Volcano, with Golf

Leisurely morning with coffee at Cafe Ono, and posting yesterday's musings and photos.

We played golf today, at Volcano Golf and Country Club. The course opened in 1922 and lies within the Park boundary. It is open for public play, and for dollar value ranks right up there. There are two distinct nines, the back nine being more hilly and scenic. Of note: this is the first golf course I've ever played that has NO sprinklers anywhere. I gather that they simply are not needed, this being, after all, rain forest.

From the tee at number 16, plumes from Halemaumau in Kilauea Caldera rise skyward, just a mile or so over the hill:

We learned that a short section of Crater Rim Drive, which has been closed for many years everywhere around Kilauea Caldera except in front of the visitor center and down to the Jager Museum, on the north side, had been reopened for foot traffic and bicycles only. We went directly from the golf course to the Park, to the point where the rim road is blockaded. On foot from there, we walked about 3/4 mile through the forest and emerged onto and along the southeastern Kilauea rim. This area historically has been very active and subject to lava flows, mostly by eruptions through fissures, and it remains the most active area around Kilauea, with eruptions within the last 25 years. So there are a variety of lava patterns including rough splashes (a'a), smooth flows (pahoehoe), and spatter cones and craters. The fissure from which the 1974 flow partially filled Kilauea Caldera is still present.

1974 fissure with flow and Halemaumau in Kilauea

Fissure, crater, sulfur bank on crater south face to left

fissure, lava bank, crater

spatter in foreground

The moonscape left by destruction of living things, like the Devastation Trail in the lee of Kilauea Iki shown yesterday, is being recolonized. Species have shown exquisite adaptational abilities while surviving along the precarious border between volcano and forest. Some have developed the functions to survive in either, both, or between. Notable among these is the ohi'a tree. The hardiness of the ohi'a in the most exacting of environments has given it mythical attributions in ancient Hawai'ian culture, and picking its red flower is verboten, tantamount to walking under a ladder, breaking a mirror, etc. The ohi'a respires through delicate structures within its leaves called stomata (singular stoma, "mouth"). These close during periods of gaseous volcanic emission, open when the air is clear, and opt for something between open and closed when the air is uncertain.

Young ohi'a, colonizing recent lava flow

Mature ohi'a

Another species living on the margin between safe and goodbye is the nene, the Hawai'ian state bird, a goose which is a declared an endangered species. It has no natural enemies except for cars (the worst), habituation to humans, and destruction of its natural environment. It lives among the ohi'a, ferns, pines and so forth, preferring to feed on berries of the ohelo, a plant close to the ground and related to cranberry. We have not seen a nene yet, just lots of signs cautioning tourists not to feed them lest they lose their ability to survive on their own.

We have, though, encountered many Kalij pheasant, a perfectly adapted species first introduced as a game bird and now, like buffel grass in Arizona, finding Hawai'i much suited to its livelihood, particularly the tourists on trails and in parking lots.

Kalij pheasant

Come on lady, ditch the camera and go for the cheetos.

Across the road from Kilauea Caldera, perhaps a quarter mile away, is another smaller crater, Keanakako'i. The crater bed of Keanakako'i was a historic source for superior basaltic stone used for tools and weapons by the original Hawai'ians. Until 1877 the crater was funnel-shaped. An eruption that year added lava to the floor, leaving a hardened, flat surface after the lava "lake" cooled, and buried the quarry forever. The fissure eruption of 1974, impacting Kilauea, also added some 30 feet of additional lava to the crater floor, further reducing its depth.

Keanakako'i

Dinner again at Kilauea Lodge: antelope schnitzel, steamed veggies, lightly deep fried mashed potatoes, Italian pinot grigio for MJ, Calera pinot noir for DW. Macadamia nut pie for desert. Yum.

One final image for today: "Pele's hair" is a glassine product of eruptive molten lava, thrown into the air and spun out by wind, consisting of very delicate fibers which we have seen mostly in crevices and along the undersurfaces of lava boulders where the wind doesn't disturb it. We believe these two images (one photo, one video) are an example (neither of us is a geologist, but one of the rangers at the Park identified this for us). Look closely at the center of the images.

Pele's hair in crevices of "entrail" pahoehoe

Tomorrow, more hiking in the Park. And we'll see what all else.