Madame Pele

I know you've all heard about the recent volcano activity (even the BBC gives almost daily reports). I finally went over to see what all the fuss was about. It was a bit of a commitment -- a 2-hour drive followed by a 4-mile hike. The parks department had people checking you out before you started the hike. Did you have enough water? Were you wearing the right shoes? And did you have a flashlight?--Most of us would be making the return hike in TOTAL DARKNESS.

The summary of the hike is this: It was long. It was hot. The recently laid (and now totally cooled) lava that we crossed was gorgeous. And then we got to the new, hot lava. There it was, just minding its own business and slowly trickling down the hill and into the ocean.

Now I'll just show pictures...
(Keep in mind that anything red is in motion and usually coming right at you! We could get 5-10 feet from the moving lava before it got too too hot and we had to back up!!!))

The surface of the hellish hot lava was constantly cooling and blackening
and curling itself into gorgeous ripples.

This blob was about a foot thick and putting out SO much heat!
Even from 10 feet, it felt as if I were sticking my face right into a campfire.

 Everyone was getting as close as they dared
with their cameras, phones, and selfie sticks.

Yes, that's flame inside this glob.

I would estimate that the lava on a slope like this was
moving at about 6 inches per second. Every now and then, it would suddenly surge
and people would scramble like cucarachas.

And all the while, Mother Nature was smiling on us with this rainbow.

My videos are too large to upload to this blog, so here they are on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/YiMNnfI69oI

https://youtu.be/bKxucca-MEM