In 1997 my wife and I did a 4 island trip to Hawaii. One was the big Island, Hawaii where the volcano had been erupting for a while and lava was flowing to the sea. The ranger said it was best viewed after dark.
After driving to the end of the road where the hike started, we returned to the nearest town about 20 miles distant so I could buy a flashlight and some water. We returned and I started out across the lava field which was not so hard in daylight. I arrived just about dark and spent maybe 45 minutes taking some photos.
Going back was difficult, the lava had depressions and small hills about 4 or five feet high which I had to navigate. The flashlight was not very effective against lava. An 80 to 100 foot drop off to the ocean was on my left so I tended to push uphill (to my right) on the way back. The flashlight went dead before I got back and the only way I knew I was close was because I started seeing vegetation.
I had gotten myself at least 1/8 mile above the road because of my uphill creep. I hollered for my wife but she could not hear me. I kept moving downhill and she finally heard me and turned on the car lights so I could navigate to the car.
It was after 11:00 pm and my shoes and pants were in shreds, I tossed them when we got back to our room. My legs were also badly scratched from the lava.
We were tired and hungry and 2 hours from our motel. We had dinner at a gas station vending machine.
1 A view from an airplane.
2. View of the end of the road showing how the lava covered it. The lava flow was another 5 miles across that lava field.
3. A hand held image showing one of the explosions using Fuji 400 with my Nikon FE and a 50mm lens.
4, Another images showing another explosion. Less than 100 feet from me.
After driving to the end of the road where the hike started, we returned to the nearest town about 20 miles distant so I could buy a flashlight and some water. We returned and I started out across the lava field which was not so hard in daylight. I arrived just about dark and spent maybe 45 minutes taking some photos.
Going back was difficult, the lava had depressions and small hills about 4 or five feet high which I had to navigate. The flashlight was not very effective against lava. An 80 to 100 foot drop off to the ocean was on my left so I tended to push uphill (to my right) on the way back. The flashlight went dead before I got back and the only way I knew I was close was because I started seeing vegetation.
I had gotten myself at least 1/8 mile above the road because of my uphill creep. I hollered for my wife but she could not hear me. I kept moving downhill and she finally heard me and turned on the car lights so I could navigate to the car.
It was after 11:00 pm and my shoes and pants were in shreds, I tossed them when we got back to our room. My legs were also badly scratched from the lava.
We were tired and hungry and 2 hours from our motel. We had dinner at a gas station vending machine.
1 A view from an airplane.
2. View of the end of the road showing how the lava covered it. The lava flow was another 5 miles across that lava field.
3. A hand held image showing one of the explosions using Fuji 400 with my Nikon FE and a 50mm lens.
4, Another images showing another explosion. Less than 100 feet from me.
