Lava flow to sea makes Kilauea hot attraction

By Karen Blakeman and Hugh Clark
Advertiser Staff Writers

VOLCANO, Hawai'i — What do Hawai'i residents do when an active volcano on a nearby island suddenly becomes even more dangerous, melting roadways, spilling 2,000-degree lava into the ocean and sending plumes of hissing steam blasting through clouds of noxious gases?

As lava pours into the Pacific, Kilauea puts on a show that's more spectacular than usual. U.S. Geological Survey

"This morning at 04:41 a small breakout (of flowing lava) is crossing the Chain of Craters Road," a sleepy geologist wrote early yesterday on the Web site for the U.S. Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. "Delighted tourists are sucking up the asphalt smoke."

Sometimes, the crowd of volcano watchers standing toe to pahoehoe toe with Mother Nature at the end of Chain of Craters Road reaches 3,000 people, said Volcanoes National Park ranger Mardie Lane. Despite the smoke and gases, they stay on, watching the sunset and, in the evening, the red glow of molten lava from Kilauea's east rift zone.

Before nightfall, more than 100 cars and trucks lined the narrow Chain of Craters Road for what many called a once-in-lifetime experience.

Asat Patel and his family group of six visited the scene by helicopter early yesterday and returned by rental car to see the spectacular show up close.

"Without a doubt, this was best. You can't feel the heat or smell the lava from a helicopter," said the chemical worker from Bombay, India.

"We would not have come to this country if it were not for Hawai'i."

The rush is on to see the show.

"You can't get a flight and you're lucky if you can get a car," Lane said. "We are looking at a tourism boom for the Big Island, I would say."

Visitors to the shoreline watch a slow-moving finger of lava. Tim Wright • The Honolulu Advertiser

"We've had heavy passenger loads to Hilo," said Stu Glauberman, Aloha spokesman, "thanks to Madame Pele."

Norma Barco, a rental agent at Avis in Hilo, said business has been brisk since July 20, when the first fingers of molten lava inched out onto the road. Last night, all the rental cars were out.

"We're wondering when they're going to come back," Barco said. "People come here for the weekend and stay for a week."

Barco said she'd gone to see the lava flow herself.

"Awesome," she said. "It was awesome."

College student Kawika Lyons of Kapa'au in North Kohala took time off from his summer painting job to drive across the island with his girlfriend, Lisa Rude, to take in the show. Both were amazed that "we could get this close," he said.

Judy Malagday, a veteran Hilo trust officer, was making yet another drive for volcano-watching. "Why not? It's the best show in town," she said.

Volcano House, the historic inn at the summit of Kilauea, was booked solid last night and has been doing even heavier business than the usual summer rush. A manager there said his guests troop back to their beds in various states of exhaustion and awe.

"The lava flow is one of those natural wonders you just have to see up close," he said. "You've got to feel the heat and pressure and hear the explosions in the background when the methane hits a tree — people are so amazed ... it leaves them speechless."

Others, including old hands who have watched Kilauea's various eruptions over the past two decades, tend to wax poetic when describing volcano-watching at night.

With a rock hammer, Honolulu oceanographer John Smith chips off some freshly solidified lava flowing from Kilauea's east rift zone. Tim Wright • The Honolulu Advertiser

Kilauea is one of the world's most active volcanoes. Scientists have mapped Kilauea's lava flows since the 1800s.

The geologist who woke up early yesterday morning and observed the tourists sniffing asphalt also noted that lava was flowing into the ocean in two places: West Highcastle and Wilipe'a.

It was breaking through atop the flow that occurred on Mother's Day of this year, and above and below Chain of Craters Road.

"A cluster of small lava cascades is visible near the center of the new drapery on Paliuli," the geologist wrote on the Web site for the observatory.

"The west arm of the flow has advanced well down Pulama pali, and glow from the fires above the pali testifies to its presence in (the) forest."

Some visitors such as Dal Martin of Honolulu and his four grandchildren were planning to have dinner and return for the night show with all its hues of orange and red.

Lane said that lava flowing into the sea, shooting plumes of steam skyward, holds a special attraction for volcano watchers. It also harbors dangers.

"It is breathtaking, and we mean that," she said. "It is full of hydrochloric acid and little pieces of volcanic glass, and at the very least it will sting your eyes and make your skin smart, but if you have a pre-existing heart or lung condition, it can cause breathing difficulties."

The terrain along the oceanfront is deceptive, she said. Land newly formed by lava looks stable, but it is eroded by waves from below, even as it forms, and huge chunks fall into the sea without warning.

The danger from the lava itself comes within the range of park activities that rangers call "self-governing."

"People have a healthy respect for 2,100-degree molten rock," Lane said. They also tend to back off from extremely repulsive odors, a reflex that comes in handy at volcano eruptions.

And although lava does glow in dark surroundings, visitors interested in night viewings will need flashlights to see their way along the otherwise dark Chain of Craters Road. Those viewing the volcano in the daylight should be prepared for sauna conditions on high humidity days and a blast furnace on drier days.

Slippers, flipflops and sandals do not constitute appropriate footwear for volcano viewing, Lane said.

"Closed-toe, sensible shoes," she said. "Hawaiian lava is 50 percent silica: It's glass."

Otherwise, obey cautionary signs, be prepared for sudden changes in the environment and don't forget to stop and talk to the highly experienced and knowledgeable park rangers.

They'll be easy to spot, Lane said. Those who have been breathing volcano gases for a number of years tend to wear the respirators.

One family from Palo Alto, Calif., shared the excitement. While 13-year-old Lora Baer called the show "cool," her younger brother, Scott, chimed in twice to say: "It's very worth it."

Andrew and Janet Downing of Las Vegas are enjoying a six-day working vacation in Kona. They said they drove three hours to get to the flow.

"Worth it?" Janet Downing said, repeating part of what she regarded as a dumb question.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime event.

"We have nothing like this in Vegas."