One of the most intriguing and dangerous aspects to living on the island of Hawaii is the active Volcano. The state park that has been established around the most active parts is less than twenty miles away from where we live and has days worth of once in a life time experiences. Maps can easily been accessed online showing the most recent lava flows and the years that they’ve started and stopped. The island is broken up into lava zones based on the probability of being affected, 1 is the most dangerous and 10 the safest. We live in zone 3 which is the lowest any insurance companies will go in terms of coverage. I know that sounds scary but it’s really not, the lava flow that our property is on was formed around 500 years ago, no need to worry. A short period in geological terms but the odds of it affecting us in our lifetime is similar to the odds of winning Power Ball, only the “jackpot” is much different. On May 9th new lava flows started coming from the Pu’u O’o vent which is technically above us in elevation but flows down hill to the ocean fairly far away from us, about 5 miles as the crow flies. Around two weeks ago it made it’s way to the ocean for the first time since 2013 and can be seen flowing off the cliffs and straight into the water where it forms new earth at a slow but steady pace. On Saturday July 30, I drove my truck down to the trail head which is about 4-1/2 miles from where the lava meets the ocean. That’s the closest your allowed to drive if your a law abiding citizen and it’s gated so anything larger then a 4 wheeler won’t get there. I brought my mountain bike and peddled in, it took less than 30 minutes. Much better than a very hot, 1-2 hour hike. Peddling out took a little longer with a strong head wind and more uphill battles.
For a Saturday it was not busy at all which was a nice surprise. When I reached the flow there was only about 5-10 other people there. As a made my way around the active flow, (yes you can walk right up to it, and even on top of it if you don’t mind warming up your shoes) I found several spots where you could see red glowing inside of the rocks. I continued down towards the water a short distance where you could see gases and fumes rising from the flow hitting the water. Unfortunately I couldn’t actually see the stream of lava flowing into the ocean, the only way to really do that is by boat, or helicopter. The heat from the lava was as intense as a white mans bonfire and I found several places where I recorded video of actual flowing lava. It’s almost hypnotic to watch. I couldn’t help but think of how it’s the earths blood flowing directly from the core of our planet creating new earth that will eventually form life long after my life has ended. Something most people will never get to experience and it’s happening right here, all day everyday.The lava is loosely policed by park officials from 3-9 pm. I was there around 9 am and saw a few locals riding their scooters all the way to the active flow, made me wish I had a dirt bike here for easy access. I can only imagine how much more spectacular it looks at dusk or dawn with the red glow coming from everywhere. A local guide was their at the same time as me and he would walk onto spots that were less than 30 minutes old, some I had just seen form. It’s incredibly solid with in minutes of oozing out but still hot enough to melt shoes or anything else it comes into contact with. Obviously being cautious is a must, spots closest to the ocean tend to brake off in large chunks and fall into the water. A few tourist were killed in that exact manner several years ago.
I’m including some pictures of homesteads I passed on the way to the flow. Property here goes for about $3K an acre and no one will insure you so you better have a little savings if you want to build anything. I was amazed at some of the shacks built out of pallets and tarps, people actually live in those. You can see some of the cabins are nice but others are literally pallets and tarps. I wonder what the guy who lives in that one does for a living?? I’ll try to get some videos posted but I think the images will be poor once the file sizes are reduced enough to upload. Best to come see it for yourself!
