The Puna District

The Puna District sets below the Kilauea Volcano that regularly sends lava emerging from fissures on the great volcanic mountain then flowing down its slopes to the sea.  The Volcano has taken out homes and highways, and built new island in vast stretches along its base.



In the past, the flows sometimes encased trees as the lava slowly moved through the ancient forests of what would one day become the Puna district.  Some of those trees stayed upright, allowing the lava to wrap the tree, which in its destruction left behind hollow shells in tree shapes (shown above).  The state has created a lovely walkway through a grove of these lava encased trees at Lava Trees State Park in the heart of the district.  Now filled with the rich greenery that 200 inches of rain a year brings, these trees are thrust out of the dense jungle as stark reminders of the volcano's power.



The road to the lighthouse at the distant Cape Kumakahi traverses vast fields of pahoehoe lava.  Black flows edge the road as we traveled down to the sea.  At the lighthouse parking lot, three disreputable vehicles containing large groups of young haolies were parked with their campsite gear strewn about.  As one had to leave one's car and walk to the lighthouse, Helen, Lizzie, and I decided that the car would likely be broken into while we walked, so we didn't stay, and instead traveled back to explore the lava-formed Wai' Opae tide pools in the district,  with a stop at the lovely Painted Church.

In 2014, a new flow emerged and instead of heading as it traditionally has toward Kalapana (where it destroyed the highway paralleling the sea decades ago), a new fissure opened and disgorged slow-moving lava.  This lava crept toward the town of Pahoa, threatening the entire developed section of the Puna district.  It wrapped around the disposal transfer station, crossing Old Cemetary Road, and continued down the valley toward schools, houses, businesses, and a thriving community. Then, as tragedy was threatening, the flow stopped as suddenly as it started, sparing the bulk of the town.  We stopped near the transfer station and looked at the wall of lava on both sides of the re-opened road.  The black rock has already began to be colonized by plants, with ferns the first invaders of the new rock surface.  This shouldn't be surprising, as ferns are among the oldest plants on earth, and must have colonized lava many times over the eons.