Kilauea Volcano

I just got back from a fabulous hiking trip to the Big Island of Hawaii.  What an adventure!  When I travel, I prefer physically active trips, as I have a hard time just standing there and listening to a lecture on some cultural site like a castle or museum.  I’ll do that for a little bit, but not for the whole trip.

This trip started out with a 3 flight itinerary to Hilo, Hawaii.  When I got there, I was pretty excited to see several of the astronomical observatories on the top of Mauna Kea from our hotel.  There was also snow on the top, which was an unexpected sight for sure.

While in Hilo, I found out that the Kilauea Volcano, which had been erupting off and on since December 23 of 2024, was currently taking a break.  I was bummed, although my reason for taking the trip was not to see an erupting volcano.  I had booked way before this current eruption cycle started. 

I had visited the Big Island twice in the mid-90’s for spiritual conferences, and was very connected to Pele, the Goddess of Hawaii’s Volcanoes.  So I started talking to her the next day on our way up to the Kilauea Military Camp, which was to be our group’s lodging for the next 3 nights, inside of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.  I explained that I really wanted to see the eruption and experience her power. 

The next morning, we did a long hike along the Kilauea caldera rim and then down into the caldera and back up to the opposite side. The one way elevation change was 425 feet, and it was fairly steep both ways.  The cinder cone from the latest eruption was a little over a mile away.  It was smoking pretty heavily.  To our amazement, brief flashes of lava could be seen coming out of its right side.  Wow!  Another eruption was starting!  I have often written about the magic of nature, and we were about to experience it firsthand.  I thanked Pele profusely. 

At lunch time, we ate at the Volcano National Park Hotel, a perfect spot to observe the volcano.  At that time the cinder cone was still smoking heavily and spitting out some lava.  This was not actually considered an official eruption at that point.

There was also an excellent overlook at the edge of the caldera a short distance from the KMC, so we trekked out there in the dark after dinner, and that’s when the real action started.

The next morning, we did another long hike to the bottom of the Kilauea Iki crater, which takes you along a different edge of the Kilauea caldera and down 450 feet into the crater next to the main one where the eruption was happening.  All we could see from there was a huge smoke plume, which was pretty exciting.

 

We sped up our pace so that we could get back to the Volcano Hotel observation area to see the progress of the eruption.  It was going full force now.  It was estimated that the height of the eruption at this point was about 330 feet.   Here are some photos and a video.  To view the videos, go to your browser.

The rest of the afternoon was spent driving down to the coast to see the extensive lava flows and hike out to the Pu’uloa Petroglyphs.   They are located in a very isolated location, and it is not known why this spot was chosen for the over 25,000 rock carvings that are found there.

By the time we got back to the Volcano Hotel for dinner, bedlam had erupted along with the volcano!  There were cars parked all over the place along the roads, and the park police were directing the backed up traffic.  Apparently, once an eruption starts, word spreads down in Hilo, and people jump into their cars to drive up and look. 

The overlook of the hotel was packed with people.  Many were having cocktails, and it was quite the party atmosphere.  It was just getting dark at that time.  As we were eating dinner, I popped out several times to take photos.

Once we got back to the Kilauea Military Camp lodging, several of us walked out to that overlook to get a different angle on the eruption. 

Almost at the exact time when we left the area the next day, episode 9 of the eruption had stopped.  Talk about being in the right place at the right time!  I like to think that my inner conversation with Pele got her to show herself to us. 

Remember that the magic of nature is all around us all the time.  It may be a small thing like a butterfly drinking nectar from a flower, or a big thing like an erupting volcano.  Be observant  and allow that magic to speak to you!