Hawai`i’s Drive-In Volcano
Seeing Madame Pele’s Fireworks
Story and Photos by John Penisten
Volcano, Hawai`i
The eerie scene conjures up images of a Neanderthal world of cavemen and roaring dinosaurs. Heat and smells of sulfur, scorched earth and burning vegetation fill the air. Acrid smoke from the melted asphalt of a lava‑covered highway wafts away on gentle seabreezes. It gives the illusion of being present at the beginning of life on this Earth.
The heat and stench of the lava chokes and makes breathing difficult. It brings to mind the words of that intrepid early traveler to the islands, Mark Twain, on his visit to the volcano in 1866, “…the smell of sulfur is strong, but not unpleasant to a sinner.”
Sinner or not, when one comes right up to Hawai`i’s Kilauea Volcano lava flows and peers into the abyss of surreal beauty and incredible power, one is duly humbled by Mother Nature’s machinations.
Hawai´i Fireworks
The awesome display of Mother Nature’s fireworks, or in this case Madame Pele’s, the Hawaiian volcano goddess, has attracted thousands of visitors over time to Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. The Big Island of Hawai`i is one of the few places in the world where an erupting volcano can be viewed in relative safety close up.
Kilauea Volcano isn’t always in an eruption phase but when it is active, it’s possible to see the eruptive activity as lava flows downslope toward the ocean or at the volcano’s Halemaumau summit crater. During some of the most recent activity, visitors could drive to the end of Chain of Craters Road in the national park and hike to the eruption site on the southeast coast of the Big Island. Here the creeping lava flows into the ocean creating huge billowing steam clouds of volcanic haze, known as vog, over a stark landscape of raw new land.
Hawai`i’s Kilauea Volcano has been in an on-again off-again active eruption phase for the last several years. According to volcano scientists, this eruptive phase began in 1983 and is the longest phase in the volcano’s downslope rift zone in more than 600 years.
Unpredictable Kilauea
Scientists observing the volcano note that the eruptive activity has slowed down recently in comparison to earlier stages. Even during an eruption phase, activity changes almost daily and is unpredictable.
One of the more recent eruptions proved to be especially devastating. In May, 2018, it began on the volcano’s east rift zone with cracks in the earth’s surface creating lava flows that increased rapidly in intensity. The lava ran several miles downslope in vast surface flows and in some areas reached the sea through underground lava tubes.
During the eruption, millions of cubic meters of lava were ejected. Lava flows several feet deep have covered many square miles of rain forest, desert and residential lands. The eruption also created 875 acres of new land along Hawai`i’s southeast coast.
The eruption of May through August, 2018, claimed no lives but had a serious impact on area residents. It devastated the residential communities of Leilani Estates, Lanipuna Gardens, and seaside Kapoho, wiping out 700 homes and other buildings estimated at $800 million (2018 USD) while disrupting many lives. Lava flows and related earthquakes covered and damaged beach parks, several miles of roads and power lines, archaeological and historical sites, and a national park volcano observatory. It also destroyed many rare plant and animal habitats.
Visitor Spectacle
Despite the considerable destruction, the volcano is an amazing natural wonder. And that’s why thousands of visitors continue to find their way to Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park, hoping to catch an eruption for a glimpse of Mother Nature at her most spectacular.
If it is accessible, visitors will find the 20‑mile drive down the Chain of Craters Road past steaming vents, vast lava flows, and volcanic craters and cinder cones visually stunning. The fern and ohia lehua forest opens to vast stretches of lava flows reaching several miles down to the distant coastline.
Roadside markers note the various eruptions, lava flows and still smoldering cinder cones bearing melodious Hawaiian names. The strong winds carry wisps of clouds out to sea as the road carefully winds down the steep pali (cliff). Marked trails across the lava fields lead to ancient Hawaiian petroglyphs, early rock etchings that record important events in the lives of the indigenous people who hold this land sacred.
Lava Up Close
At the end of the road, if there is ongoing eruptive activity, visitors may be able to hike to a safe viewing site where the lava is entering the ocean. Park rangers are on hand to provide information and directions to keep safe. Depending on the activity, this can be a short hike or a longer, more difficult hike of a couple of hours or more one way, over rough terrain. The view upslope takes in the vast lava flows that have cleared wide swaths through the pristine Hawaiian forest on the way to the sea.
Visitors along the roadside are awestruck at the vast lava flows. Others stand on the edge of what used to be a lovely black sand beach, now covered by stark black lava flows. Clouds of volcanic haze fill the air. Where it is possible, visitors get as close as they can to the slow creeping tongues of lava to snap that photo of a lifetime. The smooth and incredibly hot pahoehoe lava oozes and flows like fresh cake batter dumped from a bowl. The other type of lava, a’a, is a more rough clinkly and cinder like lava that typically flows slower and piles up deeper than the pahoehoe type.
Volcano Creates and Destroys
On the beach, others are gathered near the spot where the red‑orange lava is flowing into the crashing surf. As the flow hits the cool seawater, the lava splatters and explodes into the air creating great clouds of steam and ash. Chunks of lava rock and pumice, still sizzling, break off and float into the water, to be carried by winds, tides and currents, and deposited somewhere along the coast to begin building yet another black sand beach.
And so it goes, in an unending cycle. The volcano both creates and destroys. Visitors come away feeling fortunate to be among those who have seen one of Mother Nature’s most powerful and colorful spectacles, an eruption in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park.
If You Go
Nighttime is best to view the lava but you need to be prepared. Each person needs good hiking shoes, hat, jacket, water, food and a flashlight. Check with park rangers on hiking hazards, stay on marked trails, and obey all posted signs.
For lodging at Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park, check out the historic Volcano House Hotel, https://hawaiivolcanohouse.com, or 844–569–8849; Email: frontdesk@hawaiivolcanohouse.com.
Backpackers can opt for simple A-frame cabins or tent spaces at Namakani Paio Campground in the national park. Campground reservations are also made through Volcano House Hotel.
There are several vacation rentals and bed & breakfast lodges and inns in the nearby Volcano Village area, close to the national park entrance and visitors center. For details on accommodations and area activities see: www.experiencevolcano.com/stay.
While visiting the national park, also take in Crater Rim Drive and Halemaumau Crater, Bird Park nature walk , and Thurston Lava Tube, and be on the lookout for the endangered Hawaiian nene goose, the state bird.
For more information on the national park, contact: Superintendent, Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park, P.O. Box 52, Hawai´i National Park, Hawai`i 96718–0052 or call Visitors Information at 808–985–6011, and online at https://www.nps.gov/havo.
A previous version of this story appeared in Polynesian Airlines Polynesia Magazine, Verve Magazine/EVA Air, and Go World Travel.
Other Hawai’i stories:.
Hilo Sunny-side Up! It’s Not Just a Rainy Old Town | by John Penisten | BATW Travel Stories | Medium
About the Writer
John Penisten is a photojournalist and longtime resident of Hilo on the Big Island of Hawai´i. He has authored the travel guidebooks Hawai´i the Big Island, Kaua´i the Garden Island, Adventure Guide to Hawai´i and Experience the Big Island: The Road to Adventure. His personal adventure book Green Hills and Blue Lagoons: A Peace Corps Memoir covers his travels and experiences long ago as a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer in the Fiji Islands, South Pacific. His travel stories and photos have appeared in a variety of print and online publications.
