Monday, September 6, 2010

A Hike, Active Lava Flows and a New Beach


I usually drive past this portion of East Hawaii on my way to playing volleyball closeby. On my drive I always see the amazing plumes emanating from the lava flows entering the ocean. 

One day, I decided to take a nice long hike along the ocean to see how close I can go and wanted to see for myself the destruction and activity in the area since the flows have been very active again in the area and has also torched alot of virgin forests. Its about an hour hike to see the lava entry along the coastline which is a very scenic area.




Starting with cloudy and sprinkling skies I was relieved not to hike in the hot sun against black lava. But that quickly changed as the skies turned in a beautiful pure blue and made my hike a little more heated. Fortunately, I followed the paths along the shoreline so the vistas were quite spectacular and the trade winds were really picking up, it made the hike more bearable.


Along the way I past an old beach that was covered with the recent lava flows and despite being overtaken by lava, a good portion was still left intact with fresh new sand born on its shores, it is called Ka'awaloa.




Isn't it just spectacular and the new sand is so fine and an intense black color.





We are getting close to the active part of the lava entry which is just around the next bend, along the way I'll show you some of the recent areas that have been torched from a recent flow not even a few weeks old. Stay tuned for my next posts showing the rest of my hike to this amazing area.



To visit other worlds this Tuesday click on this link http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/

22 comments:

  1. Wow what a dramatic post Noel. I just love it!

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  2. Wow .. that is really spectacular! Amazing.

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  3. Absolutely gorgeous captures, Noel! The black sand is amazing! So dramatic! Really terrific post for the day! Hope your week is off to a good start! Enjoy!

    Sylvia

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  4. Oh Noel,
    queste sono delle magnifiche foto :-)
    Magari potessi vivere anch'io nelle Hawaii.
    Bellissime.
    Buona serata.

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  5. The beauty, power and exquisite nature of the planet are all visible in your wonderful sea captures. Your earlier glowing moon photos show the wonder of our place in the universe. Thank you for sharing your journey!

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  6. Magnificent and dramatic photography Noel. What an absolutely beautiful area.
    An English Girl Rambles

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  7. Amazing it is! I have never seen lava pouring into the sea!

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  8. How impressive, Noel! I have never seen a lava flow, even when I lived in Indonesia! I wonder if this lava flow is going on for a long time on end, or does it stop from time to time? I should like to know that.There is a lot of volcanic activity going on all over the world.

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  9. That is incredible! My family took a cruise around the Hawaiian islands a couple of years ago, and I clearly remember passing this area on the ship at night, seeing the lava flowing down the mountain. I also remember getting as close as we could on the road and hiking a little way towards the plume, but we didn't get too far because of the time limitations. We didn't see that beach. Those look like impressive waves. Fantastic photos!

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  10. incredibly gorgeous and interesting. i've not seen lava flowing along the coastline. thanks for sharing your world.

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  11. What a great hike. You showed us a fantastic part of the world.

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  12. Gorgeous shots of the place. I have not seen anything like this before.

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  13. breathtaking photos--half exciting and half frightening. i spy somebody sunbathing in the 3rd photo! the last photo is my favorite--gorgeous landscape.

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  14. Thank you for sharing these beautiful beach and sea photos

    Have a nice week,
    Greetings, Bram

    My Word Tuesday post

    Seen on My World Tuesday

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  15. The first shot is absolutely amazing. Interesting and beautiful shots. Thanks for sharing.

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  16. Beautiful photographs! Active lava flow is something that I did not see while visiting Hawaii. The area from which my brother-in-law would show visitors the lava flow had been closed because it was overtaken with new lava flow. It was possible to hike to the lava flow; however, we didn't do so.

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  17. Wonderful photos! We saw the lava entering the water a year and a half ago, then when we were there in Feb. they said it was no longer active in that spot. It sure looks active now!

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  18. Amazing, Noel. I can hardly believe it. Beautiful pictures. Thanks for venturing so close to the lava flow.
    Kay
    Alberta, Canada

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  19. How Beautiful the sands must Be!!
    Great shots Noel!

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  20. Mother nature at its best & also dangerous. These are breathtaking scenes & it's great that you shared it with us. Have a lovely week ahead. :)

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  21. Noel, you have me on the edge of my seat! I'm waiting anxiously to see the next post. This is amazing and horrifying all at the same time. I understand you may get accustomed to living around an active volcano but it really petrifies me! And the fact that you're so close to the active area. Oh My Goodness!! The beach and formations are, however, spectacular! I'm certain the bathing beauties brightened your hike as well. :) Please hurry and post your follow up pics!

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  22. Sometimes we refer to our terrain as "beautiful desolation", but I think it is much more appropriate when applied to your lava flows! I am always amazed at how fast the earth recovers from fires and volcanos!

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