Climbing a cinder cone

[Matt K.]

Once we came down from Mauna Kea, we stopped across the intersection to climb the cinder cone that was there. It is an oddity beyond understanding. All around there is nothing but old solidified lava, and in the middle of it this cone, one side almost desert like, and the opposite side like a pure rain forest. I suppose when it rains it hits the cone from the side, so all the water is on one side, not the other. Climbing up was not all that hard, though still at quite an elevation. and the view was spectacular. Here are a couple of images fro that experience. The first one is taken at the real dry side of the cone, right on top of the cone. You can see that funny weed/plant Mullein here as well.



this one is taken from the opposite side. Looking down at the lava flows. You can see the difference of the A'a (rough lava) and the Pahoehoe (smooth lava) quite clearly. The Pahoehoe is of course the shiny part. Both were created at the same time (which just floors me) but they were created so oppositely because they had quite a temperature difference: the A'a is much hotter and thus 'explodes' when it cools down, creating the sharp shards ....



The vast expanse of the lava flow ...



And a little detail image of the A'a .... I was fascinated by the variety of lava, and the tell tale sign of it's creation. An experience I will not soon forget.

[Bambi]

very cool. do you have a photo of the cinder cone from away? I can't quite picture the context.

[Matt K.]

very cool. do you have a photo of the cinder cone from away? I can't quite picture the context.

Thanks Bambi .... if you look at the big panorama, on the very left side there is a road coming from the mountain and intersecting with another road going left to right. Right there is the cone we climbed .. it is at the end of the road coming down, on the other side of the road it intersects.

[Hillbillygirl]

So amazing, and would be so cool to see. Thanks for sharing these awesome images Matt.

[Mad Aussie]

It's a wild landscape. The textures in the lava are very cool. Must have been amazing to see the primeval beginnings of the planet happening right in front of you.

[Iguanasan]

That's quite a view and the land is so desolate.