Tempting Pele a little too closely…

 

So, I went out for my first hike this afternoon and definitely tempted the fates a little too closely. No worries though, everything is alright and I have sincerely learned my lesson...

I will definitely upload a lot of pictures of this place. It was awesome, you can only really see the plumes of steam and gas from where the lava is entering the ocean, not the lava it's self.

But it was really really cool to walk over the old lava and see all the shapes that it makes and the collapsed lava tubes and the cracks and such. It's incredible. I played a game called what do you see in the lava, my favorites were: alligator, heart, turtle, ribbons, and a bulls horn.

So, I decided to walk through the lava fields to instead of down the lava viewing access road, which is connected to the driveway. So I walk for awhile and I come across the properties that people have bought cheap on the old flows. It’s private property so firstly I was trespassing, but then I walk closer and closer to the plume and I realize quick that I probably shouldn’t be there. There was steam pretty close by and my boots were getting a bit warm, so I jutted backwards with where I thought the access road might be. I walked past a picnic bench in the middle of the place and I thought “oh, that’s weird- why would someone just bring a picnic bench out here?” Turns out it was from a house that was taken by the lava at the end of July and I was walking on fresh flow! eeeeee. Once I got to the viewing area, the lady who worked for civic defense was not amused with me being out there and she had to call off some people who were about to come out and get me. Oops. I definitely tempted Pele on that one and I will not do that again. Unclear what I was thinking, but it was really cool and I’m totally fine, so…

I really don't understand why people would build houses on an area that has already been destroyed by a still active volcano... Unclear- the farm is up a hill though and sort of out of the direction of flow... hopefully.

Very glad that I made it back safe and so happy that life has been handing me tropical fruits...