Waponi Wu (Little Island with a big volcano)

(Joe Versus the Volcano) In this case, it's the little volcano on the Big Island. The other day we went up to Kilauea which is, elevation wise, the shortest one on the island: only 4000 ft. It's one that is erupting and where you go if you want to see lava flow. Sadly, there is no actively flowing lava now. It's about 30 miles from here so it's easy to get to and nice to walk around. It's chilly up there so it's a good place to go to get away from the heat.

This is the main crater. When Jason's parents moved here, there was no smoke and you could hike and drive all the way around it. You could even go down to the edge of the crater. I guess it's not so safe now. Now, there is always this stuff coming out of it. I don't remember what the gas is but it's toxic and they had to close off half the path and road. When there is a lot of it in the air, they call it vog. Fortunately, it generally blows away from us and either towards the ocean or Kona. Poor Kona.

We walked along a road that has been closed off and is now just a walking path. The jungle is working on reclaiming the land and there are sink holes along the way.

Anna is saying "Cheeeeeeese!"

After that walk, we went to a different part and walked along a different path. Behind Anna is a rock outcropping. This is a place where there was a little short eruption in the 1950s that spewed rock and ash and lava and made a cone separate from the main cone and crater. The ground is all lava rock and you can go down there and walk along it. That used to be a lake of lava (I don't know if that was in the 50s too or longer ago) and you have to be sure to stay on the path. There can be pockets of gas (we saw some coming out, it's behind Jason) or just empty spots that can't hold your weight and you would fall. I don't think you would fall into lava but let me tell you, you don't want to fall onto lava rock either.