Kilauea erupts, destroying webcam [video]

Decades ago, my wife and I visited the Big Island during a fairly sedate eruption. We drove down Chain of Craters Road, got to see a tiny lava flow (talking like a couple feet of glowing honey), but were wanting more. In the distance, we could see a huge steam column where a lava stream was reaching the sea. We asked one of the ever-attendant Park Rangers if we could walk over there. He said no.

But then he said - we close at 5pm, and there are no gates. OK, we can take a hint.

We drove to Hilo and bought cheap tennis and flashlights, then scurried back down Chain of Craters after 6. As the sky darkened, we walked towards the steam column. The rocks beneath our feet showed incandescent glows deep in the cracks, and we started to smell burned rubber from our cheap tennis. Eventually, we came to the lava outfall.

We watched nearly an hour as a river of molten rock cascaded into the ocean. We used our water bottles on our shoe soles, turning back when we ran dry.

I now understand that we were stupid - apparently the park loses a few tourists to shelf collapse each year - but we lived, and the memory is a treasure. Thank you, Mr. Ranger.

And yes, it's like being on a different planet - like being on our own, maybe 4 billion years ago.

Not stupid. Just experiencing life and sometimes amazing experiences have a chance of danger. You get to choose what risk levels you are okay with. Props to that ranger who agreed with that belief.

At that time, we had no kids & no pets, nobody directly dependent on us. That figured in our conversation on the drive to Hilo. Nowdays, we might come to a different conclusion, but I'm glad for the path we chose then.

Especially since that path didn’t collapse ;)

Choosing your risk level and working within it isn't stupid. Not knowing the risk when it's easy to gather some more info and then acting in ignorance is, which is what GP was describing, and likely why they called their own actions stupid.

it's all whimsy and adventure -- but the reality is that you're not just risking your own lives but also the lives of potential rescuers.

just food for thought. I'm not about to say one should lead a safe and sterile life, but there is more to it than direct dependents.

Also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laze_(geology) :)

Rescuers choose their jobs too.

Though rescuers did consciously choose that role and that they’d be saving ignorant people very often

doctors choose their jobs too and they generally encourage people to stay out of the ER

Doesn’t mean you need to add more opportunities for people to get hurt or killed when you know better.

That's completely irrelevant. Rescuers can encourage people to be safe, that's expected. they chose that job , despite it's dangers, because they care about those people being safe.

They know the danger and chose the job. That's the relevant bit.

I think you missed their point - just because you choose a job doesn’t mean people shouldn’t try to avoid needing to be rescued in the first place

I wonder if, if you'd talk to a rescuer, they'd agree...

> The rocks beneath our feet showed incandescent glows deep in the cracks, and we started to smell burned rubber from our cheap tennis.

When I was there, this happened in the area that the rangers guided us to. There was an active flow of pāhoehoe at the time, which we could get as close to as we wanted - the heat was a strong disincentive to doing anything dumb. We were warned at the start that shoes with rubber soles would be ruined, but that warning was too late for me and I had no alternative. It was certainly worth the price of a pair of sneakers though.

source: i worked on an ambulance

Heh well, that's a good source. Any idea if all your colleagues thought the same?