Can we watch real flowing lava - on our own?

North Brunswick...
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Can we watch real flowing lava - on our own?
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I mean, cant we just hike by ourselves to flowing lava fields? I read in many posts that one has to cross private land, but then how come tour companies are doing it? In that case, which end is better - VNP or other?

I respect promoting local business idea...but sometimes its just to expensive for me :-(

pzp
Kauai, Hawaii
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1. Re: Can we watch real flowing lava - on our own?
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Tour companies have special permission. It's a long, tough hike, and I would not do it on my own. That said, there's no guarantee that you'll be able to see live lava at any given time. Madam Pele does as she pleases.

Kona
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2. Re: Can we watch real flowing lava - on our own?
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The tour companies that lead hikes to active lava flows from the Kalapana side all have agreements with the landowners.

Sometimes, the active flows are accessible by hikers from the Park side. But you will have to check with the Park after you get here about whether or not you can actually get to the lava flow at that time - it changes constantly. From the Park website:

"Surface flowing lava is at times accessible from the end of Chain of Craters Road. When it is, and if you plan to hike out to it, you should be prepared for an extremely arduous, advanced and challenging hike that should only be attempted by the most physically fit people. It is roughly 10 miles round trip from the end of Chain of Craters Road, with an estimated time to complete of at least 5.5 hours. Hiking across lava fields requires continous awareness and concentration. The lava is uneven, jagged and very sharp."

I can attest that this hike is NOT for casual or lightweight hikers. 5.5 hours is also a very optimistic estimate of the time it takes. My brother and I, who are both athletes, started out at the end of Chain of Craters road at about 6 p.m. one evening. There's no trail, even during the day, so finding your pathway at night is really tough. The park puts up battery-operated light on columns every 1/4 mile or so to show you the way, but if one burns out and you can't see the next one, you are out of luck and have to guess at the direction until you see another one. We didn't make it back out until almost 5 a.m. - 11 hours.

But even if you don't get to get close-up and personal, the park is utterly awe-inspiring, just amazing. And seeing Halema'uma'u crater at night, with the way it's acting now, all the flare-ups and activity, is brilliant.

South Pole
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3. Re: Can we watch real flowing lava - on our own?
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Aside from the important point of not trespassing, you need to be guided. It is not safe to wander in search of active lava flows. You could fall through a skylight into an underground flow and numerous other hazards you clearly know nothing about.

Not to mention getting lost, dehydrated, injured ...

The old lava hike that was in the park had markers with reflectors set out by the Park Rangers and was not difficult to follow. But that flow ended five years ago. Since then, the flow has been all over the place and the correct access can be found by professional guides who make it their business to explore the fields and find safe routes.

Please don't be Darwin Award Candidates and wander around on your own.

If you can't afford to pay for a tour, don't do it.

You can for free see distant flows from the County Lava Viewing near Kalapana, IF they are active.

It only costs ten dollars a car for park entry to see the lava glow from the summit crater.

Chico, California
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4. Re: Can we watch real flowing lava - on our own?
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And if you're a senior citizen and have a Golden Age Passport, you pay nothing to enter the park.

Incline Village...
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5. Re: Can we watch real flowing lava - on our own?
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There is a helluva lot of tough, brutally hot and humid hiking over irregular old broken up black lava with very sharp edges to see anything. If you enter the park boundary without authorization, you can also be detained because the park rangers are not happy to accept the liability and rescues from lost or injured hikers.

Think of hiking over a couple of miles of broken up concrete on the hottest day in August in New Jersey.

Kona
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6. Re: Can we watch real flowing lava - on our own?
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The current "trail" from the end of Chain of Craters road is still lit at night by what the park staff calls "wildlife lights." The marked pathway will take you to the park boundary. The makai park boundary is within 1/2 mile of the current surface flows, so if one hikes out there when there is a surface breakout, flowing lava is clearly visible.

The two major problems with doing this hike are 1) the aforementioned fact that it is a long (very long!), arduous hike over dangerously uneven ground and 2) that the park boundary is only clearly marked in a few places, so that if you want to stay within the law and avoid trespassing, you need to have a GPS and find out from the park rangers what the boundary coordinates are.

KK's Darwin Award will be given to anybody who attempts to do this without being very fit and completely prepared (plenty of water, flashlight/headlamp, GPS, map, long pants, long sleeved shirt, gloves, rain jacket, really good shoes) - and with at least 8 hours set aside for the trip.

For 99% of vacationers, it's not really a viable option.

Escondido...
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7. Re: Can we watch real flowing lava - on our own?
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NO Don't do it.You can see lava flowing into the ocean from boat tours out of Kona,it is safe and beautiful.I walked a mile on an old lava bed and was exhausted and dehydrated.It is not worth hiking 10 miles in extreme heat,on razor sharp lava rock.

South Pole
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8. Re: Can we watch real flowing lava - on our own?
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I appreciate your message about don't do it, and your description of the hiking is right on. However, there is no flow into the ocean for now and hasn't been most of 2012, and also the boat tours are not considered safe.

(search lava boat tour in the forum if you want to know what people think.)

pzp
Kauai, Hawaii
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9. Re: Can we watch real flowing lava - on our own?
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The lava boat is most certainly NOT safe. Do a search as KK suggests. In any case, there's no guarantee of lave flowing into the ocean at any given time or of being able to see an acid-steam cloud.

Island of Hawaii...
4 posts
10. Re: Can we watch real flowing lava - on our own?
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Sounds like a lot of great advice… As mentioned earlier the lava is not currently flowing into the ocean, so viewing is limited. There are generally three options to view lava depending on the current flow status: Land, Sea, or Air.

When visible from land the viewing at the end of Hwy 130 in the Kalapana area is best for getting up close on your own. The Pu’u’O’O crater is just east of the Volcano National Park in the eastern rift zone of Kilauea. This crater has been flowing since 1983 and is the eruption that is best observed when flowing into the ocean.

The lava boats don’t usually provide tours when the lava isn’t flowing into the ocean.

50 min air tours departing from Hilo or 2hr air tours departing from Kona are a great way to view the lava - they will be a significant investment into an experience. As of today new surface flows and skylights were visible from the air.

In my option, the best way to plan your approach is by checking the Hawaii Volcano Observatory status reports. They are updated daily: http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/activity/kilaueastatus.php - There’s a lot of info in these reports, scroll down to the bottom to the Viewing Summary. Hope that helps- Aloha

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