Photos 5, page 4
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Meanwhile, back at the ranch...
| March 08-13, 2008 |
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| New lava entering the sea has created a long delta over the past two days. The new flows can be discerned by their lighter appearance compared to older lavas. |
| A closer look at the Waikupanaha delta, or bench showing at least three separate entries, some black patches of fresh pahoehoe on its surface, and a sliver of black sand along its edge. Note the Royal Gardens subdivision (this flow goes through the middle of what remains) and the plume from Pu`u `O`o over the horizon. |
| (steaming) and the light-colored pahoehoe flows that bring lava to the coast in the middle of the photo. The new trail and viewing area are located on the early 1990 pahoehoe flow in the foreground. |
| These are some excellent aerial views of the lava flows at Kalapana from the Images page of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory with their accompanying text. |
| ^This is a superb view of the former access road running across the top of the photo to the former parking area. The red road is a new road that had been put in to access new lots that people were starting to build on... Oops! |
| Maps from 3/13 showing the extent of the new lava flow. |
| This is a good view of the lava at the bottom of Royal Gardens. Orchid Street is the one I walked across to the edge of the lava just above the left upper corner of the square where that smoke is coming up. I marked that spot as "Lava" on both 2/28 and 3/2. |
| And then on 3/19, check this out... |
Another "Lava" hike
| March 20, 2008 |
| things had died down people-wise from my last visit on the 8th. In the image above left are my tracks of 3/20 (green line), 3/8 (yellow line), and my previous hikes to the lava. Above right, I have overlaid the map to the left to give you some kind of idea what the lava has been doing so far this month... |
| From the location marked "End 3/20", looking up the road, this is what you see. I didn't think much of it until I went back out the next night... |
| The crowd at the "viewing area". You can't even get close enough to see! |
| They've ruined it! They've got everything fenced off with county workers, park service people, and cops, all over the place to keep you from wandering off. What a complete drag! This brought out the rebel in me so I walked back to the car and found a spot where I could cut into the woods ("Lv Road 3/20") just to prove I could do it. I then realized that there were helicopters buzzing around all over the place and they'd probably bust me for leaving the "authorized" areas. I realize there's all those people stomping around, most of them pretty clueless, but it was such a good meditation for me to be out there alone with the sun and the wind and the lava and Madame Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of volcanoes. Now it's all ruined! It's become a tourist destination! Yuk! |
Yet Another "Lava" hike
| March 21, 2008 |
| Ray & Ellen came over with their grandson to see the lava, so Robin and I joined them. We went at dark so there were more people. As you can see, we had to park much further back than I had the day before. The green line marks our path. The road beyond the green line is now covered with lava (see below). |
| Some shots of the plume from the usual view at the end of my road... |
| Things are cookin' at Royal Gardens... |
| Remember the lava I saw in the road yesterday? Well, here it is at night... |
| March of the zombies to the viewing area. |
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