Another Idea Worth Following
The Western Fissure
See that bright spot spitting smoke in Kilauea Volcano? That the active fissure supplying Halemaʻumaʻu lava lake.
Some friends and are were planning a trip to Hawaii in October of 2021. Not long before it was time to hop on the plane, we discovered that Kilauea Volcano in Volcanoes National Park had just gone from dormant to active. Well, that should make things a bit more exciting, we thought.
It’s always been a bucket list item to fly over an active volcano, so naturally, we booked a helicopter ride over the volcano as soon as we could.
The flight above the volcano (and the surrounding area) was fascinating. We flew above macadamia nut farms. We saw the runaway lava formations from active volcanoes of the past that slowly wiped out entire neighborhoods. And of course, we saw a tiny spec of a fissure of the volcano’s surface that was the active part of the volcano.
Admittedly, the view from above (Seen in the image above titled “The Western Fissure”) wasn’t exactly Earth-shattering. But it was still pretty cool in its own right.
The next day though, after exploring all over the island, we decided to take a trip up to Volcanoes National Park.
As we were pulling into the park’s parking lot, the sun was setting. And we noticed people getting out of their cars and putting on thick Canadian Goose jackets. Last time we checked, it was about 80 degrees, so that seemed weird…Until we opened the car doors.
As dusk set, the winds picked up. And we realized T-shirts and shorts were not the best ensemble for the quick trek to the volcano’s outer rim. But hey, we came this far. And high winds and 40-degree temperatures weren’t gonna stop us from seeing what we came for. So we bundled up in our sandy beach towels and took the 15-minute walk to the edge of the volcano.
As you can see from the image above, the tiny fissure was a long ways down. But at night, it was still bright enough to light up the skies and give the sense that something was lurking down below. We chased what what admittedly a goofy idea, and found something grand…Something that reminded us of just how volatile and powerful the Earth can be.