Lava February 20 - testing the limits
Today was another lava-ly trip for me. It finally dried out and I wanted to do another scouting trip. Not exactly knowing what to expect I left a bit earlier than normal and started to hike out about 4:10am. Back in the national park, there was a massive breakout of lava coming down the cliff and it was literally calling my name. For me, it was crystal clear where my final destination for the day would be.
It was a long and very humid and muggy hike. Despite the clear sky, it was pretty uncomfortable with the lack of any type of breeze. I passed the boundary Kipuka and headed further into the park. This was by far one of the more strenuous hikes I've done so far and the flow still seemed far off on the Pali.
The approach from the national park side would have been much easier but finally, I reached the tip of the first massive flow. I had to walk around a massive old A'a field which was barely visible in the dark. A new massive A'a channel was pushing forward and hot clinkery A'a rubble was tumbling down the base of the Pali. I really love the sound of it when it is pushed forward and finally tumbles down to its final destination. Huge pahoehoe rivers were coming down the steeper part of the Pali before transforming to A'a. I tried to climb higher, but a huge field of old A'a rubble made it almost impossible to do so in the dark and I didn't go any higher due to the dangerous conditions.
This was definitely no place to explore in the dark. This was for sure Pele's playground and I had to retreat to a more safer and stable surface. This scouting trip made clear that it would be much easier to approach the massive flows from the national park side and I guess my next trip out will be from there. Despite not fully completing my goal this morning I had a great time out on the edge of this massive flow and my scouting trip was still pretty successful. The total hiking distance was 8.5 miles round trip and especially the hike back in full sun was not very pleasant at all.
It was a long and very humid and muggy hike. Despite the clear sky, it was pretty uncomfortable with the lack of any type of breeze. I passed the boundary Kipuka and headed further into the park. This was by far one of the more strenuous hikes I've done so far and the flow still seemed far off on the Pali.
The approach from the national park side would have been much easier but finally, I reached the tip of the first massive flow. I had to walk around a massive old A'a field which was barely visible in the dark. A new massive A'a channel was pushing forward and hot clinkery A'a rubble was tumbling down the base of the Pali. I really love the sound of it when it is pushed forward and finally tumbles down to its final destination. Huge pahoehoe rivers were coming down the steeper part of the Pali before transforming to A'a. I tried to climb higher, but a huge field of old A'a rubble made it almost impossible to do so in the dark and I didn't go any higher due to the dangerous conditions.
This was definitely no place to explore in the dark. This was for sure Pele's playground and I had to retreat to a more safer and stable surface. This scouting trip made clear that it would be much easier to approach the massive flows from the national park side and I guess my next trip out will be from there. Despite not fully completing my goal this morning I had a great time out on the edge of this massive flow and my scouting trip was still pretty successful. The total hiking distance was 8.5 miles round trip and especially the hike back in full sun was not very pleasant at all.
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