Friday, January 15, 2016

Celebrating National Parks - Aloha Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island



2016 is the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service. There is one national park with an active volcano, Kilauea, home of Pele from Hawaiian mythology.  Above is the Kilauea Caldera .... 



.... with the Halemaʻumaʻu crater blowing off steam!


Madame Pele, the Volcano Goddess, is both feared and revered.  Her portrait hangs inside the Jaggar Museum in the Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park (link).


Pele produces two kinds of lava. Above is A'a lava that is difficult to walk over. Perhaps it is Pele's revenge.


This is Pahoehoe lava that can flow up or down hill. It is easier to walk across.


Pele's temper produces two types of sand - green and black.


Outside the Jaggar Museum, I found a "rainwater" station, "captured from the clouds, filtered by the sand, pumped here by solar." You can't get much "greener" than that!



We walked along the caldera rim to see it from different angles.


We discovered the vents where rainwater turns to steam when it seeps into Kilauea's caldera.

I welcome your comments about Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park.  One randomly selected commenter from this week's blogs wins a book choice from my convention stash.  Comments are open through Saturday, January 23, 10 pm in Baltimore. I'll post the winner on Sunday, January 24.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore
Aloha Spirit in Charm City

The pictures above are mine during the day .... and I found one fabulous photo at twilight to demonstrate the awe of Pele:


Dave from traveldave.com gave me permission to publish this image. It truly captures the essence of Pele - she is present even if you cannot see her during the day. You can find this image and others on his blog at this link. Mahalo, Dave!

10 comments:

  1. Volcanoes are amazing. I love to visit them.

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  2. I wish we had had more time in Hawaii - we didn't get to visit the volcanoes but we could see one from our hotel window :)

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  3. We visited Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and even saw a bit of lava flowing out of Kilauea.

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  4. The pictures are gorgeous! Great information! Thanks, Kim!

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  5. I've been to Hawaii National Park twice - I found the place fascinating and would love to visit again - loved the chance to walk by the flowing lava that the rangers monitor

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  6. haven't been; nice pics

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  7. I would love to visit Hawaii and the National Park, however the odds of that happening are slim to none. I'll have to be content looking at the beautiful pictures you sdhare with us.

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  8. I've never been to hawaii planning on going there for my honeymoon whenever that time comes

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  9. This comment has been removed by the author.

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