Volcanic Vistas

I'm home now, but here are some more pix from Hawaii Volcanoes NP.  This is the Devastation Trail.  In 1959 the dramatic eruption of Kilauea Crater produced this field of cinders just west of the volcanic vent that sent lava 1900 feet into the sky.  It gradually produced Pu'u Po'o, the cinder cone visible beyond the trail.

The barren ash field is slowly being revegetated.

 This is Kilauea Crater.  Prior to 1959 it had not erupted in 91 years and was about twice as deep as present, the bottom covered with forest.  The 1959 eruption filled the crater with about 400 feet of lava, which subsided somewhat, leaving a ring of lava around the crater edge.  For 36 years after the eruption molten lava persisted below the surface.  It has since solidified but is still hot, producing steam which is especially visible on cool, humid days.

 Well to the south of Kilauea, I took the Hiilina Pali road through an isolated, little visited area.  This old pahoehoe flow, probably at least 500 years old, is being revegetated.

 When I reached the end of the road at Hiilina Pali, fog shrouded the view.  Visibility was a few yards.  But I hung out in my car for about half an hour, reading the Sunday paper, and when I looked up the fog was lifting, and I had this vista, looking 2200 feet down to the sea.

Another shot from Hiilina Pali.

 On the return trip, back into the fog.  With few people around, the cool mist lent an air of primeval beauty to the scene.

A bit farther down the mountain, the vast pahoehoe field from the 1969-74 eruptions of Mauna Ulu lay sullen in the gloom.  The source of all this lava is faintly visible in the far distance.

The lava flow ends abruptly at the kipuka in the distance...a kipuka is an island of forest spared by the lava flow.