Sunday, January 8, 2023
We have had some scary experiences on this trip! Driving on the Milford Road in New Zealand, the road down into Waipio Valley (on day 70), but I think this day was the most dangerous. I really don’t believe what we did, looking back on it.
The Hawaiian Islands were formed as the earth’s crust moved over a hot spot, creating volcanoes that built islands. A ranger explained the speed of the movement as the same speed that your fingernails grow, or about 4 inches per year. The oldest Hawaiian islands are the farthest to the west: Kauai and then Oahu. The youngest island is the Big Island of Hawaii, and it is still volcanically active. Two days before we arrived, there was no bubbling lava in the crater in Volcano National Park, then it started at 4:30pm on that Thursday. We have driven past vast areas of lava, it creates a desert, with no life for years. The area is also subject to earthquakes. We have seen what a road looks like after an earthquake, kind of like a toffee pulling contest gone wrong. The point is that the area where we were is geologically unstable. Who knows when a huge chunk of land will break off and fall into the bubbling lava or when the bubbling might turn into a massive explosion.
We had talked to a ranger the previous afternoon at the lookout near the Volcano House. He suggested that the best way to see the eruption in the crater would be to get up at 4am, drive out to the Devastation parking lot, and walk out the old rim road to the viewing area very close to the crater.
We took his advice, and arrived at the surprisingly crowded Devastation parking lot at 4am. We past a woman who was returning to her car. She said she arrived there at 1am!
There was a full moon, and so we walked along the old rim road without needing to turn on our flashlight. There were lots of people out there with us, coming and going to see the eruption in the crater. It was also quite spooky. We were walking along a road that was still shown on road maps as circling the crater. But the volcano has swallowed up half of the circle. And much of what remains is hazardous going on foot and impossible in a car.
We were walking with a woman from Seattle who frequently journeys to Hawaii to sit by the crater. She showed up how to look for the footprints to show us the path when the road was too twisted or split to follow.
It was quite magnificent and awe inspiring to be so close to the lava bubbling and spitting in the crater. It sounded like waves crashing on rocks. About a minute after we arrived, I was anxious to get out of there and back to safety. We made it back! Time for a nap.
We had breakfast and lunch at the Volcano House and then headed to our Airbnb north of Hilo.
