Last weekend we drove from Pahala to Hilo and back, which took us past Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. On the first pass, we could see some smoke from Halema’uma’u Crater, but not a lot. There was a slight smell of sulfur in the air. Coming back, the smoke plume was much more evident and we could see the smoke drifting along the coastline (and then inland, right to where they boys were!). This smoke is the result of a gas explosion that happened inside the crater last week that scattered rock over 75 acres.

Access to the overlook at  Halema’uma’u Crater is closed for safety reasons, but the scientists have installed a webcam that updates every 5-10 minutes. It’s a pretty amazing scene and a perfect opportunity for couch geologists to have a look at what’s going on (without dealing with respiratory issues!).