again! Woohoo! All that worrying didn't even draw it across Hwy 130 and to Leilani. ;)

So, the county, just today, has re-opened the old access road because the lava is again on the Kalapana side of the old flows. That means driving up to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park will net you views of the old craters and the museum and visitors center, but NO LAVA. The way to see the lava currently is to take a helicopter or plane flyover or try to access it via the new access road the county is opening at 2:00 p.m. Today. I say try because the county is much more cautious about keeping access roads open than the National Park is. It's probably much easier to sue Hawaii County than it is the federal government ;) .

So far, I can't find anything online about the access road, but here's the county's lava site they started when it seemed the lava would head across 130.

So, directions to get to the lava access road, I am assuming are the same as they were years ago, the last time the lava headed over to this side: Follow Highway 130 in Puna to the very end - don't make the left to go to Kalapana, just follow it to the barricades and that is where the new road, which is just a gravel, bulldozed road, will start. It should be easy access for all vehicles. If I make a trip out there myself I'll get you personal confirmation of this.

The hours of the new access road appear to be 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. daily, but you don't have to be out till 10 p.m.

Lava Covering Puna Subdivision .. AGAIN

So this morning, I go get my newspaper, and across the top in huge letters I see Lava Invades Puna Subdivision and my heart starts racing because the last I heard, the lava was on a course straight for Ainaola area, and if it hit there, it could eventually cross the Highway, hit Leilani Estates, and cut off all of lower Puna - this would be a BIG DEAL if it happened - thousands of houses would be affected in some way. I lived for 10 years in a subdivision just a few miles from all these areas - this would have been HUGE if this is what had been going on.

But no, the subdivision that is getting lava creeping in is Royal Gardens, the same one that was partially covered years ago. Ok, relax everyone. What this probably means (in my mind - but I am NO volcanologist :) ) is that Ainaola and Leilani and Hawaiian Paradise Park and Highway 130 are all SAFE .... for now. The lava will do what the lava does and follow the path of least resistance to the ocean and we'll get great views again and the county may open the county side of the lava viewing area to the public and on and on and on. :) Don't you just love Kilauea Volcano?

So, what's cool about this is that people still live in Royal Gardens. My paper (article here, but you must register) shows this guy, Dean Schneider, standing in front of his ramshackle house (it may even be a 40 foot shipping container with a porch on it, I can't tell), next to his motorcyle, saluting the helicopter that just dropped in to tell him the lava is coming. He said 'thanks!' and "politely but firmly" declined an offer to haul him out of there. I can just imagine him hearing the approach of the lava in the crackling of the underbrush around his place, smelling the burning brush, looking out and seeing the red glow, maybe even feeling the heat - he could throw together a few of his most prized possesions in a sheet or backpack, strap them on his back, and haul a$$ out of there on his motorcyle, having the time of his life! What a great story! Or, maybe he's good friends with Pele, and the lava would magically part as it goes on either side of his land, leaving him with the exact same way of life and an even better story. :) Ahhh the possibilities when you live on the edge.

There is apparently an Inn in Royal Gardens too, called the Lava Side INN. I can't find much about it, apparently the way to get hooked up with it is through one of the helicopter companies. Here's too articles I did find about it: Pictures and acave.us and lava Dude.

The folks at Punaweb are talking about this a bit, on the same thread that started months ago. Here's some pictures at Wailuku Photo including the Dean Schneider one.

Photo courtesy of USGS Notice Pu'u 'O'o in the upper left, royal gardens down the right side, and some house in the middle of royal gardens.

Current Lava Flow Pictures - Kilauea Volcano

Well, Flossie was a dud - thank goodness. It was a little weird watching the CNN anchor guy go on and on about how 'the Big Island is being hammered by Hurricane Flossie' and then to look out the window and see no rain or wind at all. LOL. Those news guys just plain LIE to make things exciting.

The volcano is still quite exciting and a little scary though - a visitor did a helicopter flyover on August 24th and sent me these pictures. Thanks!

The thread "Volcano acting up" at Punaweb.org is a fascinating discussion between several people who all seem to have some degree of concern that the volcano *is* a threat to their homes and property in the near future. The concern is that if the lava continues on its current course it will hit Pahoa and cover highway 130, the only egress out of lower Puna. The current volcano expert being quoted in the paper says that the topography of the land makes it unlikely the lava will go that way, and that in the past it has taken lava years to travel that distance (4 to 6 miles to Pahoa I think) - both of which seem like pretty good arguments.

However, these are some pretty populated areas these days, and people are nervous .. especially people who are fresh off the boat :) who haven't been through this before.

The county has made a new website: http://www.lavainfo.us/ to keep us all informed on a minute to minute basis.

Poster glennoid at the forum I linked to above created this overlay of the current lava flow map on a Google earth map to give a fascinating idea of just where exactly this current flow is on the Big Island. The white square in the upper left is a map of the lava flow, and the red stuff is the most recent lava. All those green areas dotted with clouds are populated - houses and small towns and parks and thousands of families.

Big Island Excitement! Kalapana Earthquake and Flossie on the way!

Ok, folks, we on the Big Island feel like we are in for it. Hurricane Flossie was 'supposed to' weaken and pass by, but it hasn't weakened and we hope it's still passing by. We had high HIGH winds today on the Kohala Coast, school is cancelled for the next two days, the mayor has declared a state of emergency, people are freaking out - lining up at gas stations, fighting in KTA, and BAM a 5.3ish earthquake strikes at the volcano. Punatics are writing about it in droves. I was driving and felt nothing but my husband says it was a rock and roller. I know 'people' (you know - them) have been saying this latest lava flow is awfully close to the forest that lines several subdivisions in Puna - Orchidland and Fern Forest area. Now of course everyone is speculating about what this latest big earthquake, centered right on the active flow, means. I know civil defense was already fully staffed and I know Mayor Harry Kim (former civil defense chief) is there. I'm sure somebody has seen what is going on. We'll keep our ears open.

I'll keep you updated if I can - promise! I'm hoping we don't lose power. The hurricane is supposed to pass by tomorrow (tuesday) night.

Exciting New Eruptive Activity at Kilauea

While Hurricane Cosme (which turned out to be nothing) distracted us on the Big Island and obscured views of the crater, Pu'u 'O'o started doing something new and exciting! New flows erupted east of the crater in a new area. It's too early to tell how big they are or what they might do and you can't get to them by hiking, but a helicopter flyover (when the weather clears - it's rainy and foggy now) will probably be awesome in the days to come!

My local newspaper has a great picture on the front page today of scientists standing on or near a slow-moving surface flow with small projectiles of red-hot lava flying in the air behind them. Kilauea Volcano is fascinating!

Well, I just discovered this photo is courtesy of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory so I can post it too! Neat picture, yeah?