The smell of sulfur

There are cracks in the earth that start down near the liquid hot magma that lead to the surface where gas escapes. That gas has a high sulfur content which is obvious from the rotten egg smell and the strange colors it stains the surrounding rocks.

One of the following photos is of a steam vent, can you see the difference?

You can't stop flowing lava-

and it obviously took over this road.

Ellen and Matt

Ellen and Matt are visiting from LA and we have been having lots of fun showing them around the Big Island. I haven't had a chance to take many photos, but here are a couple from our walk along the coast in the National Park.

Running on another planet

I ran the Kileuea Iki trail in the Volcano National Park yesterday, and it was like running on another planet. I started running on a trail in what looks like a rain forest, then at the bottom of the trail it turned into a black cinder rock cooled lava lake. Kileuea Iki (iki means mini or little) erupted about 60 years ago and when it erupted it created a lava lake 300 feet deep, that lava is still cooling and putting off steam(which I saw on the trail). If you come to the Big Island I would recommend this trail!

running again

Since returning from Birmingham about 3 weeks ago, I've started running again. Yesterday I ran 6 miles. The amazing thing is that I can run any time of day and it's not too hot up here where we live, and coming from the heat in the South it's really different. In Alabama, even if I were to get up at 5am to run, the heat and humidity would still be almost unbearable.
I've enjoyed it more than I thought I would. It's a time when I zone out, talk to God, listen to the birds, feel the breeze, and organize my thoughts.
I run here most of the time:

Abby and I went horseback riding

For Abby's 10th Birthday present I took her horseback riding in Waimea. She said it was a dream come true. Abby's horse's name was Maui, mine Bradda(which is Brother in local Hawaiian lingo).
We had a great time.

4th of July rainbow walk

These photos were taken on a closed road (because lava flows have cut it off) which runs along the coast in the Volcanos National Park. It's about 40 minutes from our house, 30 minutes of that being in the N Park. We go there to watch the big swells crash into the cliffs, and it's always VERY windy.

We arrived about 45 minutes before sunset. The weather was perfect, with a wonderful breeze and a sky full of rainbows. We kept seeing one after another, growing in intensity. These photos just doesn't show it, but it was by far the most intense, brightest rainbow I have ever seen. Likely because we were in the shadow of the mountain and direct sunlight was hitting this patch of sky only on the exact spot, relative to us, that caused maximum effect.

Morning at Pohoiki

Sunday morning before church we stopped at Pohoiki so that Abby and Mason could do some boogie boarding. Lucy and I wandered around a bit so I took some pics in the morning light.

Bamboo teepee

Mark made an awesome bamboo teepee for the kids to play in--