| This was our first look at the lava plume. |
| Zoom |
| Looking back up the hill that we just came down. |
| There's the road we just came down, to the right of the previous photo. |
| Our first view of the lava plume from the bottom of the hill. The road to the Ranger Station is on the left. |
| The waves crashing on the shore were almost as interesting as the lava plume |
| 4:00 PM. We're on the way. This is looking back toward the Ranger Station as we leave the road and enter the lava field. |
| If we could continue along this road for another 8-10 miles, we'd be at our house! |
| "End of Trail" From now on there are only widely spaced posts to show the path. Otherwise, you're on your own for the next 3 miles. |
| The temperature wasn't too bad, mid-70s, but it was raining off and on with a good stiff wind blowing in our faces. We started out with our rain jackets on but the rain stopped and we soon got hot, so off they came. Then, of course, it started to rain again. We got wet enough that it didn't matter if we put the jackets in or not, so we just got wet. When it stopped raining, the wind would dry us out pretty good until it started raining again. With the wind, the rain would be a pelting rain driving straight in our faces, much like the rain on the windshield of a car driving down the road. It would splatter my glasses so badly, I could barely see - I needed windshield wipers! Walking on lava is a challenge in itself. The ups and downs were what really took the energy out of you so you would want to look ahead and plot a fairly level path then look down and watch where you put your feet. You always had to watch your feet because the surface was so irregular and you definitely didn't want to fall down or turn and ankle or break a leg! So walking was a process of pausing, choosing a path, looking down and taking a few steps, pausing, choosing a path... One's course was like a sailboat tacking with the wind as you meandered through the humps and valleys. You probably end up walking twice the actual distance you actually cover. |
| This our first set-up at the far right end of the rope boundary |
| Zoom |
| Signs at the rope Some people didn't heed them and went closer. We were good kids and stayed behind the line. |
| QUICKTIME MOVIE (20.6 MB) Click photo |
| QUICKTIME MOVIE (18 MB) Click photo |
| QUICKTIME MOVIE (41.5 MB) Click photo |
| Huge files, but worth it. The sound you hear is wind, not volcanic activity |
| The steam, to a great extent obscured the actual lava, except when it bubbled and spouted up like this. |
| You can see the steam become blurrier as darkness came and the camera had to use longer exposure times |
| Makes for an interesting effect, doesn't it? |
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Photo 2, page 12
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| August 6, 2006 |
Lava walk to lava entry into the ocean
| Signs along the coast |
| Color adjusted for sign |
| Now we moved up along the rope |
| This is our new location. This is where I set up the tripod in preparation for darkness. |
| Zoom |
| CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE |
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