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Hawaii's Mount Kilauea Volcano Feeling The Lava Love

If you’ve been paying attention to all the hype, you’d know that now is a great time to visit Hawaii. The state is hurting since a lot of tourist money has dried up, but that’s good news for budget-conscious travelers who've always dreamt of getting lei'd. With a little patience, scoring a great hotel and airfare deal is totally possible. If for some reason you need more urging to visit the Aloha State, consider that you might just get to see Kilauea getting a little feisty.

Over on the Big Island, things have been a little more active than usual for the last week or so at the Halemaumau crater, and the glow of lava can easily been seen overnight from the viewpoint at the Jaggar Museum. Scientists are pretty hot and heavy about what could happen next, but they’re unsure if lava will ever erupt in a fountain out of the crater.

The Hawaii Volcanoes National Park has limited access to the summit vent, just in case things get a little too exciting a little too quickly. Right now, it’s estimated that molten lava is only about 300 feet below the crater flow—which, in relative terms, is extremely close. Although there’s always something cooking deep inside the earth, it’s been since October 2008 since Madam Pele has been this active. If you go at active times like this, there's no need to enter the dangerous zone in order to see volcanic action; so get there while the lava getting's good.

Related Stories:
·Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park [Official Site]
·Scientists Eye Glowing Volcano Crater In Hawaii [AP, via Google]
·Halemaumau Lava Lake Bubbling Up? [KHNL]
·Jaunted In Hawaii coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo from 2008: NDomer73]