We did really get lucky. We visited twice, the first time was Thursday, October 10th, and there were "only" slowly oozing lava toes like those in the first three pictures I posted. On Monday, the surface flow, which is about a quarter mile from the road, had really picked up. It was generally more active, with faster and larger areas of oozing. Then, just before sunset, the large breakout started in front of us just as we were leaving to start the other marked trail to view the ocean entries. Needless to say, we delayed that hike and stayed to watch and take photographs and video. The lava has flowed over the road sometime in the last few months, but is was bit above the road last week.
The flows up higher on the volcano that I took pictures of from the helicopter and with my zoom lens from the end of the road were not visible at all on Thursday. The pilot said they weren't even there Monday morning when she flew her first tour of the day.
The ocean entries are where the lava emerges from lava tubes and flows into the ocean. From the air and the ground, you mostly just see the steam (as in my last two, blurry, photos). I could briefly see the lava though the steam from the air and the steam has an orange glow at night. If you stay in the areas marked as safe by the Park Service, the actual entry points are obscured from direct view by the points of the sea cliffs. A few people ignored the warning signs and went up to the edge for a better view. One guy who did this told me there were visible streams of lava pouring over the cliffs. The experts say these cliffs and lava benches are very unstable and unsafe so I didn't go there.
There are
eruption updates, including many photos, available on the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory site.
[This message has been edited by dhacker (edited 10-20-2002).]