Volcano!

Today we arrived on the big island of Hawaii.  We drove for two and a half hours to where we are staying in the town of, believe it or not, "Volcano."  It is only a mile and a half from Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.  They stay open at night so visitors can see the glow of lava from the lake in the caldera, if in fact there is any visible.  Well, we hit the jackpot according to the park ranger.  There was a large bright pool of molten lave about a mile away from us.  This is what it looked like from a distance.

I didn't have a telephoto lens with me, but the ranger had set up a spotting scope, so I put my camera lens up to the eyepiece of the scope and was able to get this view.  This is a boiling, leaping mass of lava that shoots globs and streamers of lava into the air!  It was absolutely spectacular to see in person through the spotting scope, and I was thrilled I could capture this image with my camera.

Within an hour or so, two more pools of lava became visible, for a total of three!  The ranger was astonished.  It would be a really big deal to see just one lava pool, and tonight, for about 15 minutes there were three!  It was a rare and astounding sight to see!