Can I dip the balls of my feet in it?

When I sit down to type this website I sometimes wonder if my words are worth anything in the light of the experiences I'm blessed with.

Lecture this morning was our first for the month. We covered basic ideas of geology and creation of the Hawaiian chain which extends to the newly forming Loihi to the 63 million year old Emperor Seamounts that string north to the Aleutian Trench where it is subducted into the bowels of the Earth. We piled into vans and headed out to see some of what we learned in class. First a stop at a viewpoint overlooking the Kilauea Iki crater. Amidst a gray and chilly sky we gazed across the feature towards the Pu'u Pua'i cinder cone, formed in the 1950s by ash from a geyser of lava that shot over a thousand feet into the air. We soon turned out backs on that view and exchanged it for a van ride a half-mile down the road toward the Thurston Lava Tube. A trail wound from street level into a lush, jurassicy rain forest that overgrows the opening to the lava tube. The paved trail leads into the moist tunnel lit for visitors' safety and enjoyment. We quickly tromped through the tube without a care and stopped only briefly for a mass group photo inside the cave. Further down the road were immense trails of past lava flows through which the road weaved. We stopped on a road cut off by a flow laid down between 1969-74 for a mile-long hike to the Pu'u Huluhulu crater. The trail weaves over the top of the pahoehoe lava without gaining much elevation. Near the end of the trail was a set of switchbacks that lead to the tip-top edge of crater. From this vantage point was visible the surrounding landscapes of black lava fields that seem sometimes to stop without reason at the edge of a forest. Nearby is the Makaopuhi Crater which rose above the level which would allow us see inside. The helicopters of many a tourist group circled in the sky near our vantage point allowing the wallet heavy travelers fancy views of the geology spewing forth below them.

Lunch, a quick GPS check (we were a mere 6.02 miles from KMC) and then more driving down a road which skirts the edge of the Holei Pali. The dizzying height of the drive was difficult to enjoy but was spectacular to spy from its base. We stopped for a brief time at a point at below a great section of the pali where the 1969-74 flows covered sections of the old road. Camera pictures and mental pictures were taken by all and many saw strands and clumps of Pele's Hair within the cracks of the colorful and nearly rainbow shaded lava. Looking toward the overbearing Holei Pali I can easily imagine the movement of the lava over its steep slopes toward the very spot in which I stood. The darker portions of the frozen cascades of lava hang over the pali in shapes that mimic the paths of a vast waterfall. The slopes of pali trailed off in the distance into a slight haze, giving it a tremendous depth and a painted style to the scene.

The two last stops of the day were first the Holei Sea Arch on the fringe between an old flow and the sea. A simple barrier held our group steady from the jagged edge where terrifying surf slapped from below. Photo ops were the thing until a massive shot of water exploded over our heads and all but totally soaked an unsuspecting Brook — who thus became the Wet T-shirt Contest winner of the group. Just a stroll down the road is a point where the most recent flow totally engulfs it. This road to no where marks our first venture onto this newest volcanic activity. Without hesitation we scurried up the basalt trail marked only by a few orange cones. One ridge away stood a view of plumes of steam that rose up from the newest piece of land in this expanding portion of the United States. Other tourists ventured much close to the deadly fumes being blown ashore from the interaction between water and molten rock. From this safe distance a park ranger Ray White dawned a spotting scope and patiently answered all our questions. Some looked through the scope to get a better view of the plume of steamy hydrochloric acid and some bluish smoke on a nearby pali which Ray said could be trees burning in lava on the surface. Wind whipped past our bodies while we stood on material that was spewed from within the Earth around 1995. The black shiny mass met the sky, trees, and surf in one eyeshot. Our professor promises a trip out to the active flow which he offers as an optional activity that, if attended, could be the most dangerous trek of each of our lives. I'm in!

Tonight we bowled shortly after dinner. We kicked up a great game where the pins flew (or stuck) and the laughs shimmied about. We delighted at the oh, so silly computer animations on the score screen when someone had a great or terrible frame. It was a great time and a cheap one too -- except for that darn country music stuff.

Now is the time for an Uno match because boy are we bored! Actually it's a great game that fits well into this low-key evening. Oh, Dr. Benham is now telling us about the hike out to the moving flow tomorrow. Sounds like we'll have an opportunity to tap our foot into lava that is moving as fast as can be seen in videos of the island's activity. He did just reassure me that falling into a lava tube isn't quite the Indiana Jones-ish experience I was imaging. He says even an accident such as that would only drop an individual a few feet down at most which is enough to allow that individual to be sliced up by the jagged, glass-like material. So, this could be good folks. If it's anything like he says it could be, could be the greatest experience of our lives. Molten rock in three-dimensions flowing feet from me — and I get to stick my foot in it.

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Mon. January 10, 2000, 11:37pm PST

Can I dip the balls of my feet in it?

7/29/2005 @ 1:15am

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