The active lava "flow" on the island while were were there was off HWY 137 in what once was Kapoho. You drive tot he end of the road to an ominous chain link fence telling you to stay out. There was no one around and we were not sure where to go from here when beyond the fence we saw a car heading toward us on a one lane disastrous looking asphalt road. This is where our "tour book" had said to go ahead and drive onto. So we ventured on through a LAVA field. WE both had an ominous feeling that we could be possibly be swallowed by some rouge pocket of active lava... I kept thinking SINKHOLE!! Crap! We had to go about a mile on this single lane bumpy (think skiing on moguls) road. This is where we saw the homes! They were spared from being eaten by slow moving lava by a miracle. Some people chose to stay and continue to live in those homes, despite no electricity, water or plumbing. One home had a for sale sign. I wasn't sure if it was for real? Some homesteads were just a shack and a car parked out next to it. One thing for sure were the straight to the point NO TRESPASSING signs set up to dissuade people from venturing onto their charred property. As if the area wasn't already dangerous looking enough! They sell this property too, cheap. Insurance companies didn't cover some of the homes that still existed AFTER the flow! Some loophole that they are still considered livable and since they didn't incinerate they don't get covered. Thanks insurance!
We parked at the end of the road where the park service had an entry point. We had a half hour wait (till 2pm when the ambulance shows up and waits for a disaster) which we spent petting the stray dog who has set up camp there. He was a big ol' Pitbull and as nice as lamb. He had been named Petey.
The walk out to the viewing area was a few minutes over the lava field. Wear the proper shoes! Joni saw a tourist wearing heels... sheesh!
The view was AWESOME!! For reasons like ummm say the lava shelf breaking off into the water, your not allowed to venture away from the taped off area. This is FINE by me after earlier in the day I head heard a Park Ranger telling a story of 58 acres of a lava shelf broke off into the ocean after a hurricane. Another shelf broke off while some guy was out on it taking a picture. I am pretty sure I was the one in the crowd who had asked about fatalities when the subject of Lava shelves came up~~~ Go figure. Someone had to ask!!!! You know everyone else wanted to ask but didn't want to look deranged! Leave it to ME!
Right in the parking lot there there are vendors. One of those vendors is a husband wife team who sell fabulous photographs of the lava flow! These are pictures of the Kalapana flow that the average person is unable to take unless you are in a boat or helicopter. I helped them get their tent up and she was nice enough to give me a great photograph as a surprise thank you.
It is an awesome pic. Extreme Exposure Photography at extremeexposure.com. Check them out!
Here are the pics Joni and I took before we ran off while we still had the luck of not succumbing to the lava shelf dropping us off into the boiling ocean. THat lady with high heels is SOL if the ground began to rumble...
No comments:
Post a Comment