A Visit to Hawai'i's Kilauea Volcano

Mike Dziekan
VP Engineering
Connecticut Analytical Corporation

It is unthinkable to visit the Hawaiian Islands without making the effort to see Kilauea, the world’s most active volcano. Kilauea is located in Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park about 45 kilometers (28 miles) southwest of Hilo on the Island of Hawai'i. The park encompasses over 333,000 acres and ranges from sea level to the peak of Mauna Loa, the worlds largest volcano. The size of Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park is literally changing minute by minute, for a continuous lava flow is entering the ocean 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The park is crossed by a paved highway, and various hiking trails are available. Not all parts of the park are open to the public, and one must check with park rangers to see what areas are accessible and safe. Some parts of the park can be very dangerous, especially at night or near areas of active lava flows.

Hiking anywhere in the park requires careful preparation. Wear well broken in walking or hiking shoes or boots. Take plenty of water, adequate sun screen, some snacks and plenty of film or high capacity digital memory media. At night, take a light jacket and a flashlight.

At night, the park takes on an eerie meteor-like nature, with large areas covered with hard, sharp, crusty, grayish black lava. A night drive down Chain of Craters Road will take you past a few lookout points that overlook glowing red lava flows. The night we drove down to see the flow, the moon was nearly full. The best time to see the lava flow would be during a new moon, when the darkness enhances the red glow.

The fact that the moon was nearly full during our visit was both a blessing and a curse. I had not planned to hike around 3 kilometers (about 2 miles) to see the lava flow and did not have a flashlight. The fact that the moon was full gave adequate lighting to safely walk down the remaining portion of Chain of Craters Road. My wife and I decided that it would not be a good idea to continue walking on the lava covered road to get a closer view. A good flashlight is essential for walking on the sharp, crusty lava at night.

The lava flows can change on a day to day or even hour to hour basis. Even from a distance, it was a pretty impressive sight, and the hillside beyond us was speckled with many dim, red glowing, slow moving lava flows that aren’t visible during the day.

If you can't make the trip at night, be sure to visit during the day. You will be able to see the massive craters and old lava flows along Chain of Craters Road that are not visible at night.

If you plan to take photographs of the lava flow at night, use high-speed film in your camera or use a digital camera. Figures 1-3 were made with a Sony Cyber-shot 5.1 megapixel digital camera. My night photos with this camera were disappointing, because the required long exposure time requires a tripod or a very steady platform to take a smear-free picture.

The air quality near and under the steam cloud can be hazardous due to the interaction of the molten lava and seawater. People with asthma should keep this in mind and avoid the area. The day we visited, the steam cloud contained HCL (among other things), and the air quality was rated "POOR."

For more information, visit http://www.nps.gov/havo/home.htm. There is also a webcam that updates every 5 minutes to show the current activity.