On the Road Again PUNA COAST, Hawaii >> "Awesome," said Honolulu English teacher Patti Takata.
A newly improved road lessens
the danger and commute to see lavaBy Rod Thompson
rthompson@starbulletin.com"Sugoi," also meaning awesome, said one of her students, Aya Iizuma, from Ikaho City, Japan.
"You don't get much of this in Rhode Island," said Robert Vigorita of Warwick, R.I.
Several hundred people gathered yesterday for the official 2 p.m. opening of Hawaii County's newly improved gravel road to the coastal site where lava meets the sea, producing clouds of steam laced with hydrochloric acid. The gravel road at the Kalapana end of the paved portion of Highway 130 will be open every day from 2 to 8:30 p.m. After parking, visitors must hike about 20 minutes to the viewing spot.
Previously, lava viewers had to drive down the Chain of Craters Road through Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and then hike six miles to see the lava, an eight-hour round trip.
Vigorita joked about the lack of lava in Rhode Island, but Iizuma pointed out that even in Japan, a land of volcanoes, people rarely see lava. Eruptions there are too dangerous for general viewing. Hawaii's lava is predictable enough to permit hike-in views.
Both the public and officials were aware that viewing holds risks. Andy Levin, assistant to Mayor Harry Kim, said the mayor is reducing the danger by permitting controlled viewing.
"Harry Kim was Civil Defense director for 20 years," Levin said. "He understood the risk that was posed to the county by not doing anything."
As recently as two weeks ago, when viewing was still discouraged, some people got hit by hot water and rock that was blown into the air by a seaside steam explosion, he said.
Awareness of the dangers seemed to be heightened among the hikers yesterday.
After officials warned the public several times in recent days about the possibility of a "bench" of new lava collapsing into the sea, Slawko Semaszczuk of Laurel, Md., wondered if the weight of hundred of spectators could cause a collapse.
Actually, spectators are required to stay up on a bluff of solid lava, overlooking the unstable bench.
Semaszczuk was not too worried.
"It's great. It's marvelous," he said.
Some of the dangers were less expected. One little girl scraped her knee in a fall and was piggybacked out of the area by a red-vested trail guide.
The barren trail was every bit as hot, dry and windy as officials warned. John and Lauren Pohl of Sierra Vista, Calif., prepared by drinking plenty of water. In the rocky wasteland of former flows, they discovered two portable toilets.
"What a godsend," John Pohl exclaimed.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.