Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
the area's missionaries, including Father (now Saint) Damien, of Molokaʻi fame. The
church is wheelchair accessible.
WHY NOT MAUNA KEA?
So why isn't Mauna Kea part of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park? Because it's not
anactivevolcano. It last erupted some 4600 years ago.
TOP OF CHAPTER
HAWAIʻI VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK &
AROUND
Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park
Of all of Hawaii's marvels, none equals the elemental grandeur and raw power of the two
active volcanoes contained within
Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park
(HAVO;
985-6000;
www.nps.gov/havo
;
7-day entry pass per car $10, per person on foot, bicycle or motor-
cycle $5)
. The entire island chain is the result of the volcanic processes on display here,
which is nothing less than the ongoing birth of Hawaii.
The elder sibling is Mauna Loa, whose recumbent bulk slopes as gently as Buddha's
belly, as if the earth's largest volcano (which constitutes over half of the Big Island's land
mass) were nothing more than an overgrown hill. But, at 13,677ft, its navel is a frigid
alpine desert that's snow-covered in winter.
The younger sibling is Kilauea - the Earth's youngest and most active volcano. Since
1983 Kilauea's East Rift Zone has been erupting almost nonstop from the Puʻu ʻOʻo vent
(southeast of the caldera), adding nearly 500 acres of new land to the island and provid-
ing residents and visitors with a front-row seat at one of the best shows on Earth. In 2008
new action erupted within Halemaʻumaʻu Crater, located within the larger Kilauea Cal-
dera (like a bubble within a cauldron). The
lava lake
here still glows molten red every
night, drawing people from far and wide. In traditional Hawaiian spirituality, this is the
home of the goddess Pele.
In geologic terms, Hawaiʻi's shield volcanoes lack the explosive gases of other volca-
noes. Bomb-like explosions and geysers of lava aren't the norm: most of the time lava
simply oozes and creeps along till it reaches the sea, which creates arcs of steamy fire-
