Nisga'a Museum
Greenville, BC, Canada
Nisga'a Museum
Greenville, BC, Canada
Long Beach
Long Beach, BC, Canada
Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park, CA
Our Jeep took us to the newest land on earth: Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. On the massive flanks of Kilauea, the Goddess Pele simultaneously displays her devastating beauty while demonstrating her volatile temper. Oceans of molten lava have spilled from her crater to form massive crevasses and rift zones threatening to swallow not only cars but buildings alike. Solidified lava in glassy filaments (Pele's Hair) and small droplets (Pele's Tears) litter the barren ground. It's against the law to pick them up—if that's not enough of a deterrent, Rangers suggest that taking a souvenir will also stir the fiery deity's wrath. All of this geological drama, according to legend, is the fallout from a battle between the goddess of fire and volcanoes and the rain god, Kamapuaʻa. To avoid total Armageddon, they divided up the island, providing a mythological explanation for Big Island's surreal juxtaposition of verdant tropical paradise and scorched-earth desert. Traversing this moonscape requires extreme care as shards of glittering lava gives way to heart-sinking drops under foot, albeit only inches, accompanied by the crackling sound of shattering glass. Recent eruptions have made this primeval environment off-limits, but on this particular day we were lucky this area was accessible.
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