Road Closed. Nature Vs. Humans 1:0

The wise John Muir once wrote "The world, we are told, was made especially for man — a presumption not supported by all the facts" (from A Thousand-Mile Walk To the Gulf).

This truth becomes especially evident at the end of Chain of Craters Road, in Volcanic National Park on Big Island in Hawaii. There, one can witness first-hand that it is Nature that sets the rules for our existence on Earth, not the other way around.

Just few years after it was build, the coastal portion of Chain of Craters Road was destroyed–along with many houses, ancient Hawaiian sites and the Volcano National Park visitor center–by a lava flow from  the Puʻu ʻŌʻō vent of the Kilauea volcano.

Despite the destruction, something beautiful was created–Nature's Museum of Modern Art, with thousands of unique forms and shapes of solidified lava. But more about it in the next post.

Fuming Volcano

To Anil the highlight of our trip to Big Island was the night swim with Manta Rays. To me it was seeing an active volcano. The most active volcano on Earth, in fact, Kilauea, which current eruption has started over 30 years ago, in January of 1983.

During the day, when the sun is high above the horizon, the volcano doesn't look very impressive or scary. Then it's simply a giant hole with a bit of white fume coming out of it. It's during the night when the volcano starts to look both imposing and magical at the same time. I was almost hypnotized by its radiant beauty, and despite the cold of the evening and occasional rain, I felt the red warmth of the volcano working its way through my body to keep me warm, engaged, and happy.

Kilauea at night.

Kilauea at sunrise.