Photos 6, page 20
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Lava Hike
| January 15, 2010 |
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| At it again! The lava flow to the ocean had stopped on January 3 and I decided to go out and visit the scene of the crime - the ocean entry. I have avoided going out there while it was happening because it was so dangerous: flying rocks and hot lava from explosions due to hot lava hitting (relatively) cold water. (Normal ocean temperature here is around 80 degrees.) After I did that, I decided to head on up to Royal Gardens and visit my favorite kapuka. |
| And while I was there, doing a little exploring... As usual, green line out (3.5 mi), cyan line there (0.37 mi), magenta line back (2.7 mi), 6.6 mi total. 10:40 AM - 4:24 PM 5.75 hrs. The overlay on the right denotes the most recent lava flows. The pink area is older flows (this year) and the dark red is the most recent flows. The dim yellow line denotes the lava tube through which the lava flowed to the ocean. |
| First, let's explore the former ocean entry... You can see from the overlay on the right that the coastline has been extended by the lava flows - I'm not walking on water! That's why we say, "The Big Island, getting bigger every day!" |
| 10:41 AM At the top of the trail to the (former) lava viewing area |
| 10:51 AM @ 004 All quiet on the pali, except for a couple of leisurely wisps of steam |
| 10:51 AM @ 004 I'm heading for that little hump out there on the coast (1/2 mi)... |
| 11:02 AM @ 005 Getting closer... "littoral cone". |
| 11:08 AM @ "Crack" Looking left |
| 11:08 AM @ "Crack" Looking right, toward mound |
| This crack runs parallel to the coast perhaps a precursor to the whole "bench" falling off. |
| 11:10 AM @ "Crack" Looking over the edge at the "bench" |
| 11:11 AM Looking back at hump, created by debris from explosions from lava entering ocean |
| 11:13 AM Looking back at lava viewing area. I don't know if you can see but there's a person in a red shirt on the coast |
| 11:15 AM @ 007 Looking down at the "bench" - a lava delta or shelf that can break off anytime without warning |
| 11:18 AM @ 010 Going up the side of the mound (marked "Top"), this is splatter from the lava explosions, both liquid and solid rock fragments. This is why I didn't want to be out here when it was active... |
| Here's some pictures from 7/19/08 showing the lava explosions that formed the mound. |
| 11:26 AM @ 014 Looking at the mound from the other |
| 11:21 AM @ "Top" From the top of the mound, a 180-degree panorama of the debris field from the explosions with the pali that the lava comes down in the background. You can see the bench on the far left as well as the ocean on the far left and far right. All that rock and dust in the foreground are debris from the explosions. Just behind that, you can see the lava flows that have come up to it. |
| 11:26 AM @ 014 If you look real close you can see that person with the red shirt on just to the right of the mound |
| 11:29 AM between 014 and 017 I'm interested in those two monoliths over there... |
| 11:30 between 014 and 017 That person has reached the mound. I'm guessing it's a USGS person mapping the new coastline... |
| 11:32 AM @ 017 A closer look at the monoliths. How do you think they formed? |
| 11:34 AM @ 018 A look at the monoliths from the other side. All the black sand is further debris from the explosions |
| 11:35 AM between 018 and 021 Speaking of black sand, here's a black sand beach being formed. More debris from explosions washed by the ocean currents to one spot... |
| 11:37 AM @ 021 I was right: USGS mapping the new coastline. We chatted briefly but she looked busy so I didn't want to distract her... |
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