The Fate of Ahu‘ailä‘au ~ By Stefan Verbano
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very footstep crunches on the way to the summit. A strange, brittle ash coats the land, heaped in golden hills in some places; in others cut away by rivulets of erosion from three years of tropical rainstorms. The air is still foul with sulfur stink. Steam billows out of every crevice. Stop to take a breath—a pause in the crunching underfoot—until the smell of burning shoe soles warns that
From the slopes of Ahuÿailäÿau, still-steaming volcanic fissures can be seen spread across the lava flow field. Some are bordered by intact forests and buildings. photo by Stefan Verbano
KeOlaMagazine.com | July - August 2021
youʻve stumbled onto a still-hot patch of lavafield and itʻs time to keep moving. Once high up on the slopes, the steaming line of volcanic fissures from the 2018 Lower Puna Eruption, eerie in its absolute straightness, drifts into view between massive clouds of hot, humid haze swirling out of red cracks in the earth.
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A panoramic photograph of Ahuÿailäÿau (center), at the time simply known as “Fissure 8,” starting to form along the line of other erupting fissures cropping up at the beginning of the 2018 Lower Puna Eruption. photo courtesy of panoramist Kornelius Schorle
Suddenly, the wind rolling across this barren landscape changes direction and the all-engulfing blanket of steam disperses, allowing glints of sunlight to break through the cloudy sky and make the brown hills below glisten like theyʻre strewn with diamonds. The view becomes clear all around. Far in the distance the bank of the main lava channel, which moved billions of gallons of molten rock through Leilani Estates and sent it violently cascading downhill towards Kapoho in May 2018, cuts a sharp line against the forest behind it. The line meanders out toward the ocean on the horizon and then disappears. At the top at last, the fissureʻs crest gives way to reveal its colossal interior. All at once thereʻs a culmination of every sensory stimuli from the hike up: the loose gravel tinkles like scattering glass, a blast of hot steam floats up out of the chasm and engulfs the whole body, strong sulfur fumes assault the nostrils, streaks of blinding sunlight weave their way through the steam and make the red walls and cracked black floor below sparkle vibrantly and illuminate the tufts of orange and white sprinkled throughout. Tears fill stinging eyes as they finally take in the complete vista and behold such raw beauty dredged up from underground. Mesmerizing in its colorful splendor, unmatched in its natural majesty, dizzying in its sheer scale, the mighty Ahu‘ailā‘au towers over all else. Whatʻs in a Name? The 150-foot-tall oval-shaped fissure didnʻt begin its life with such a colorful and meaningful a name as Ahu‘ailā‘au. In March 2021, the Hawai‘i Board of Geographic Names officially bestowed the mountain with a title befitting its majestic presence, selected from a list of 21 potential names submitted by the local community. Before then, it was simply known as “Fissure 8”—a dry, scientific designation denoting it was the eighth fissure to crop up during an eruption that went on to spawn 24.
