Photos 8, page 4
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Photos 8 -
Photos 8 -
Crater Rim Trail Hike, a sequel
| July 6, 2011 |
| Halema'uma'u Trail. The weather was cool, maybe 65, with a pretty good breeze. When I started, I was concerned it out (green line), I purposefully stayed below the ridge because I could see a truck over on Crater Rim Road and didn't want to be spotted. After I got back on the trail, that "pretty good breeze" had turned into a full-on WIND! Coming from the northeast, across the barren terrain of the volcano, there was nothing to stop it or slow it down. Except ME! It was not quite enough to stagger me but it was relentless. Everything on me was trying to fly away: hat, glasses, etc. I finally gave up and turned around and came back - I just wasn't having any fun! But it was a good stiff hike, no stopping, just walking. 4 miles. 2 hours. |
| 1:22 PM @ *641 Breaking out of the woods... |
| That's Mauna Loa in the back. A truly massive mountain. It goes like that all the way to the bottom of the ocean, 3 miles down |
| 1:41 PM @ *647 Notice that the terrain has changed... You can see where the rainwater drains - those nice lines of bushes |
| 1:44 PM @ *651 See those rocks scattered around? quite possibly from the current eruption. One of the reasons this area is closed off... |
| Kilauea is one of the most monitored volcanoes in the world. You'll come across these stations all over the place. This antenna appears to be aimed across at the Hawaii Volcano Observatory next to Jaggar Museum, somewhere behind that plume. |
| 2:08 @ *667 The path is marked with those cairns. and, for some reason, stopped... |
| 2:10 PM @ *683 Here's a bigger flow.... |
| 2:10 PM @ *683 This photo is at full resolution (4.5 MB) If you look really close, you'll see golden hairs strewn about. That's called Pele's Hair and is spun out of the volcano |
| The photos don't do it justice. In real life, the hairlike filaments gleam and sparkle in the sun. For some reason, the camera can't catch it... Any ideas? |
| <-- 2:12 PM @ *683 Here's the lava flow heading out into the desert. We're in the lee of the volcano now and so there's very little rain here. This is the beginning of the Ka'u Desert that exists in the rain shadow of the mountain. The prevailing winds are from the northeast, which is the other side of the hill, where I live. I'm essentially at the same elevation here as my house is on the windward side of the volcano. Over there, it's a tropical rain forest... |
| White line, car to Jaggar Museum; cyan line, car to "Park"; green line, hike out; magenta line, hike back |
Napau Crater Trail Hike, another sequel (sort of)
| July 9, 2011 |
| It was a beautiful day and so I decided to test the Napau Crater Trail again. I've visited it several times (8/3/08, 11/1/08, 5/22/09). The 2009 track is shown in blue for reference (6.5 miles each way in a day - what was I thinking?). Looking at the map, it looks more direct to go to the left of Makaopuhi Crater to get to Napau Crater. So I decided to check it out. While I was at it, I thought I'd straighten out some of the curves in the trail. White line is my route in the car, green line the hike out, magenta line the hike back. The red line is a measurement to my house: 4.4 miles. The hike: 5 miles, 3h 49m. |
| The problem is that Mauna Ulu is a big cone and it's easier to go around it than over it. There's also a hill just north of it's easier to go around it than over it. There's also a hill just north of straight for the edge of the trees I could see in the distance. After resting in a bush, I returned by a different route Makaopuhi Crater that I'd rather not climb either. (magenta line) and picked up the trail partway back. |
| 11:01 AM @ *689 This is a case where the road was built up to the lava, not that the lava had overrun the road |
| 11:21 AM @ *694 That's the plume from Halema'uma'u over there with Mauna Loa looming in the background |
| 11:28 AM @ *695 The tree-covered cone is Pu'u Huluhulu. Mauna Ulu is to the right of it. |
| 11:30 AM @ *697 A tree mold... |
| 11:31 AM @ "Tree Molds" The lava flows around a tree, the sap steams out of the tree, cooling the lava, and then the tree burns away... |
| 11:41 AM @ *701 Hi! I think I'll call this photo "Optimism". |
| 11:48 AM @ *703 Waaay over there is Pu'u O'o. I want to go to the left of that hill in the mid-distance |
| 11:48 AM @ *703 |
| 12:03 PM @ *706 Another shot of Pu'u O'o... And the terrain I'm hiking through... |
| 12:33 PM @ *712 Looking back. I came from right in that notch between Mauna Ulu on the left and Pu'u Huluhulu on the right |
| 12:33 PM @ *712 Just to the right of the previous you can just see the Halema'uma'u plume. All the rest of that is clouds |
| 12:42 PM @ *719 I'm going to take a break when I hit those trees coming out from the left... |
| 1:30 PM after "Rest" A look ahead. I want to go to the left of that hill. And look at what I have to walk through! |
| 1:39 PM @ *725 So I turned around and headed home |
| 2:00 PM @ 727 |
| 2:05 PM @ *728 This must have been something to see! |
| 2:06 PM @ *730 A little father "upstream"... |
| CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE |
1969-74 eruption of Mauna Ulu.
This event was well-observed
who are still working for the
Hawaiian Volcano Observatory
This event was well-observed
who are still working for the
Hawaiian Volcano Observatory
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