Longing for Lava

Several years ago (4, to be exact) Russ and I went to the Big Island of Hawaii with friends. One of the really amazing things we did was to hike out onto the lava in the evening, trying to get out to where the lava was flowing. Due to some inaccurate information we left later than we should and it was soon dark. As we were hiking in the dark it started raining, which made the lava slippery. After about an hour and a half we decided that we had better turn around--there was still too far to go to keep walking. As we were making that decision one of our friends cut her leg badly on the lava, which sealed the decision to turn back.

While hiking in the dark we could see the reddish glow of the lava flowing (slowly) down the mountain. And at one point we could see the lava spilling over the edge of the land and into the sea. I think that moment, even though we were so far away from the lava, is burned into my memory.

I love lava.

Russ and I have always said since that night that if we ever went back to Hawaii we would go back to the Big Island and hike out to the lava and make it this time. When we realized last year that we had enough frequent flier miles for tickets to Hawaii, one of the first things we started talking about was a day trip to the Big Island to hike out to the lava. We planned exactly what we would do so that we would be successful this time.

What we didn't plan on was the volcano not cooperating. Four years ago we would have had to hike 4 miles across the old lava to reach the lava flow. This year we would have to hike 16 miles. The state opened a viewing area in a closer location so that people could still come see the lava flowing into the ocean, but now the lava is flowing through lava tubes all the way to the ocean and is often almost invisible. We finally decided a week or so ago that it no longer made sense to take this day trip, and that we would enjoy our time more if we stayed on Maui.

And so we will have an extra day on Maui, and maybe we will see the sun rise from the top of Mt. Haleakala instead of seeing the lava flow into the ocean.

But oh, how I wanted to see the lava...