Kilauea Erupting

The Kilauea volcano in Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island of Hawaii has been erupting off and on since December 2024. Generally, the volcano fountains for 6 to 12 hours, then pauses for a couple of weeks, then starts again. I get notifications for when it fountains. This was a “third time’s a charm” event. It went off when I was here over the summer, and I drove across the Island to see it. Unfortunately, according to the park ranger, it stopped about 20 minutes before I arrived. Another time it started at night. Not wanting to go in the dark, we decided to get up early and go in the morning. But it had stopped. This time — for episode 38 — we made it.

Then, a couple of weeks later, we were able to go back. So we also saw Episode 40. In the second episode, we could see the flow of lava downhill better.

We went to Devastation Trail and walked about 3/4 of a mile to the viewing spot. We were about a mile away from the eruption and could still feel the heat. We were told that it was fountaining into the air 1200 feet!

Episode 38

Episode 40

Episode 41

With a visitor in tow, we rushed to the other side of the island to see Episode 41. Which we did not see. The volcano was spouting Tephra — chunks of volcanic ash. Air quality was terrible and the park was closed. I guess we could have watched the report as we drove. We did stop for lunch and took photos of the tephra before heading back. It is very light weight and has lots of Pele’s hair — or little bits of glass slivers in. You can see the roads covered with ask.

And listen to the video to hear the ash “crunch.”