01-17-2010, 04:56 AM
Kathy,
This is based on my limited, but extraordinary experience. I went to the plume only twice, and each time was quite dramatic. The second time made it onto my top 20 most extraordinary experiences of my life, and the top 10 of those I can mention.
Viewing tips:
1. Check the music calendar and see if something ELSE is taking place on the volcano in the evening at Kilauea Music Camp (John Keawe played there, for example, in early December).
2. Find someone special and get tickets to the event.
3. Before the event, go outside. Are the trade winds blowing? Good. You must have tradewinds to see the plume. At the moment, the plume is a mess, that is filling the caldera and not going away from the camera. It must be going away from the camera.
4. Before you go to the event, check the overlook vent webcam. See any ripples in the image? Good. That's the lava welling up in the vent within the vent within the caldera.
5. Pack a flashlight and a light jacket.
6. Go to the musical or cultural event, which should end around 10:00 or so.
7. Check the sky. Clear? If not, go home.
8. If the sky is clear and you can see stars, slowly make your way over to the Jagger Museum overlook.
9. Walk down path to overlook using flashlight.
10. Here, luck is required. The plume is not always illuminated. However, even when not illuminated, the plume is impressive on a starry night, and there are few better places to see the stars without eskimo clothing than from the Kilauea caldera.
I didn't do any of this when I had my most memorable plume experience. I was coming back from Kona the southern route late at night. My friend was asleep in the car. I drove to Jagger just a few minutes before midnight. Sky was very, very clear and it was a little warm. Woke her up, we walked down the path using the light from our cell phones. Plume was very white against the dark sky. We watched it for a few minutes and gazed at the stars. Then it noisily exploded with a light that completely filled the caldera and surrounding area. It then glowed a bright red. It was thrilling. Hard to recreate and I probably won't try.
This is based on my limited, but extraordinary experience. I went to the plume only twice, and each time was quite dramatic. The second time made it onto my top 20 most extraordinary experiences of my life, and the top 10 of those I can mention.
Viewing tips:
1. Check the music calendar and see if something ELSE is taking place on the volcano in the evening at Kilauea Music Camp (John Keawe played there, for example, in early December).
2. Find someone special and get tickets to the event.
3. Before the event, go outside. Are the trade winds blowing? Good. You must have tradewinds to see the plume. At the moment, the plume is a mess, that is filling the caldera and not going away from the camera. It must be going away from the camera.
4. Before you go to the event, check the overlook vent webcam. See any ripples in the image? Good. That's the lava welling up in the vent within the vent within the caldera.
5. Pack a flashlight and a light jacket.
6. Go to the musical or cultural event, which should end around 10:00 or so.
7. Check the sky. Clear? If not, go home.
8. If the sky is clear and you can see stars, slowly make your way over to the Jagger Museum overlook.
9. Walk down path to overlook using flashlight.
10. Here, luck is required. The plume is not always illuminated. However, even when not illuminated, the plume is impressive on a starry night, and there are few better places to see the stars without eskimo clothing than from the Kilauea caldera.
I didn't do any of this when I had my most memorable plume experience. I was coming back from Kona the southern route late at night. My friend was asleep in the car. I drove to Jagger just a few minutes before midnight. Sky was very, very clear and it was a little warm. Woke her up, we walked down the path using the light from our cell phones. Plume was very white against the dark sky. We watched it for a few minutes and gazed at the stars. Then it noisily exploded with a light that completely filled the caldera and surrounding area. It then glowed a bright red. It was thrilling. Hard to recreate and I probably won't try.