yay for LAVA!

i'll try to make this blurb slightly more coherent...

one of the coolest things about living on a volcanic island (other than the SUPERB forests and beaches) is seeing all the fascinating lava formations

one time i went hiking down a lava flow around the southern part of the big island

the aim was to make it to this isolated beach called Halape - it was a protected as a Hawksbill Turtle nesting site (nifty!)

anyways, we lost the trail about 50 meters down

this lent to a unique opportunity to explore the cooled lava formations (since we had nothing else to observe as we spent the next 3 hours searching for the path)

here are some mind-warping pics:

here's an ohia tree (Metrosiderous polymorpha - i got to know these trees REALLY well in biology classes) growing out of a miniscule crack in the lava - a perfect example of primary succession at work!

here you can see the new lava flow that has run over the old one

i dont even know what to call this... a chasm?

here's my girl (hiuyan) next to an old tree
notice the path of the new lava flow in the distance

here's some nice scenery pics for you!
there's the blue blue hawai'ian ocean off in the distance
this last one is my favorite

i like to call these formations 'lava dragons'
these mysterious troughs look like dragons sleeping in the lava

most of the lava was trecherous to scramble over
it crunched and cracked under your feet
occassionally, the skin of a sturdy-looking boulder would shed itself as you trod on it, sending your foot off with it, as if you were sliding on something slippery instead of rough and brittle

here's a final scenic shot
just to make you JEALOUS ^______^

that's all for now!
sometime ill get back to this journey over the wild lava lands~
it sure was memorable...