Feda, some friends and I went to see the lava activity in HVNP last wednesday night. The full moon and clear sky helped to make the short trek to the lava flow easier. Believe me, a hike in daylight is a breeze but at midnight a mile-long journey across hills of lava is like crossing Mordor. Well, Mordor with tons of cockroaches crawling all over... *ick*
The flow was a sight to see! Unfortunately our camera wasn't able to capture any of it in focus. I believe our digicam was harmed by a topless granola woman attempting to commune with Pele who kept muttering stuff like "flashlight off" and "hele on" whenever a hiker would pass by. *grimace* Two words: old bags!
Thankfully there weren't too many other people out there at midnight so we were able to get to within 30 feet of some breakouts. That was close enough. The southeast breeze was helpful to keep the air clear but occasionally it would shift direction and then you'd get blasted by a heat wave and sulfur!
We ended our lava experience with a picnic at my sister's truck. We're Big Isle natives so the hike doesn't end unless there's some chicken, musubi and spam. ^_^