Kilauea's Volcanic Eruptions...

This blog starts a series of volcano posts.  I have visited Hawai'i Island a couple times now (ie. the Big Island), and it is my favorite island.  There are five volcanos on Hawai'i Island: Mauna Loa, Mauna Kea, Kilauea, Hualalai, Lohala.  I have backpacked and summited the first three.  My favorite place on the island is Volcanos National Forest, part of the U.S. National Park System.  Volcanos National Forest is primarily composed of Kilauea Volcano.  Kilauea is frequently active, and 90% of its surface is less than 1,000 years old; young in volcano standards.  Presently, it has been erupting continuously since January of 1983.

Kilauea Caldera, situated at the top of the volcano, 4000 feet above sea level, is the most visited place in Volcanos National Park.  It is drive-able with a great visitor center, museum, and has a relatively low altitude (unlike Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea with elevate to approximately 14,000 feet).  Inside Kilauea's caldera is Halema'uma'u Crater.  This basically creates a crater in a crater.  To give you an appreciation of size when looking at the pictures: Kilauea Caldera's diameter ranges between 2 and 3 miles while Halema'uma'u's crater is approximately 3,000 feet (over half a mile) wide.  Halema'uma'u has a lava lake which spits up lava and sends a constant plume of volcanic gas into the air visible 10's of miles away.

Kilauea Caldera's beauty is indescribable.   I've visited 20+ times during my visits to Hawai'i Island, each time with a different experience and perspective.  It changes appearance based on times of day and the widely fluctuating weather conditions.  The best times are at night, but it frequently rains then, causing difficult viewing.  Dawn and dusk can be pretty awesome as well, while day time gives you a true appreciation of the surrounding landscape's size.  There's also plenty of time where the views been completely obscured due to thick fog/clouds/rain/etc...

I have hundreds of pictures of Kilauea; mostly of Halema'uma'u Crater.  I chose a few pictures below to share different view points.  Day, night, dusk, dawn, raining, cloudy, clear, 'voggy' are all represented below.  I'll put the time of day and directional view point in the caption.  Volcanos National Park should be on everyone's must-see list.  Like I said above: it's indescribable so I won't even try since I won't be able to do it justice.  Maybe the pictures below will help, but the word majestic seems to be the most accurate way to describe it.  Not only is it one of my favorite places on my favorite Hawaiian island, but it's probably the most fascinating thing I have ever seen.

Mahalo for visiting and mahalo for reading my above rant regarding the awesomeness of this place.  Enjoy the pictures and let me know what you think.  A hui hou!

Halema'uma'u Crater: mild rain, nighttime, Jagger Museum viewing area (Northwest of crater)

Halema'uma'u Crater: Just after sunrise, Jagger Museum viewing area (Northwest of crater).  The entire area around crater and extending far out of the picture is Kilauea Caldera.

Volcanic gas plume.  Mid-day.  Viewed from 7,000 foot elevation while on the side of Mauna Loa Volcano

Maybe my best photographic moment to date: Halema'uma'u Crater: Very early dawn (long exposure), Jagger Museum viewing area (Northwest of crater)

Halema'uma'u Crater: Late dawn, Jagger Museum viewing area (Northwest of crater)

The walls of Kilauea Caldera can be seen on the far right.  Viewpoint of Halemu'uma'u Crater from the North, 2 miles away.

Foreground is the Southeastern edge of Kilauea Caldera.  Mid day, obviously.

Foreground is the Southeastern edge of Kilauea Caldera.  Mid day, obviously.

Halema'uma'u Crater at nighttime from the Eastern rim of Kilauea Caldera.
It was cloudy but clear below the clouds...wow, those clouds look angry.

Halema'uma'u Crater.  Cloudy at early dusk (long exposure).  Viewpoint from Jagger Museum (Northwest of crater), but unlike pictures from the same vantage point above, the winds are blowing the opposite way this particular day.

Halema'uma'u Crater during a cloudy dusk.  Viewpoint from Jagger Museum (Northwest of crater)

Kilauea and Halema'uma'u in the far distance, viewed from East at the rim of Kilauea Iki (the crater in this picture).  It is cloudy, but the land in the furthest distance in his picture is Mauna Loa Volcano.  It rises up through the clouds on the right side of the photo.

Halema'uma'u Crater.  Cloudy but just after sunrise.  Viewpoint from Jagger Museum (Northwest of crater)