Mauna Loa, here I come!

My first trip to Mauna Loa started off at 6 am when Tyler, Jamal, Kelly and I left the lava house/dorm and headed down highway 11 to pick up Frank. We made it to Hilo a hour later and picked up coffee and bento's (to be explained later) from a Hawaiian fast food type joint. The only road to access Mauna Loa requires we drive from 4000' to sea level and then back up to 7000' in the saddle between Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea. Mauna Kea is the volcano almost directly north of Mauna Loa and is actually 100' taller above sea level. Mauna Loa is still the largest volcano in the world, however, because its roots and magma chamber are so massive that it causes the ocean crust to sag down about 5 km, adding overall height to the volcano.
The drive up was made in this early 90s, stripped down Tahoe with 3 gears. The last 3 hours of the drive was a tutorial for Kelly on how to drive up the Mauna Loa road without killing everyone in the car. Jamal and I have to learn stick shift before we can tackle this bad boy. Unfortunately for Tyler, Jamal and I, these 3 hours were passed bouncing around in the back seat like bobble head dolls and I swear at least five times my butt and thighs flew completely off the seat. Luckily, I was jammed between the boys and could just smash in to them instead of the window. We all experienced nausea on the ride up from the drastic elevation change and had to make multiple stops to hydrate, eat and "use the restroom"/hide behind a lava flow.


We finally made it to the top and it was gorgeous! Mauna Kea (in the background) has not erupted for 4000 years and is in the shield forming volcano stage, producing alkalic lava (less partial melt of the crust as the magma rises to the surface). Frank was able to point out all the lava flows on the flanks of both Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa by date and eruption styles. In the saddle between the two volcanoes is a military training facility and bombing space.


Once parked, we made the short but stressful (because of the elevation change) hike over to the rim of the caldera. My initial reaction upon finally seeing it is inappropriate for younger audiences. One of the two projects I will be working on is taking about a hundred GPS measurements from within the crater, which is covered with lava from the 1984 eruption. The caldera is about 2 km by 6 km and not as flat as it looks. There is a cabin on the opposite rim of the crater for camping out to maximize the data collected in one trip.

On to lunch! This is a Hawaiian style bento! Those of you familiar with Japanese cuisine know that a bento usually contains rice, meat and veggies. However, Hawaiians are HUGE fans of processed meats, tracking back to WWII and the invasion of SPAM in to their culture. The contents: one fried chicken leg, one tempura squash, one Portuguese sausage, teriyaki beef, corn beef hash (tan paddy), fish paddy (white with pink rim) and some random yellow veggie on a bed of rice. Basically fat and rice. I seriously doubt I will try eating it again but could not live here without experiencing it at least once.


Look! Snow in Hawaii! The greenish rock in front of the snow is pooled lava that was ejected from the crater during an explosive eruption. There are 5 types of explosive rocks and we spent about a hour learning them and their characteristics.


Check us out in our badass geology gear. Not sure why we are all standing around. The guy with his back to us is Frank - he avoided my camera all day.

Frank makes beer as one of his hobbies and he stated that whomever found the first gabbro (a rock type that forms in slow cooling magma chambers and then was ejected out) would get one of his beers. The race was on! I almost found the first one but then I saw a flash of teal and was cut off by Frank, giving Tyler the edge he needed to steal my glory. I complained and got Tyler's rock kicked out and Jamal ended up finding the first one. Above is a picture of the gabbro that was filled with olivine (green mineral) and made me giddy to sample.

Finally, me next to a cairn with clouds and Mauna Kea's west flank. We could see Maui before the cloud cover rolled in.

Kilauea Week

A view of Mauna Loa from the HVO eagles nest -- it may look unassuming but it is the largest volcano in the world with a 10,000' elevation gain from where the photo was taken.

Saturday morning Jamal, Anna, Emma and I headed in to Hilo to pick up lunch and groceries before going camping again on the west side of the island. Our favorite lunch spot is the farmer's market where we get thai tofu spring rolls, sticky rice (rice mixed with banana and coconut wrapped in banana leaves) and coconut milk straight from a coconut. The farmer's market is filled with native Hawaiian fruits, including my new favorite rambutan -- the exterior is red and covered with long, thick hairs that you bite through to rip off the skin and get to the fruit in the middle that has the same texture as leche (or eyeballs, as I was told). We were traveling to Beach 67 to go camping for a fellow volunteer's 25th birthday celebration and made it to the beach late afternoon. What we found out was that Beach 67 is a nude beach during the day and we had the delightful pleasure to come across 10 overweight men in their 40s and 50s lounging in the sand. We set our tents up as fast as possible, while be watched by hopeful eyes, and then bolted out to a beach a mile away to watch the sunset. This weekends sunset was made extra special by the breaching whales seen a few miles off the shore. By the time we returned to the beach it was filled with at least 9 tents and about 20-25 people. The party lasted late in to the evening and was capped off with some fire dancing (which I missed because Emma and I went to bed a hour too early)

Sunday morning, after watching some sea turtles splash around in the surf, we headed out early and went 50 miles south down the coast to a snorkeling spot called Place of Refuge. A lava flow goes right up to the water and juts against rather shallow water teeming with plant and animal life. After I got over my initial fear of inhaling seawater, flailing around like a crazy woman and then sinking to my death, I enjoyed the 75 degree water. A few times I was so focused at looking at the coral I did not realize I was swimming right in to a school of fish! At one point I was completely encircled by a school of about 10-15 long, skinny, blue almost transparent fish. The waves were gentle and the only real worry was colliding with other snorkelers since the place was packed! Too bad my camera is not waterproof/underwater capable.

In work related issues, Jamal and I were passed off to Andy to learn how to use the GPS system since he is leaving for home (England) this Sunday. His current work requires him to walk a loop around the Kilauea caldera and take GPS measurements at specified locations to compare against his past data to determine ground deformation. It is currently moving just a few centimeters since the eruption has moved away from the caldera and down the South East rift to Pu'u O'o around 15 miles away. Jamal and I needed to learn how to assemble the equipment and take accurate measurements for our work on Mauna Loa. The contraption is heavy and awkward to carry plus a 10-15 lb battery that we chuck in our backpack.

Thursday a group of about 25 people (interns and park service volunteers) got a guided tour by Don Swanson -- resident genius on all things Kilauea. He has been with the HVO since the middle of the 60s and is jam packed full of useful information. Part of the field trip he recounted for us the Hawaiian folk lore on how the island chain formed and the backdrop for the current eruptions.

Tomorrow we head up to Mauna Loa for the first time! Its at an elevation of 14000' and we have to leave the house at 6 am. Stay tuned.

holler at the magma

So I guess my adventure begins at the Hilo airport where Jamal and I were picked up by, to our surprise, two Brits with thick accents. After a quick trip to the grocery store, we made the 30 minute, 4000' elevation gain to the house. Its a two story abode, a 3-person bedroom and living room downstairs and 2-bedrooms, kitchen and living room upstairs. The house has 6 people in in currently: Andy (36 years old) from Britain, previously worked on Mt. Etna in Italy; Anna (22) from Duke, born in SC; Emma (24) from Britian, working on her PhD; Tyler (22) from Vancouver Island and Jamal (22) from Toronto, my partner. We managed to stay awake until 11 pm before crashing.

I woke up at 6 am on Friday and was ready for my first day by our 8 am departure from the house. The Observatory is set up with two main buildings for staff and a lunch room where everyone congregates at noon. Jamal and I did a series of tests for helicopter safety and internet security and I was given the keys to a 2006 Tahoe (nicest car in the whole place) for driving around the park and field work. Frank, our boss, gave us an overview of the work we will be doing there. Because Jamal is Canadian, he cannot drive the Tahoe (who knows), so I am his driver and all of our work will be tied together. We will each have our own individual projects with the other assisting, for safety as well as convenience. Both of the projects are related to working on the top of Mauna Loa, mapping, taking GPS data and trying to not be overwhelmed by the altitude.

Saturday Anna, Jamal, Tyler, Emma and I left early and headed out for a beach/camping trip on the west coast of Hawaii. We stopped in Hilo for Tyler to buy a surfboard and the rest of us to pick up food/tringkets from the farmers market. After that we headed out on a 2 hour drive to the opposite side of the island. Makalawena beach is located about 2 miles from the main road and we were only able to drive 1 mile on the dirt road because of the insane potholes and rocks. After setting up camp right off the beach, we hit the beach to watch the sunset and saw a sea turtle on the walk back. The beach is a common place for people to live semi-permenantly and we walked by a few communities that had erected showers and toilets. Our campfire raged until about 10 pm when Emma spotted a scorpion on her knee and after much girly squealing, we hit the hay.

Sunday, after waking up at 7 am, was spent the day lounging on the beach. It was a rather secluded beach, so no tourists. We saw dolphins following a boat and a whale making a huge splash. At one point I staggered up a hill in to some shade and passed out for 2 hours - this skin is not made for prolonged sun exposure. The first photo is taken from my napping vantage point. For dinner we hit up the Kona Brewery before making another 2 hour drive home. Despite my best efforts with suntan lotion, I managed to burn my left thigh in a weird splotchy pattern.

Monday, a day off, was the most intense day yet. In order to do mapping and work in active lava fields, new volunteers have to take a safety trip with a cleared member of the HVO. Andy was able to combine his work trip with training me, Jamal and Tyler. For safety, we wore pants, long sleeves and gloves incase we fell because the basalt is extremely sharp. Twice we were required to put on our gas masks (sexy) because of the fumes coming from flows. Our excursion was in to the Kilauea lava field that starts at the eruption site and travels down in to the ocean. There are currently three active ocean entry points and we visited two of them. Walking in a lava field requires intense concentration because of the active flows surrounding you plus the 5'-15' elevation change that you undergo. There is no such thing as a flat surface and your boots are getting ripped up and destroyed with every step. At some points we were walking on top of active magma tubes and you could smell your boots melting. All in all we were able to see 6 lava flows up close and personal plus a few instances of lava entering the ocean, creating a massive column of smoke. Our trip included a trip to a GPS station (Andy explaining things with Tyler being photographer in the background), mapping a lava tube using portable GPS, venturing to a variety of lava flows, checking out a few lava entries and then heading back after dark. The hike was at minimum, 12 miles, where I felt like a billy goat with the speed that we were jogging over the lava. The last 3 miles were after sunset and required flashlights to not fall or twist ankles.

The park is filled with other volunteers and we hang out with the bug and plant kids. We are known as the lava kids and our house is the only one with WiFi internet and cable TV. There is a Kilauea Military Camp near that has a little store, bar, bowling alley and small grocery store (for emergencies).

Okay, that is all I got.

ps. we were quoting Austin Power's "liquid hot magma" on the lava flows.