Continuing the adventure

On Tuesday we hiked back in to the county viewing area to see and photograph the lava entering the sea at sunset. From this location, about 600 feet away from the entry point, the plume is visible all day, however, as the light begins to fade, the glow of the red lava is reflected into the steam clouds and the fireworks begin. Each night, a crowd grows bringing snacks, picnics, cameras, videocams, etc., to sit and watch the earth put on her nightly show.
On Wednesday morning at 5:00 a.m. we went aboard a dive boat that took us even closer to the flow. For an hour or so, we rode the swells in front of the plume, listening to Pele's activity before us and below us. The lava travels from a vent at the top of the pali (cliff's), underground in tubes that empty at the sea, creating new land. Some deposit under the waves, and some explode at the surface of the water and air. The exploding hot rock spatters into fireworks of red lava, black ash, offset on a background of white steam, as the sun rose behind us.
This is Pele's best show at the moment. The plume at the summit crater of Halemaumau began to subside about a week ago, although you can still see a weaker column of mostly blue smoke emitting sulfurous particles right below where the visitor's platform once stood. The road to Halemaumau is currently closed because of the hazards of inhaling this "vog" (volcanic fog), and the bombs Pele throws from this new vent. It's a gaping hole in the side of the Halemaumau fire pit where scientists have been able to hear the gurgling and occasionally glimpse the lava lake below. Most of that magma appears to have drained back down to lower levels currently.
Today we may climb to the summit of Mauna Loa where it's been snowing the last few days (not that I miss the snow, but I've never been to Mauna Loa's summit crater). We'll see how I hold up to the vicissitudes of altitude (13,000-14,000 feet I think).
Yesterday we spent time with Brad Lewis, "volcanoman," whose photography of volcanoes I've admired for years. Check out his website at www.volcanoman.com for incredible images!