Report from South Kona

Traveling home thru the Volcano National park this weekend all of Mauna Loa was visible . Below from the Nat. Park website .

Rising gradually to more than 4 km above sea level, Mauna Loa is the largest volcano on our planet. Its long submarine flanks descend to the sea floor an additional 5 km, and the sea floor in turn is depressed by Mauna Loa’s great mass another 8 km. This makes the volcano’s summit about 17 km (56,000 ft) above its base! The enormous volcano covers half of the Island of Hawai`i and by itself amounts to about 85 percent of all the other Hawaiian Islands combined.

Mauna Loa is among Earth’s most active volcanoes, having erupted 33 times since its first well-documented historical eruption in 1843. Its most recent eruption was in 1984. Mauna Loa is certain to erupt again .

A littoral explosion at dusk. Explosions such as this have been common throughout the last several weeks at the Waikupanaha entry.

Where the lava flows around the trunk of a tree , it slowly burns away leaving a mold of its trunk, there are many of these around the park. All the photos also are from various places around the park. More to come.