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Hey Hilo did you see this?

Wow, how sad...Lava tubes are all over. It makes hiking so dangerous, especially on the Hilo side of the island. With so much rain, plants cover the weak roofs of tubes closer to the surface, which can collapse w/o warning. Most Hawaiian lava flows are only partially on the surface Underground tubes can flow long after the surface cools. Trying to build roads over the recently cooled surface flows, crews had to stop many times b/c the ground was over 400F — a sure sign lava was still flowing a year after it stopped up top.

My house was on an acre, 1/2 of it flat, 1/2 A’a lava that was densely overgrown. Walking the lot before I bought it, (with a machete), I fell into a hole 4‘ wide, 6’ deep. It was totally overgrown with weeds and vines, which cushioned the impact. I would have broken my leg at the very least if it was rocky. I was scrapped-up, but OK. The realtor with me thought I was a goner, I just disappeared! We later found 3 small tubes, and 2-3 deep holes. My yard, like many yards up-slope from town, was dangerous.....
 
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If you guys want an up-close and personal experience of what it’s like to hike on the Big Island, watch this. Start at about 1min to get to the lava part. You’ll see the kind of holes that can seriously hurt you, and most of the rock edges are sharp as broken glass. He refers to Pele’s hair a lot, it’s fine strands of lava that look like hair, so they call it Pele’s (Volcano Goddess) hair!

This guy is walking where there used to be houses with ocean views. It’s lava zone 1 ground, so they all rolled the dice and lost...I lived about 30 miles away in Hilo...

 
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Watch this short video, taken about 5 miles east of the 2018 eruption. 1960. This video only shows the mature cone w/fountaining lava after the same precursors as 2018 — cracks in ground... steam... lava... fountains of lava. The entire town in the foreground was buried like Pompeii. In fact, the lava chunks are so severe, you can’t even walk out to where this happened today, but my drone footage shows there’s nothing left...

 
Very informative. I didn't know the lava after cooling was so hallow, crispy, honey comb like. I can see where walking could be dangerous.
 
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Very informative. I didn't know the lava after cooling was so hallow, crispy, honey comb like. I can see where walking could be dangerous.
It absolutely destroys shoes - cut to shreds quickly. Every year, tourists wander out onto a lava field, twist/break a leg/ankle, and are sometimes stranded for a long time.

Hiking trails are marked with safety cones, because it all looks the same after a few miles. It’s so uneven in elevation, it’s easy to get lost, I have. If you loose sight of the cones, (strong winds can blow them over), it’s no-man’s land. They use helicopters to search for folks, but they get the $$$ bill too.

American Indian Chief Captain Jack’s incredible defense of his band from the US Army gives you an idea how treacherous and disorientating huge lava fields can be!
 
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