Visted the Rotorua lakeshore and the Government Gardens. Once again, most of the features were murky, acid-sulphate springs and formation. Whangapipiro Pool (aka Rachel Spring) was the one clear, alkaline boiling feature behind a rock wall across the street from the lawn bowling and croquet lawns.
On some maps I've seen a trail along the north side of Puarenga Stream north of Whakawerawera. Investigated it and found that other than one large boiling pool, it doesn't provide any better access or views to the features along the stream inside the village.
The afternoon was spent at the geyser overlook along the Pohaturoa Trail in the Whakawerawera Forest Preserve. From there, over a period of about three hours, saw multiple eruptions of all the features on Geyser Flat.
Pohutu and Mahanga, 14:03
Pohutu seems to have had a short duration eruption, about 15 minutes long, followed by a short interval, about 36 minutes. That eruption was more normal for the last few days, lasting about 45 minutes with an interval of just under 1-1/2 hours. It's interesting that during the last few days, Pohutu was in eruption about half the time, no matter what the duration was.
Saw several series from Mahanga, and again they seemed to be different than previous days, in both length of series and in interval between series. One series was long, about 16 minutes, followed by 34 minutes of quiet. The next series was only a few weak splashes, and then inactivity for 15 minutes. That series duration was almost 20 minutes long, and Mahanga hadn't restarted by the time we left a half hour later.
Finally, we got to see two eruptions of Kereru. The first was a complete surprise, as usual. The second came about 100 minutes later, just as Pohutu was starting. So I should have gotten it on video, but unfortunately I was so zoomed in that the view was bouncing around and I was watching the geysers, not the little screen. So I didn't get much more than some nice still shots.
Kereru and Pohutu, 15:30
In any case, we have seen Kereru on four different days, and pairs of eruptions with intervals ranging from around 70 minutes to about two hours. I'd say that Kereru is quite active, or we got extremely lucky.
On the way back, we visited one last thermal feature. Deep in the forest of non-native California Redwoods is a small mudpot. It's probably one of the most unusual settings for a thermal feature that I've encountered.
Today was much nicer than yesterday, so it was a day to get out and about. There's more than just geothermal areas in and around Rotorua, and we spent some time on them. But we also visited Tikitere (Hell's Gate) for a couple of hours.
It's sub-divided into several distinct thermal areas, two of which have trails in them. Walked all the trails for a couple of hours. It's another acid sulphate area with many large pools filled with gray water with areas of convection, and lots of sulferous ground. There were a couple of pools with water being thrown a couple of meters high.
At the entrance to the area, next to the bathing pools is a steam vent, which is probably an uncapped steam well. A nice, artificial fumarole.
We didn't visit it on our prior trip, and I doubt we will be visiting it again. Like seeing an eruption of Lady Knox, at least now we know what we are missing.
A rainy day, heavy at times, but it got a bit sunny in the early afternoon, so we went to spend a couple of hours in Kuirau Park.
First stop was to take a look at Spring #721. This is the feature which erupted over 100 meters high for 15 minutes on a January Friday back in 2001. Now its just an opaque pool with some slight convection.
Kuirau Park Spring #721
Visited the area along Tarewa Street, where several houses had to be abandoned when the springs they were built over reactivated. One of the springs is fairly large and clear and hot, which seems different in an area where most are opaque and acidic. Nearby is another hot feature, which is believe is #712, Parekohoru, that was boiling up about 30cm or so.
Kuirau Lake was steamy thanks to the high humidity from the rains. The boardwalk on the northeast side was fenced off. It looked like the lake might have risen just enough to start flooding and undermining the walkway.
The small spouters next to the Jaycee Thermal Monument seemed pretty much unchanged from the visit four years ago. The same could be said of most of the rest of the features.
After two hours, the rains started up again as we were leaving.
Today we returned to the Whakarewarewa thermal area, but on the Maori village side. We got a late start because we misunderstood the types of tours offered. You can't see Korotiotio and Parekohoru on the Geothermal Walks self-guided tour, but need to take the Village Legacy Tour. But that also includes access to the Pohutu viewpoint, where we spent much of our time.
The view of the Geyser Flat, while not close, is still pretty good. You can see enough of Kereru to get an idea of what it is doing, and Mahanga is visible at the same time. We arrived there while Pohutu was active. It was probably early in the eruption of Pohutu, because it continued to erupt for half an hour. We saw the start of a Mahanga series which lasted about 12 minutes.
After 45 minutes or so, Te Tohu started, and almost immediately, we also got an eruption of Kereru. As in the other times we've see it erupt, it seemed to have been quiet before the eruption. Afterwards, it was having strong minors for the next hour or so.
Two hours later, an eruption of Pohutu had come and gone. There were three series of Mahanga eruptions, lasting from 9 to 14 minutes. Pohutu had been erupting for about 12 minutes, and it was three minutes short of two hours when we got to see a second Kereru eruption.
At that point, we took our Geothermal Walk. The area covered is large, with numerous hot pools with occasional mudpots and areas of what appear to be perpetual spouters. The underbrush is thick is many places, hiding features so much that you can hear them, but not see them.
Since we still had an hour before closing, we went back to the overlook, but were blocked out by some tours. By the time we got to the platform, it looked like Kereru was finishing an eruption. Over the next hour, it had many strong minors. Some of these would put up jets of water well above the higher Geyser Flat platform. If that was an eruption, then the interval was about 1-1/2 hour, which fits our previous experiences.
During that time watching the minors, we saw Mahanga end a series, then have another that was still going 19 minutes later, when we finally had to leave the area. At that time Pohutu was still about ten minutes away from another eruption.
It was clear when we started the drive, but by the time we got to the junction with State Highway 35, there was fog. It got really thick as we approached the Waiotapu thermal area, and I expected it to clear after that, but it was foggy all the way to Orakeikorako.
We arrived just before a busload of tourists arrived, but got across the lake on the ferry well before they arrived in the thermal area. Over the next twenty minutes, the fog cleared, the air warmed and it was a bright and clear the rest of the day.
The first thing of interest I noted was that Bush Geyser was now visible from the trail. In our previous visit, I didn't even know about it despite it only being a couple of meters off the trail. But back then, it was hidden by think underbrush, which is characteristic of most of the thermal area. Not knowing how it behaves, I was under the assumpt that it was dormant since there was no evidence of any wash zone around the vent. That would prove to be a wrong assumption.
Within the first half hour, we saw eruptions of Cascade and Sapphire. We didn't stick around for intervals, but went onward and upward onto the next terrace. There we found Wairiri Geyser active. The previous visit, four years ago, it was a quiet, cool, brown pool. Now it was boiling and splashing up to a meter high, with copious discharge under the walkway.
Nearby were the new features which had appeared underneath the boardwalk. (Last year I discovered a paper in which a researcher went around finding areas of hot ground. One of the areas, years before the breakouts, was that exact area under the old boardwalk.) They look like they haven't erupted in a long time. Some gurgling could be heard from one of the vents, which was the extent of the activity. The vent closest to Wairiri, on the left, had runoff coated with slime running into it. The boardwalk itself had been replaced since last time, and the undergrowth was already starting to obliterate the old trail in places.
Wairiri Geyser
Artists Palette was disappointing. There was almost no water being discharged anywhere. Last visit there was a nice thermal waterfall behind Wairiri and flooding into Dreadnought Geyser. That was gone. All the features on the left, as seen from the overlook shelter were completely drained. Last visit they were full, boiling and featured several pool type geysers.
Artists Palette
Feature #812 had been a thin jet perpetual spouter coming out of a broad pool. It was not erupting, and it's pool area looked damp at best. Later in the day we saw #812 erupting, It was much wider and more ragged, and was acting as a true geyser, but did not fill out the pool area. The water was confined to the central vent.
The sounds of an eruption were usually audible from the area to the right of Psyche's Bath, like four years ago. Still have no idea what is causing them.
The only activity that was new was from what I believe is vent #735. This was a perpetual spouter about a half meter high which would cycle up and down over the course of a minute or so, rising and falling abou 30 to 40 centimeters.
Artists Palette Spring #735
On the side of the boardwalk, opposite the terrace as one approaches the junctions and observation shelter is a large, hot pool that I don't remember from the previous visit. It may also have been a case of something being hidden by the underbrush.
Rainbow Terrace and Fault Scarp (below), Golden Fleece Terrace and Scarp (middle), Artist's Palette (top)
By this time we decided to concentrate on the Emerald Terrace features Sapphire and Cascade. At least there we would be seeing eruptions.There may have been other geysers active on Artists Palette, but we didn't want to spend the time to find out.
We got back and with a few minutes saw eruptions of both Sapphire and Cascade. We were able to infer that either we'd missed an eruption of Sapphire, or it was having shorter intervals than four years ago. As it turned out, Sapphire was having shorter intervals, consistently erupting every 35 to 40 minutes. Between major eruptions, every three minutes or so it would have a short minor eruption episode. At first these consisted of heavy, noisy steam, but as the interval progressed, these would turn into weak splashing lasting maybe 10 seconds. The start of the major eruption almost immediately appeared different and stronger compared to the minors.
The eruptions usually lasted about 1m30s to 1m45s, but some were as short as 1m16s and one eruption had some late splashes pushing the duration past two minutes.
Cascade was having longer intervals than our previous visit, consistently 19 to 20 minutes apart. Otherwise they seemed unchanged from four years ago. The start was sudden. My usual way of catching the start on video was to start recording just before 19 minute mark.
Early in the afternoon I finally got to see activity in Bush. This consisted of a lot of noise, and a single visible splash. Over the next 45 minutes I saw several such episodes, mostly noise but with a splash or two.
Bush Geyser eruption
At one point, I saw steam visible behind the ridge to the west, where Kurapai should be. It lasted for at least ten minutes, and I didn't see any more steam there the rest of the visit.
As with the other thermal areas we visited, visitation seemed low, with only a few buses visible in the parking lot across the lake.
Then there was a noisy episode which lasted longer. It gradually changed to splashing, always within the crater rim and with almost no discharge. Some of the water droplet may have got about a meter above the rim.
We ended up seeing 16 eruptions of Cascade, and 8 eruptions of Sapphire. The last eruptions were the last possible ones before they area was closed.
We also got to see Pohutu in eruption as we drove past on our way to fuel up our car.
Along the shore of the Frying Pan Lake were a number of little noisy spouters. The noisiest, unfortunately, was out sight just below the walkway. Near the outlet at the northeast were a number of areas of convection and bubbling. One would occasionally splash water into the air to a few centimeters high.
Inferno Crater was down at least three meters. The runoff channel still had some brown, stagnant pools in it, but I have no idea how long ago was the previous overflow. The pool was calm and its normal, milky blue color. On the far shore, in a gray debris fan was a small but noisy and wet fumarole, maybe a couple of meters below the high water mark. The debris fans all had many wave cut terraces on them, each maybe a centimeter or two higher than the previous terrace.
The only geyser we saw along the trail was Iodine Spring. It is across the stream and bus road, so not easily visible. But there is a gap between a couple of roadcuts where we could watch the activity. For the five intervals we saw, it was erupting at almost exactly eight minute intervals, with durations just over 1m50s. The spring starts splashing a minute or so before the eruption starts. The eruption height is around three meters, with a jet distinctly angled to the right.
Iodine Spring
The afternoon was taken up by one of our adventures we scheduled for the trip. We took a two hour kayak tour of the Steaming Cliffs/Donne Cliffs along the shore of Rotomahana. This was our first kayak experience, and we got wet. I mostly figured out how to control the kayak and get it to generally go in the direction intended. I didn't take much video, and no notes, because the kayak had my full attention. We were also fortunate in the the lake was calm, with only a slight breeze, and the sky was clear and mostly cloudless.
The reason for the trip was to have more time with the thermal features along the shoreline, and that was extremely successful. We got within a few feet of the "Angel Wings" feature, and I've seen nothing like that anywhere else.
Angel Wings Formation
After that we got to see four eruptions of the Pink Terrace/Otukapuarangi Geyser. Like Iodine Spring, it has an interval of around eight minutes. The eruptions are preceeded by about a minute of overflow, which can be seen coming down a short channel into the lake. The eruption lasted about a minute of so, and jets were easily well over 12 meters high, and noisy.
Pink Terrace/Otukapuarangi Geyser erupting. Photo by Suzanne Strasser.
This was a much better experience for observing geysers than the boat trip we took the previous visit. I'd recommend it as long as you don't mind getting wet, or know what you are doing.
Update: 2023-April 19 — Minor correction to names of features at Steaming Cliffs/Donne Cliffs. Also added another photo of Pink Terrace/Otukapuarangi Geyser.
Before we entered the reserve, we did see Pohutu erupting from the same parking lot as yesterday. Looked like it might have been near the start, as it was quite tall.
Inside Te Puia, before you can wander about watching geysers you must first take the 1-1/2 hour tour. We paid our dues. Wasn't a total waste of time, as did get to pass through the kiwi house, where we saw a couple of them wandering about in dark enclosures.
When we finally got to see geysers, Pohutu was in eruption. It continued to erupt for the next 20 minutes. About ten minutes after that, while we were at the high viewing platform, I saw Mahanga splash. This turned out to be the start of a series of eruptions. Every minute or so for the next ten minutes there was an eruption lasting 20 to 40 seconds long, with heights from three to six meters.
Shortly before the series ended, Te Tohu/Prince of Wales Feathers started erupting again. Pohutu started up about 25 minutes later. Then, about six minutes later, another Mahanga series started. The Pohutu eruption lasted about 41 minutes.
Based on our observations through the rest of the day, Mahanga has a series starting about every 35 to 45 minutes, and it is active for about ten minutes. The first activity of the series was usually a splash or two down in the vent, followed by a small eruption, maybe 2-3 meters high. Then the eruptions reached the full height, with the last of the series not much different than any of the others. The indication that it is the end of the series was having several minutes elapse without activity.
Pohutu and Mahanga Geysers in eruption, 2023 Mar 06 11:59
During this time, we were checking on Kereru. Every time it seemed to be calm, with a little steam coming from the vent, and no indication of any eruptive potential. We figured it wasn't going to do much, and even at one point returned to the kiwi house for another visit.
At 13:00 we were at the high viewing platform. Te Tohu had started about six minutes earlier, and it had been over twenty minutes since the last activity from Mahanga. So we were thinking of watching the start of both Pohutu and a Mahanga series from there. That's when suddenly Kereru erupted. The water column was easily six to eight meters higher than the edge of the sinter platform that blocked our view of the vent area.
Over the next half hour, Kereru had strong minors every two minutes or so. Some of these were as high as the platform in height. Pohutu started at 13:18, giving us an interval of almost exactly 1-1/2 hours. But after the half hour, Kereru was quiet until about 14:00. Then splashing started in the vent, becoming more vigorous over the next few minutes. It became fairly obvious that something was about to happen, so we were able to record the full start of the next major eruption at 14:05. This eruption lasted 30 seconds, and I estimate the height was from eight to ten meters.
Kereru Geyser, 2023 Mar 06 14:05
In the aftermath of this eruption, Pohutu quit erupting, giving a duration of about 40 minutes again. But twenty minutes after that, Te Tohu started. It was twenty-six minutes later, at 14:54, that Pohutu started. I watched this start from over by Mahanga (which was quiet), and I would estimate that the height was well over twenty meters. It looked higher than an eruption of Daisy Geyser. There was also the sound of jetting water under pressure coming from what was probably the strongest eruption of the day. Again, the eruption lasted about 40 minutes.
During all this time, Kereru was having minor eruptions every two minutes or so. Most of these looked like they might turn into major eruptions, so we ended up recording many of them.
The next eruption of Te Tohu was followed 24 minutes later by Pohutu, giving an interval of 1h25m. This was our last start of the day, as the area was closing. We stuck around until 16:30, and as we left, Kereru was still having minor play every couple of minutes.
It appears that both Pohutu and Mahanga were extremely regular during our visit. We didn't spend much time observing Mahanga once Kereru erupted, but whenever I expected activity based on a 40 minute series interval, I would see some activity. Kereru, on the other hand, seems to need a period of quiet before it will start a series with a major eruptions. This pattern fits what we saw four years ago. In both cases, Kereru was quiet for several hours before surprising us, then following up with more eruptions after pauses in the minor activity.
It's also interesting how Mahanga has retained so much of the bright yellow sulphur deposits that make up its formations. I've not seen any geyser that has that sort of coloration and looks like it does.
Like Waiotapu yesterday, Te Puia seemed much more empty than it was four years ago. The only time there were any sort of crowds was when the half-hourly tour came through. Between those times we could have the whole area to ourselves. Suzanne was able to revisit the kiwi house and spend about fifteen minutes there alone in the dark. The forced guided tour is annoying, but afterwards the conditions were much better than the previous visit.
(Videos of all this activity will have to wait until I return home and edit the videos into something manageable.)
Today it was off to Waiotapu. Most of the features were not much different from our visit four years ago. The biggest change was that there was now some runoff down the Primrose Terrace, especially the bottommost, narrow portion. The water in Devil's Bath/Roto Karikitea is the same industrial green as before.
Walkway past Waiotapu Geyser
The other difference is that the walkway past the Waitapu Geyser is closed off. That was a huge disappointment. But fortunately, the geyser is still visible, but from a high, distant vantage point. It is easy to pick out if you know where to look.
Waiotapu Geyser vent, seen from overlook. (Center of view, just above railing.)
From what we could see, the area around the vent was dry. This is probably a good indication that we were there in the middle of the cycle. Late enough that the water from the previous eruption has evaporated, and early enough that the cycles of overflow had not yet started. We decided to not stick around.
We decided against going to see the induced eruption of Lady Knox Geyser. Instead, once the tours stopped around 09:45, we pretty much had the area to ourselves for over an hour.
Unlike the previous visit, there didn't seem to be a huge mass of people appearing after that eruption. The parking lot seemed mostly quiet as we had a picnic lunch, and I didn't see any bus tours during the afternoon. That may be normal, but it seemed that the closure during the middle of the week would be justified for a lack of visitation.
Next up was Waikite, a small area we missed last time. It's the home of Te Manaroa, a boiling cauldron discharging 40-50 liters per second. It's right next to a road, but down in a gully so that the steam collects there, making observations difficult. It continuously boils, occasionally surging to about two meters, although the amount of water being discharged doesn't seem to change.
Te Manaroa Spring at Waikite
Nearby is another, small boiling spring. Above it is the discharge from a third spring not visible from the walkway.
Note that there is a NZ$4 entry fee, but this feature is interesting enough to be worth it.
After that, we stopped in at Te Kopia. The mudpots are liquid, with little to no activity. They are also a pale blue color, as if they are in the process of clearing.
The walkway to the boardwalk appears to not have had any vegetation cut back since our last visit four years ago. The stairway was overgrown with wild berry vines with little stickers.
Our drive back from grocery shopping took us past the end of Fenton St. There is a parking lot there where the geysers of Te Puia are sort of visible through a fence when they erupt. We arrived at 17:15 with Te Tohu/Prince of Wales Feathers in eruption. We waited for about fifteen minutes as it erupted, then Pohutu started at 17:31 A few minutes later, at 17:40, we saw the tops of jets of water from Kereru. I would hope that that would be an indication that we will be able to see Kereru up close in the coming days.
It was cool and damp when we arrived at Tokaanu. Before going into the Reserve proper, we investigated the features across the road. There we could hear, hidden in the bush, the sounds of splashing. Along the street, there were areas of hot ground, including a spot between the curbstones where a frying pan was forming.
Went into the reserve, and almost immediately things didn't look good. There were two vehicles parked exactly at the spot where there's a gap in the fence to get to Taumatapuhipuhi. On the back of the flatbed truck was a dog that loudly objected my presence anywhere while I was within sight. It barked continuously for several minutes. At one point I heard an eruption hidden by the vehicles, which I assume was Taumatapuhipuhi. I finally decided to walk the loop taking videos and then decide what to do.
As I neared the finish of the loop, I heard the vehicles leave. The way to Taumatapuhipuhi was now open. As it turned out, I heard them leave as I was passing a feature that would become a center of attention during our visit, and so I didn't pay as much attention to that feature as I should have.
Eruption of Taumatapuhipuhi, 11:54
Was able to log the times for eight consecutive eruptions of Taumatapuhipuhi, starting with the one I heard. The intervals started long. We had to wait almost 36 minutes to see the eruption after the one I heard. From then on, the intervals decreased so that the last interval we saw was 21 minutes. Because of this, we did miss a couple of the eruptions. The first time that happened, we walked up to see the sinter platform wet and steaming. The second time I did get an "in eruption" time.
The durations of the eruptions varied from 26 to 10 seconds, with the other three durations being about 20 seconds. The heights were about two meters, and wide. I got splashed once standing about three meters from the rim.
The reason we missed eruptions was because we discovered another erupting feature. Named Hoani, it is a wide, deep boiling pool. The central pit was about five meters across, and I could not see any bottom to it. It is located in a broad, tannish colored sinter sheet depression.
Eruption of Hoani
When I walked by taking a video, and the video shows that it was quite hot, and full to the rim. I didn't remember any such feature from our visit four years ago. After the first eruption of Taumatapuhipuhi finished, we decided to head back to look at a few features along the trail, and immediately noticed the 30-40cm high boiling on one side of the crater. This boiling built up to well over a meter, then subsided. This activity continued for at least 1h15m, and we probably saw it near the start. At one point, I saw some surges that could have been two meters high. The activity was much like Artemisia.
The walkway was not built with an erupting, boiling spring in mind. There were times when I was walking along that the fog from the eruption was almost scaldingly hot. This steam was condensing on some of the trees, producing a rain below them. We tried to time our visits to Taumatapuhipuhi and spend rest of the time at Hoani, which is why we missed a couple of Taumatapuhipuhi eruptions.
It was after one of those eruptions that we noticed that the pool was quiet again. Previous pauses had lasted only a few seconds, but this one stretched into a minute or more. Then we noticed that the pool was dropping. By the time we left the area, 45 minutes later, Hoani was down 30-40cm, with the outer rim already drying in spots.
Beyond Taumatapuhipuhi is an area that's been heavily "culturally modified." An area of hot ground and frying pans that's been converted into an area for the preparation of hangi, the Maori method of cooking in hot ground.
Hangi area, Tokaanu.
After almost four hours at Tokaanu, we headed towards Rotorua. There were a couple of minor thermal areas north of Taupo that we had not visited the last time that we were going to try to see.
The first was "Craters of the Moon", where the Karapiti Blowhole was located. The area has been heavily affected by the nearby geothermal powerplants, and consists mostly of subsidence craters with some weak fumaroles scattered about. The only feature of any interest is the replacement for Karapiti, which is up on a hillside and consists of a wet, moderately noisy fumarole and some other noisy fumaroles. This of "A Fumarole" at Fountain Paint Pots.
This area can be bypassed unless you want to see what a destroyed thermal area looks like, or want to complete a checklist.
The second stop was going to be the "Wairakei Thermal Valley". This is an area that used to contain close to a hundred geysers, some playing to over 30 meters. It is now completely overgrown because all the activity has gone into making electric power. Was not looking forward to visiting, but figured should at least see what it looked like. But when we got to the entrance road, we were blocked by a closed sign. In the Taupo area the cyclone of a few weeks earlier had destroyed a significant percentage of the trees in the area. A lot of those trees had their tops snapped off, while others were complete uprooted.
(Earlier in the week, near Tongario National Park, we had to lengthen our hike to a waterfall by an extra 500 meters because the road was blocked in three places by downed trees. The road was low priority for clearance, as it had no other reason for being other than access to that hike.)
Since we had a little time, and we were passing right by, instead we stopped at the Waiotapu Mud Pots. These are in a free area, and well worth a stop. In the pool were a number of active areas spouting mud to as much as three meters high. These areas were periodic, with the longer the quiet period, the more vigorous the activity when it finally did erupt.
Our trip to Hawaii had been planned way back in August. By then, the activity at Kilauea had settled down.,but we still figured we'd spend a couple of nighttimes there in the hope that it might be doing something. So it was a pleasant surprise to have Mauna Loa start erupting on 27 November, less than three days before our arrival.
01 December
The morning of 01 December we headed out around 02:00 from Kona, for the Saddle Road, not knowing what to expect. As we approached the junction of the western end of the Saddle Road, we could see red glow off to the east.
We did know that the shoulders of the road had been closed to stopping along much of the top where the visibility was best. We arrived at the Mauna Kea Recreation Rest Area where there were a number of people watching the eruption. There was enough of a view that we didn't leave until after sunrise. During the night there was a steady stream of people stopping for a quick look, then moving on. I am guessing that a lot of them were tourist heading to one of the airports for an early morning flight on the other side of the island from where they were staying. Many people dressed in shorts and light jackets, while at that altitude (6500ft) it was decidedly cool.
View from Mauna Kea Rest Area, 2022 Dec 01
After sunrise, we proceeded onward to find better places for observations. Did notice a bunch of cars pulled off at the junction of the Old Saddle Road and the highway, just west of the Puuhuluhulu trailhead. That junction looked like a possible viewing site, as did the trailhead. Didn't stick around, though, but drove on up to the Mauna Kea visitor center at 9200ft.
From that location there was a nice view across the saddle of the smoke from the main eruptive vent, Fissure 3. There was also some evidence of red glow along the lava stream coming down the mountain. Was probably another good view in the dark.
When we picked up our rental, we were offered the opportunity to upgrade to a Jeep at no cost. Normally renting a Jeep would have added several hundred dollars, and we probably wouldn't have put it to enough use to justify the expense. But here the only drawback would be lower gas mileage, so we took the opportunity. Now we were about to put that opportunity to use. In order to drive to the top of Mauna Kea, a four-wheel drive vehicle is required. It's not because the road is gravel much of the way, but because it's extremely steep and possibly icy. The paved section coming down from the Visitor Center has a sign with "17% grade" on it, and the road above is probably steeper. Low gears are required. That also helps filter out much the tourist traffic.
As it was, the road was closed because it had snowed the previous day, and the authorities wanted to check the road for icy conditions before opening. But we didn't have to wait long before we were on our way up.
It's a long, slow drive, and the view is impressive. You don't really see the telescopes until you are near the summit area, because you are just too close and it's that steep.
We spent several hours up there. There was still snow piled up where it had been plowed. It was clear up there, because we were well about the cloud layer, especially the clouds coming from the east that covered Hilo. There was little wind. Haleakela on Maui was a huge mass below us to the west. Most of the time, we had the area to ourselves. There were a few vehicles parked at the observatories, and a few people there going about there business. Several times people drove up, snapped a selfie or two, then headed back down. In one case I don't think they even bothered to get out of the truck.
View from Mauna Kea Summit, 2022 Dec 01
By the time we left, I was starting to notice the elevation (just under 14,000 feet), despite having been in Denver only 24 hours earlier. Definitely did not want to do the short hike over to the actual summit. The drive down was no worse than the drive up. At the bottom, they will do brake checks and make people wait until they cool down a bit. Ours were just under the limit, which was surprising as I wasn't using them much.
Back on the Saddle Road, we noticed a lot of activity along the road as we headed back to the west. The Old Saddle Road jct was being coned off with lots of flashing lights from official vehicles.
We learned about what was going on when we got back. Turns out the authorities were in the process of turning the old Saddle Road into an observation area. From the junction across from the rest area to that exit junction was about 5.5 miles long. It was now one-way, to the east looking at the lava flow, with a low speed limit where the right lane was for parking/observing and the left for travel.
02 December
Headed out again in the middle of the night. When we got to the Rest Area, we took the side road to see what was it was like. There wasn't much view for the first couple of miles. The best views were in the last mile or so. The lava flow all the way down from the fissure was visible, but the base of the fissure was hidden by topography. We didn't stop, but headed on back up to the visitor center. All along the lower part of the Mauna Kea Access Road people had pulled over to the side to watch the activity. Higher up, there were groups of vehicles at various turnouts, too.
From the visitor center, we hiked to the top of Puu Kalepeamoa, a cinder code just across the road that rises up an additional 200 ft. The view from there was ideal. The activity from the fissure was visible, as well as the full length of the lava flow. It was a bit breezy, not surprising considering how exposed the area is.
03 December
Another middle of the night observation. This time we only went up the Mauna Kea access road to the Mana Rd junction, the last place with a view on the lower part of the road. Going down the slope slightly got us away from the Canadian expounding on his experiences with heating with wood stoves, and from from all the lights of the selfie takers. Sitting on that slope we had a wonderful view of the full extent of the lava river, along with the lights of the vehicles moving along the roads. It looked like we could see the lava flowing down the channel at various bright spots.
04 December
Changed accommodations over to Volcano, so we went to the Kilauea overlook in the early morning hours. That was something we had done on the previous trip, and was planned for before the Mauna Load eruption started. Arrived around 03:00 to a diminishing crowd. Unfortunately, the last two people to leave took a half hour trying for the perfect selfies with both eruptions in the background. (Is that the point of the automated cameras and their annoying countdown beeping?) They had their stuff spread out all over the place before we arrived, and as they gathered it all up, discovered a lens cap got lost. Moving their stuff was "totally disrespectful, as we are locals." Spent the next ten minutes looking all over bare, rocky ground for it. For about twenty minutes after they finally left, we had the area to ourselves before people starting showing up for sunrise. A much quieter, less well lit, and less self-absorbed crowd.
Mauna Loa was the more interesting of the two eruptions. We could see variations on the fountaining which caused various parts of the fissure to brighten on occasion, Kilauea had quieted down. There was some convection in the lava lake, but unlike last March, there wasn't any activity along the edges, or much changing in the cracks and fissures. There was there any evidence of movement. Because of the overcast, there wasn't much to see in the actual sunrise.
06 December
We tried the Mana Rd. Junction again, but was clouded out. So we went on to the Visitor center, and hiked to the top of Puu Kalepeamoa again, and stayed until sunrise. It was very windy up there, but fortunately it was bearable just downslope on the leeward side.
07 December
We went out to Kilauea for the sunset. The activity down in the crater was even less than the previous visit, but the fountaining from Mauna Loa was easily visible from there. I was surprised how many people left before it became truly dark and the glow from the eruptions were fully visible.
08 December
This was the day we had to vacate our Volcano accommodations and head back to Kona. So we didn't get within view until early morning. The drive up was cloudy with misting rain, and we didn't see any activity until we arrived at the Mauna Kea visitor center. From there we could see increased fountaining, with the clouds occasionally obscuring the view. We only saw a hint of red, but the plume was nicely silhouetted against the sky. From 15 miles away, it looked huge, well over 400 feet high. (Which would make it the tallest eruptive activity I've seen.) At times, the plume looked like a geyser similar to Daisy or Riverside, as not only was it going continuously, but it was also tilted. The tilting varied as we watched, but most of the time it was to the west/right.
View from Mauna Kea Visitor Center, 2022 Dec 08
09 December
Based on the activity the day before, we expected the eruption might be nearing an end. When we left from Kona, there was little activity showing on the webcams. By the time we arrived at the Mauna Kea visitor center at dawn, it was obvious that the activity had decreased dramatically.
This turned out to be our last visit. By the time we returned to our accommodations, the webcam was showing no lava fountaining, just a vigorous smoke plume from a vent hidden behind the cinder cone. The next morning, there was so little activity visible we decided to not make the hour long drive.
10-12 December
Not only were things quieting, but before we got on the plane to head home, the USGS declared both eruptions to be over. So our timing for a trip that we planned back in August was almost perfect. We missed the initial first couple of days activity, but that was about it.
We also put the four-wheel drive of our Jeep upgrade to one other use, that of visiting the Green Sand Beach near the South Point. Only a couple of miles, but the way there alternates between rough track over lava to deep ruts in the sand. (At some points, we drove though a rutted, sandy section where to original ground surface was higher than the vehicle.) Did get a bit confused by the maze of trails at one point, and probably didn't take the easiest route at times. The green sand is really that, fine grains of dark green olivine with hints of pyrite. Was almost tempted to take a sample.
We never were able to get up close to the volcanic activity. The front of the lava flow never got closer than a couple of miles from the Old Saddle Road. The Mana Jct. viewpoint was about ten miles from the erupting fissure, and the Visitor Center a couple of miles even farther.
But this wasn't surprising. There was only one rough road up most of the way to Mauna Loa, and it was blocked off by the initial lava flows. Much of that area is an active US Army base, with notices along the highway to stay out due to unexploded ordnance. One morning the view road got closed for several hours after some people who wandered off the road into the lava fields discovered and reported an unexploded smoke grenade.
The county civil defense authority seemed to manage things well. I was afraid that access would be heavily restricted, so the opening of the viewing road was welcomed, even if we never really used it. Only on the last day was parking along the Mauna Kea Access road restricted, with orange cones all along the road up to Mana Rd. Jct. The rationale was "extreme fire hazard", which seemed odd considering most mornings we experience dew in that area.
The repetitions have gotten tiresome. A long interval overnight put the One Burst Grand eruption at dawn again. I had to stop for a bison, in front of the store, again, made me stop for it to cross the biketrail. Fan & Mortar are back to dormant. The One Burst Grand delayed for six Turban eruptions, and Beehive's Indicator started as we got our bikes untied at Castle.
At sunset we got to wait at Grand two hours for no good reason. At least, once again, everyone out there let the moon illuminate the One Burst Eruption.
Today was pretty much a duplicate of yesterday, down to the bison hanging around the bike trail at dawn in front of the store. Grand erupted during the night at around the same time as yesterday. Went down to Fan & Mortar at dawn and found that it looked the same too. Watched for a few hours with nothing different.
Went out to Grand around 10:00 with the hope of a short interval and a sunset window. Instead, like yesterday, it took close to nine hours on a hot day to erupt. No Turban Delay intervals, just a series of Turban eruptions where Grand made no attempt at erupting. The sky was clear, so at least the One Burst Grand wasn't in shadow.
The evening was also almost the same as yesterday. The only difference is that this time it took five Turban eruption intervals after the Turban Delay for us to get the One Burst Grand eruption. Also like yesterday, no one illuminated the eruption, so we got to see it by a bright quarter moon. Every so often during the eruption a moonbow would appear, especially at the start and later in the eruption as Vent was putting out a fine spray.
Once again, when out at dawn to see if anything had changed at Fan & Mortar, and nothing had. Didn't need to go to Grand, as Vent & Turban were in eruption when I checked. So hung around Fan & Mortar for an hour or so to do a more detailed observation, and that proved nothing really had changed.
Went out to Grand with the expectation of an eruption before noon and the possibility of a sunset eruption. Instead got over 3-1/2 hours of Turban eruptions and Sput D operating on a 24 minute interval. When we finally got the One Burst Grand, it didn't even last ten minutes, and was just late enough that the next eruption will be in the dark.
Beehive delayed long enough so I was able to get over there for the eruption from the cabin area. Were quite a few people settled in camp chairs who learned to check the wind direction once the Indicator starts.
Arrived after sunset at Grand for what appears to have been a Turban Delay Interval. The Turban eruption duration was 5-1/2 minutes, and the following Turban eruption had no Grand overflow. The delay wasn't all bad, as four Turban eruption intervals was enough for the sky to get dark and for the One Burst Eruption to be nicely illuminated by the quarter moon.
Once again a dawn check of Fan & Mortar showed no eruption overnight and Angle active. With no reports on Grand overnight, was prepared to wait a while. Grand's pool was full and overflowing, so I knew that it had been at least 4-1/2 hours since an eruption.
Spent the next 2-1/2 hours watching a series of nondescript Turban eruption intervals. At the two hour mark, West Triplet had a weak, eight minute long eruption.
The Grand eruption was nicely backlit, with all the initial activity easily visible. It was a surprise when the first burst lasted over 9-1/2 minutes. But the sunlight was glinting off of the water sloshing in the pool for nearly a minute before we got a strong, high second burst.
The last few days several people have reported what they thought was unusual activity-- stronger boiling or more numerous boiling points in Excelsior. I have dismissed these as wishful thinking from people who aren't familiar with the area. With the parking situation there, who is, anymore?
I listen in on the NPS radio chatter because it is informative, entertaining, and sometimes even has useful information. Coming back from Grand, I heard a Naturalist report that something unusual had happened at Excelsior. At first I dismissed it as another example of people goading each other into seeing things that aren't really there. But because I thought it was early enough (09:00), I could go out there and check it out myself. Also, if it had erupted, I wanted to see the area, and when it does erupt, I expect the NPS to close the area to everyone, even if the activity is not as much as the 1985 activity.
Turns out that 09:00 is too late, the parking lot was full. Worse, there were enough people waiting that I couldn't just leave, but had to wait for the way to clear. I was finally able to bail out and parked up along the road by the junction.
It was obvious by the time I got to the bridge across the river that nothing had happened. There was no evidence of any new runoff, or debris in the river, or dead plant-life (we were down-wind, too). Up at the top, there was no disruption of the shoreline of Excelsior, no wash zone above the rim. A total disappointment, but fortunately, only took an hour to drive out there and back, and didn't miss Fan & Mortar activity.
Had breakfast and got back out to Fan & Mortar around 11:00. For the next two hours, there was nothing more than the usual continuous Angle splashing and the quick cycling of the rest of Fan's vents. As I was getting ready to leave, that's when High and Gold Vents started looking really good. After ten minutes, they hadn't decreased in activity, so a radio call was made. That was all it really took to get them to suddenly die down. Which was timely, as that was when the call for the start of Beehive's Indicator came in on the radio.
Went out for the sunset Castle eruption, but it didn't cooperate. Left after rainbows were no longer possible. Turns out it was a minor eruption, again.
Got back out to Grand for the afternoon, and again had a series of Turban eruption intervals that didn't vary much. This time the One Burst Grand eruption started with Turban active for half a minute. It was followed by strong overflow from West Triplet that didn't have any splashes.
Once again, went out at dawn to check on Fan & Mortar. Once again, it was in Angle mode. Which is was in for the rest of the day. Went on over to Grand, where after two Turban eruption intervals, saw a One Burst Grand under nice, backlit conditions. West Triplet started late in the eruption, and lasted over eight minutes. A bit surprising, since earlier this year West Triplet would be quiet so soon after a Rift eruption.
Then spent almost three hours confirming that Fan & Mortar was not going to show signs of eruption any time soon. Instead, Angle was on continuously, while the rest of the Fan vents were cycling every 20 to 25 minutes. Occasionally they'd look good, especially when starting up (an "Artemisia Lock", named in honor of all those times someone passing by, usually headed to Artemisia, would call on the radio that Fan looked really good, almost in a lock, only to have it do nothing.)
In the early afternoon, Crystal and Belgian were high, with Slurp being flooded. Then it was time to wait for 3-1/2 hours of Turban eruption intervals. After 2-1/2, West Triplet erupted for about 25 minutes. Grand waited three more Turban eruption intervals after the West Triplet end before finally erupting. This turned out to be a two burst eruption, where it took Grand 45 seconds from the Turban start to get going.
Went out to Fan & Mortar at dawn to check on it. When I saw in the predawn light Angle splashing away and the rest of Fan quiet, I figured that there wasn't much reason to stick around. Went over to Grand instead, where the interval was already over six hours.
Probably arrived at the end of a Turban Delay interval, as there was no overflow from Grand for the next Turban eruption. The waited five more Turban eruption intervals where nothing much happened. When Grand did finally erupt, it was another short One Burst Eruption lasting well under ten minutes.
Reconfigured back in the cabin, then went out to Fan & Mortar again. No change from yesterday-- lots of Fan turning on and off, but nothing from Mortar. After three hours, I left.
Back out for Grand, where the water levels in Belgian and Crystal were as high as I've seen this year. Once again Slurp was drowned, but quiet. Again, I may have arrived as a Turban Delay started, as the Turban eruption lasted over 5-1/2 minutes and the following Turban eruption had no Grand overflow.
After six more Turban eruptions, Grand started over a minute after Turban, along with about ten seconds of boops before the eruption began. It was another One Burst Eruption that lasted under ten minutes.
Almost immediately afterwards, West Triplet started to erupt. These were full bursts, not the upwellings that break the surface that has characterized it the last few weeks. Fifteen minutes in, Percolator and Sput D were also active, so it was no surprise that after 26 minutes, Rift also started. This is the first Rift start I've seen this trip, and nice to know that it started with a normal West Triplet. When I left shortly after West Triplet ended (with a duration of 45 minutes), Belgian and Crystal had dropped several centimeters, and Belgian was barely covering the lobe.
Three hours later, there was a report that Rift was still erupting.
Made one last trip down basin, and after about 45 minutes, it was obvious that there had been no change in Fan & Mortar while I was gone.
