Kilauea Caldera from Volcano House
 |
Halema`uma`u Crater
 |
Steaming bluffs around caldera
 |
Steam vents on caldera floor as well
 |
Hydrangea growing in the wild
 |
Flower of the `O`hia tree: lehua
 |
Dense, mixed growth along trail to bluffs
 |
Steam wafts out of a vent
 |
Yet plants grow nearby
 |
A bigger vent
 |
Looking into a vent
 |
The throat of a typical vent, powered by heated rainwater
 |
Steaming ravine
 |
Steam drifts on the wind from a long ditch
 |
Orchids gone wild
 |
Wild orchid
 |
Another wild orchid
 |
Steam vent
 |
Seriously steamy
 |
Vents can sometimes scald plant life
 |
Hot water vapor
 |
The whole bluff exhales steam
 |
Another peek at Halema`uma`u
 |
Bulges above smooth, balck lava floor
 |
Solidified lava flows
 |
Steep drop to caldera floor
 |
More steam across the highway
 |
Mauna Loa, from Jaggar Museum
 |
Mauna Loa, the other active area on the island
 |
Halema`uma`u, which was active 75 years ago
 |
Yellow sulfur deposits in crater walls
 |
Yup, it's yellow
 |
Squint for more details
 |
Looking over at Kilauea Iki and Pu`u Pua`i
 |
More on the caldera
 |
Boundary between tropical and desert visible on caldera wall
 |
More recent lava flows
 |
Nearing Halema`uma`u overlook
 |
More recent lava activity
 |
Desolate and barren earth
 |
Steam flows freely right from the ground
 |
Mineral desposits near a vent
 |
Another vent
 |
Peering into a small vent hole between rocks
 |
Rough terrain caused by millenia of lava activity
 |
Across Halema`uma`u Crater
 |
Crumple lines in crater floor
 |
Crater wall
 |
Crater floor, liquid in the past century
 |
Crater walls
 |
Vents in crater floor
 |
Looking toward tropical side
 |
A stray plant dares a steam vent
 |
Looking at the edge of a lava flow
 |
Volcanic rock of the a`a kind
 |
What a big boy
 |
Holding the lava at bay
 |
Tom, Albert, Judy
 |
Peering into Kilauea Iki crater
 |
Moss grows at old end of Devastation Trail
 |
Trees, shrubs slowly take back the land from the volcano
 |
Tree
 |
O`hia tree
 |
Deadwood in the more recently devastated area
 |
Tom, for scale
 |
Tom
 |
Tom
 |
Volcanic rock
 |
Pu`u Pua`i overlook
 |
A vast and featureless plain
 |
Hiking trail in Kilauea Iki crater
 |
Hikers
 |
Trail to Thurston Lava Tube, lush once more
 |
Ferns, other tropical undergrowth
 |
Moss in a tiny rock well
 |
Up a tree
 |
Cycle of (plant) life
 |
Entering the old lava tube
 |
Small lights show the way
 |
Lava surged through here centuries ago, but exited before solidifying
 |
Lava tube
 |
Pretty dark without a flash
 |
Fuchsia growing in the wild
 |
|
|