The volcano was glowing bright red and orange in the distance. Its smoke drifted up to the cloudless sky. Celestial wonders - stars, planets, constellations, comets and galaxies far, far away littered the night sky. This was my first night on Kilauea Volcano.
We stayed at the Kilauea Military Camp ON the Kilauea Volcano. When we awoke the next day we had quite the adventure ahead of us. Today, I was going to walk in the crater that Kilauea, an active volcano made in 1959.
The night before, I met a Vietnamese girl who grew up on Hawaii. Like most residents and native Hawaiians, she was catholic. However, that didn't stop her from believing in the power of the Hawaiian gods. When I told her that we were visiting Volcanoes National Park, she warned us not to take any of Pele's children or we would face her wrath.
I am no kidnapper, so, I thought okay, easy enough, but who is Pele?
Pele is the goddess of fire, lightening, wind, volcanoes and is the creator of the Hawaiian islands. She is known for her power, passion, jealousy and capriciousness.
From science we know that the islands were formed from a hot spot on earth's outer crust that is made up of tectonic plates that move. When the plates come together sometimes volcanoes form.When volcanoes form in the middle of a plate, magma rises upward until it erupts on the sea floor, at what is called a “hot spot.” Thus, an island is born. According to Hawaiian mythology, that was Pele.
The Vietnamese girl told me that once, she took a few volcanic rocks home with her. She got so ill, she couldn't eat or sleep, and thought she wasn't going to make it. She traveled back to the volcano and returned the rocks. Like magic, she felt well again upon the return of Pele's children.
Another person commented that he had a similar experience. He didn't take any lava home with him, but when he reached down to take some, he felt something very wrong about doing so and left Pele's children alone.
I heeded her advice, in addition to knowing that it is illegal to take anything from a national park, and set out the next morning on the Kilauea Iki Trail. The thought that this volcano erupted during my parent's time in 1959, and not thousands of years ago was truly amazing to me.
The fact that volcanoes like Kilauea and Mauna Loa are still active and can create land that we humans have no control over is humbling. The whole trip down into the crater and back up takes about 4 miles. So, bring water and wear a hat and sunscreen, it is hot hot hot down there.
As you descend into the crater, you will walk through lush tropical rain forest. In places you will see the Kilauea caldera smoking.
It's a pretty easy trail down. It was created by Teddy Roosevelt's "army." The trail zigzags, and is mostly smooth, but has a few rocks here and there. The way back up out of the crater is a little difficult, and if you're not in good shape, you'll need to take your time and take some breaks.
You'll see signs labeling Hawaii's native plants all over. And you may even see odd wonders like this tree to the right.
While in the crater, it may be tempting to go where ever you please, but there is a sign that says to stay on it. Now, I'm no volcano expert, but you may want to do just that. The trail is simple, and is easy to walk on. If you go off of the trail, a lot of the volcanic rock has crashed into one another creating fissures and some difficult to walk on surfaces.
In the crater you will see two different kinds of lava - A'a and Pahoehoe.
A'a lava flows have extremely rough and jagged features. It can be easy to cut yourself on this so be careful around it.
Pahoehoe is smooth and has a ropy surface. When you feel this type of lava, it may feel like you can mold it, and may be able to rip a piece off if it is still hot enough.
One truly amazing thing to me was that amount of life growing in the lava. There are trees, flowers, berries. How on earth is this possible? It turns out that lava contains many of the nutrients that life needs. When it rains, pockets of water form in the lava allowing any seeds that blow down into the lava to grow and flourish.
The small green plants you see in this photo are called 'Ae. 'Ae is a small lava fern that is on the first vascular plants to settle into the moist cracks of new lava. The leaf blades twist upwards like venetian blinds.
Walking on the lava and checking out the plants is so much fun. Aside from the plants, there are also steam vents. You probably don't want to get too close to these.
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| Picture by Wally Pacholka from "America the Beautiful at Night" |
We stayed at the Kilauea Military Camp ON the Kilauea Volcano. When we awoke the next day we had quite the adventure ahead of us. Today, I was going to walk in the crater that Kilauea, an active volcano made in 1959.
The night before, I met a Vietnamese girl who grew up on Hawaii. Like most residents and native Hawaiians, she was catholic. However, that didn't stop her from believing in the power of the Hawaiian gods. When I told her that we were visiting Volcanoes National Park, she warned us not to take any of Pele's children or we would face her wrath.
I am no kidnapper, so, I thought okay, easy enough, but who is Pele?
Pele is the goddess of fire, lightening, wind, volcanoes and is the creator of the Hawaiian islands. She is known for her power, passion, jealousy and capriciousness.From science we know that the islands were formed from a hot spot on earth's outer crust that is made up of tectonic plates that move. When the plates come together sometimes volcanoes form.When volcanoes form in the middle of a plate, magma rises upward until it erupts on the sea floor, at what is called a “hot spot.” Thus, an island is born. According to Hawaiian mythology, that was Pele.
The Vietnamese girl told me that once, she took a few volcanic rocks home with her. She got so ill, she couldn't eat or sleep, and thought she wasn't going to make it. She traveled back to the volcano and returned the rocks. Like magic, she felt well again upon the return of Pele's children.
Another person commented that he had a similar experience. He didn't take any lava home with him, but when he reached down to take some, he felt something very wrong about doing so and left Pele's children alone.
I heeded her advice, in addition to knowing that it is illegal to take anything from a national park, and set out the next morning on the Kilauea Iki Trail. The thought that this volcano erupted during my parent's time in 1959, and not thousands of years ago was truly amazing to me.
The fact that volcanoes like Kilauea and Mauna Loa are still active and can create land that we humans have no control over is humbling. The whole trip down into the crater and back up takes about 4 miles. So, bring water and wear a hat and sunscreen, it is hot hot hot down there.
As you descend into the crater, you will walk through lush tropical rain forest. In places you will see the Kilauea caldera smoking.It's a pretty easy trail down. It was created by Teddy Roosevelt's "army." The trail zigzags, and is mostly smooth, but has a few rocks here and there. The way back up out of the crater is a little difficult, and if you're not in good shape, you'll need to take your time and take some breaks.
You'll see signs labeling Hawaii's native plants all over. And you may even see odd wonders like this tree to the right.While in the crater, it may be tempting to go where ever you please, but there is a sign that says to stay on it. Now, I'm no volcano expert, but you may want to do just that. The trail is simple, and is easy to walk on. If you go off of the trail, a lot of the volcanic rock has crashed into one another creating fissures and some difficult to walk on surfaces.
In the crater you will see two different kinds of lava - A'a and Pahoehoe.
A'a lava flows have extremely rough and jagged features. It can be easy to cut yourself on this so be careful around it.
Pahoehoe is smooth and has a ropy surface. When you feel this type of lava, it may feel like you can mold it, and may be able to rip a piece off if it is still hot enough.
One truly amazing thing to me was that amount of life growing in the lava. There are trees, flowers, berries. How on earth is this possible? It turns out that lava contains many of the nutrients that life needs. When it rains, pockets of water form in the lava allowing any seeds that blow down into the lava to grow and flourish.
The most common plant you'll see is the Ohia Lehua tree and its flowers.
The small green plants you see in this photo are called 'Ae. 'Ae is a small lava fern that is on the first vascular plants to settle into the moist cracks of new lava. The leaf blades twist upwards like venetian blinds.
Walking on the lava and checking out the plants is so much fun. Aside from the plants, there are also steam vents. You probably don't want to get too close to these.
After making our way out of the crater and back to the car, we completed the hike in a little over 2.5 hours. Next was Craters Lane Road. Check out my next blog post for details!
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