Pele | Page 2 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

May 12, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Pā‘aiea Pond

It is said there once was a very large fishpond extending from Ka‘elehuluhulu, adjoining the region of Mahai‘ula (now part of Ke Kahakai State Park,) running south past Ka-Lae-O-Keāhole to as far south as Wawaloli on the boundary of ‘O‘oma (the beach park within the Natural Energy Laboratory,) in North Kona on the Big Island.

This is the present area of Kona International Airport.

This fishpond, known as Pā‘aiea, was reportedly three-miles long and a mile-and- a-half wide; it was the large fishpond of Kamehameha.

The pond was so large that fishermen going to Kailua and further South, often took a short cut by taking their canoes into the pond and going across, thus saving time against the strong sea breeze and current from Keāhole.

There was a famous saying about this fishpond: O na hoku o ka lani, o Pā‘aiea ko lalo – The stars are above, Pā‘aiea below.

The reason for this saying was because of its exceptionally large size. Within the wide waters of this pond were numerous little islets that were compared to the stars in the heavens.

“Pā‘aiea was a great pond almost like the ponds of Wainanalii and Kiholo. In the olden days, when the great ruling chiefs were living, and when these fish ponds were full of the riches of Awa, Anae, and Ahole, along with all sorts of fish which swam within.”

“During that time, Konohiki were stationed, and he was the guard of the pond that watched over the pond and all things, as here we are talking about Pā‘aiea Pond which was destroyed by lava and became pahoehoe lava which remains today”.

“In the correct and trues story of this pond, its boundaries began from Kaelehuluhulu on the north and on the south was at the place called Wawaloli, and the distance from one end to the other was 3 miles or more, and that was the length of this pond …”

“… and today within these boundaries, there are a number of pools [lua wai loko] remaining during this time that the writer is speaking before the readers of the Hoku.”

“The great Overseer [Konohiki] who cared for this pond was Kepaalani, and everything fell under him: the storehouses [hale papaa] where poi and fish were stored, the halau for the fishing canoes, the nets and all thing, and from him the fishermen and the retainers of the court would obtain their sustenance.”

“And at this time when the pond was destroyed by lava, Kamehameha was residing in Hilo for the purpose of waging war, and this war was called Kaipalaoa …”

“… during this war, Namakehaikalani died and was offered atop the Heiau of Piihonua in Hilo; and this was Kamehameha’s final war, and his enemies lived quietly without uprising once again. “

“This was the time between 1798 until 1801, and it is said that this is when lava destroyed this pond that was full of riches, and turned it into a land of pahoehoe lava which remains to this day.” (Hoku o Hawaii, 2/5/1914)

Pā‘aiea Pond was reportedly destroyed by the 1801 eruption and lava flow from Hualālai. Two parts to a story relate to the cause of its destruction.

The first suggests that one day an old woman appeared at the large canoe shed of Kepa‘alani (the konohiki or overseer of the pond.)

Another man, Kapulau, asked: “Malahini?” (newcomer)

She replied “I am a Kama‘āina, not exactly a total stranger, but I do not often come down here to the seashore. Living in the restful uplands, and hearing that there was plenty of fish down at the beach, I hastened down to see if the fishermen would give me a bit of palu.”

The konohiki replied, “”No! You cannot have fish, palu, shrimps or anything. It all belongs to the Chief, and only the Chief can give them to you.”

“Well! That is all. I now return to the uplands without even a grain of salt.” The old woman stood up and turned around to go.

When she came to Kapulau’s house, she was urged to remain and have something to eat. She consented and sat down. When she had finished her meal, Kapulau gave her a fish.

The old woman stood up, and before starting to go, she gave these instructions to her host: “Tonight, you and your wife put up a lepa (kapa cloth on end of a stick, as used to mark a taboo area) back of your house and here on your fence.” They followed her instructions.

In the second part of the story, this same old woman soon afterwards appears at a village called Manuahi which was on the Western slope of Hualālai, and where two girls who figure in this story, lived; they were roasting bread-fruit.

The name of one of these girls was Pahinahina and the name of the other was Kolomu‘o. As soon as the old woman saw then she inquired: “For whom are you roasting your bread-fruit?”

Kolomu‘o answered: “I am roasting my bread-fruit for La‘i. That is my God and the God of my parents.”

Then the old woman turned and asked Pahinahina, the other girl, “and for whom, pray, are you roasting your breadfruit?” “For Pele,” Pahinahina replies.

Then they ate the breadfruit.

Then the old woman asked Pahinahina: “Where is your house?” Pahinahina told her they shared a house, but the families lived on respective end of it. The old women then told her, “When your parents come home, you tell them to put up a lepa on the end of your part of the house.” They complied.

That night, the people living at the beach saw an eruption on Mountain of Hualālai and as they saw the lava flow they realized that the old woman whose request for fish, palu and shrimps had been refused, could have been no other than the Goddess Pele.

The lava came and destroyed the great fishpond of Pā‘aiea, dried its water and filled and covered it with black rocks.

However, two places were spared.

There remained only that very small portion of the fishpond, close to Ho‘ona (within the Natural Energy Laboratory property at Keāhole Point.)

Also, the area where Pahinahina and her family lived was left untouched, and this open space bears the name of Pahinahina to this day (it is below the old headquarters at Hu‘ehu‘e Ranch).

It is said that because of this event that the lands of Manuahi came to be called Ka-ulu-pulehu (the roasted breadfruit (‘ū is short for ‘ulu,)) and this has been shortened to Ka‘ūpūlehu.

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March 8, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

‘Āinapō Trail

The canoe was a principal means of travel in ancient Hawai‘i; land travel was only foot traffic, over little more than trails and pathways.

Extensive cross-country trail networks enabled gathering of food and water and harvesting of materials for shelter, clothing, medicine, religious observances and other necessities for survival.

Ancient trails, those developed before western contact in 1778, facilitated trading between upland and coastal villages and communications between ahupua‘a and extended families.

These trails were usually narrow, following the topography of the land. Sometimes, over ‘a‘ā lava, they were paved with water-worn stones.

One such overland trail, leading to Mokuʻāweoweo, the summit crater at the summit of Mauna Loa, is ‘Āinapō Trail (darkened land (often heavy with fog)).

It is a narrow, single-file, twisting, and occasionally slightly abraded trail above the 11,600 elevation. It leads up the broad southeast flank of Mauna Loa volcano to and along the east side of Mokuʻāweoweo, the major summit crater (HHF)

Hawaiians laid out the ‘Āinapō foot trail to assure availability of shelter, drinking water, and firewood between their nearest permanent settlement, Kapāpala village, and Mokuʻāweoweo. Kapāpala village could be reached over easy-grade trails from the coastal Hawaiian settlements.

Most Mauna Loa ascents by Hawaiians were made during summit eruptions, when the volcano goddess Pele was present, to honor her with chanted prayers and offerings; and perhaps at other times to honor a site she frequented. (NPS)

“The Hawaiian style of ascent to Mokuʻāweoweo lay in moving upslope in easy stages to lessen fatigue and permit acclimatization to the increasingly rarefied atmosphere.

The major stages were a series of overnight camps, each complete with small, warm, thatched houses and well supplied with food, drinking liquid, and firewood. In each camp, the elite were supported in the style of Hawaiian high chiefs. The lesser stages consisted of frequent rest stops, perhaps in natural rock shelters, warmed by fires as necessary. (NPS)

In 1840, Lt Charles Wilkes, as part of the US Exploring Expedition, came to Hawai‘i to conduct experiments and make observations, including swinging pendulums on Mauna Loa’s summit to calculate the force of gravity. They hiked from Hilo to the summit.

Wilkes substituted his own route for the Hawaiian ‘Āinapō trail. Wilkes’ line of march was through wooded country, but without streams or waterholes. Shoes of the Caucasians scuffed and soles abraded on the lava they crossed.

Most of the Hawaiians were barefoot. To mark the path for the straggling porters, Wilkes’ associates built fires and blazed trees. Bushes were broken with their tops laid down to indicate the direction of travel. (NPS)

Much unnecessary thirst, hunger, cold, altitude sickness, fatigue, and snowblindness were suffered by both Caucasians and Hawaiians of the expedition when Wilkes substituted his own route for the Hawaiian ‘Āinapō trail.

‘Mountain’ sickness, probably caused from the combination of fatigue, dehydration, chill, hunger, and the altitude, was prevalent.

To the rescue came the Hawaiian guides ‘Ragsdale’ and Keaweehu, a famous bird catcher. Both had apparently been waiting at Kapāpala for the expedition to arrive and planned to guide the expedition up the ‘Āinapō trail.

Ragsdale was hired to supply water for the camp. His men delivered it the next day – fifteen gallons carried in open-top vessels over the trackless ten miles of rugged lavas which separated Wilkes’ camp from the ‘Āinapō trail.

At about the same elevation on the Āinapō was a large lava tube with pools of water inside. This tube was used by Hawaiians on the ‘Āinapō trail and was easily supplied with grass (for insulation from the cold ground) and firewood from a point on the trail not far below. (NPS)

Up until around 1916, the customary route to the summit of Mauna Loa was the 34-mile long ‘Āinapō Trail. Most Mauna Loa ascents by Hawaiians were made during summit eruptions, when the volcano goddess Pele was present, to honor her with chanted prayers and offerings. (HHF)

In 1916, With the assistance of the US Army, Thomas A Jaggar, a geologist from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) had a trail constructed from Kīlauea to the Mauna Loa summit along the northeast flank of the mountain.

That year, the summit of Mauna Loa, the Army-built trail, and the summit of Kilauea volcano were incorporated within Hawaii National Park, established by Congress.

With the trail completed, horses and mules could go as far as Pu‘u ‘Ula‘ula (Red Hill), where a 10-man cabin and 12-horse stable had been built. The remaining 10-mile trail to the summit was pedestrian only.

After 1916, for the next half century, there were two trails to the summit, but the Āinapō received diminishing usage and was not maintained. Below the barren lavas, the savannah-forest areas through which the ‘Āinapō passed became ranching country private land through which public passage was discouraged. (NPS)

From the trailhead, ʻĀinapō Trail ascends 7,600-feet in 10.2 miles to the National Park Service cabin on the rim of Mokuʻāweoweo crater.

Vegetation varies from mixed mesic koa /ʻōhiʻa forest to alpine stone desert. Intermittent, and in places infrequent, stacks of loose lava boulders (ahu) line the sides of the trail.

Abraded spots occur only on the rare surface types subject to pockmarking by metal blows; this was done by iron-shod hooves since 1870s, when horses and mules began to be used. (NPS)

Day use of ʻĀinapō trail does not require a permit; however, hikers are required to contact Kapāpala Ranch at 808-928-8403 to obtain the combination for the locked gate.

Users are required to call the night before between 7:30 pm and 8:30 pm.to schedule entry. Lock combinations are changed daily and given out daily at the same phone number from 4:30 am to 7:00 am on entry day. Everyone using this public access will sign in and out on the log sheet located in the mailbox on the gate.

Reservations and permits for camping at the trail shelter may be obtained from Hawaiʻi District Division of Forestry and Wildlife, at 808-974-4221 or at the link below. Hikers continuing to the summit need to register with the National Park Rangers (808 985-6000). (DLNR)

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May 20, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Pele and the Missionaries

“Had Vulcan employed ten thousand giant Cyclops, each with a steam engine of one thousand horse-power, blowing anthracite coal for smelting mountain minerals, or heaving up and hammering to pieces rocks and hills, their united efforts would but begin to compare with the work of Pele here.”

“Though our mission had now been in the islands nearly four years, yet some of the people of Puna and Hilo were as much afraid of the palapala, as they had been of Pele. Some retained their superstitious regard to the volcanic deities.”

“Some, in their self-complacency, questioned or doubted whether any benefit equal to the trouble, could be obtained by attention to missionary instruction.” (Hiram Bingham)

“Tho’ we do not dispair of benefiting the adults, many of whom are susceptible of religious and moral impressions, & some of whom we hope have already been brought into the kingdom of our Lord, yet generally speaking …”

“… this class of persons are so inveterately addicted to their ancient customs, and so deeply immersed in low and vicious habits, that it is to the rising generation we principally look for the subjects of the transforming grace of God.” (Thurston & Bishop, 1825)

“So far from renouncing their belief in the former Gods of Hawai‘i, it is supposed that more than two thirds adhere to them in some measure, and sacrifice unto them in private.”

“This is more especially the case in the remote parts of the island, where Pele, the god of Volcanoes, has a great number of votaries. Such in brief is the present condition of this people among whom we dwell.” (Thurston & Bishop, 1825)

“Many of the natives still believe that a deity exists in the volcano by the name of Pele. Some tried to dissuade Kapiʻolani from going up to the volcano. They told her that Pele would kill her & eat her up if she went there. She replied that she would go, & if Pele killed & ate her up, they might continue to worship Pele; but if not, i.e., if she returned unhurt, then they must turn to the worship of the true God.”

“Nothing very material occurred during the remainder of the way, except that at every place where they encamped for the night, Kapiʻolani’s first request would be to unite in prayer, to express her gratitude to the Most High for his loving kindness to her through the day. (Goodrich & Ruggles, 1825)

“Taking my field as a whole it has not differed much the past year in its general characteristics from previous years. Perhaps the long spell of warm & pleasant weather may be an exception. For this some believe, right or wrong, we are indebted to Madame Pele who has been most lavish even to prodigality of her warming & burning influences.” (Lyons, 1857)

“The volcano of Kīlauea is always in action. Its lake of lava and brimstone rolls and surges from age to age. Sometimes these fires are sluggish, and one might feel safe in pitching his tent upon the floor of the crater.”

“Again the ponderous masses of hardened lava, in appearance like vast coal-beds, are broken up by the surging floods below, and tossed hither and thither, while the great bellows of Jehovah blows upon these hills and cones and ridges of solidified rocks, and melts them down into seas and lakes and streams of liquid fire.” (Titus Coan)

“There is a remarkable variety in the volcanic productions of Hawaii, – a variety as to texture, form and size, from the vast mountain and extended plain, to the fine drawn and most delicate vitreous fibre, the rough clinker, the smooth stream, the basaltic rock, and masses compact and hard as granite or flint, and the pumice or porous scoria, or cinders, which, when hot, probably formed a scum or foam on the surface of the denser molten mass.” (Hiram Bingham)

“Steam and gases are constantly issuing from a thousand holes and fissures over the crater, but scarcely a spark of fire is to be seen by day or night. In fact Mother Pele has buried her fires, stopped her forges, extinguished her lamps and retired within the deep recesses of her infernal caverns.”

“Is she dead? Does she sleep? or has she only closed her adamantine doors, and with Pluto and Vulcan descended to the fiery bowels of the earth to prepare with deeper secrecy her magazines of wrath which shall one day burst forth with more desolating terror?”

“To us it is a lonely idea that the volcano should become extinct; for we confess that her mutterings, her thunderings, her flashings, the smoke of her nostrils and the shaking of her rocky ribs are music, beauty, sublimity and grandeur to us. They seem so like the voice of Almighty God, so like the footsteps of Deity.” (Lydia Bingham Coan)

“A mighty current instantly overflowed, and they ran for their lives before the molten flood, and ascended from the surface of the abyss to the lofty rim with heartfelt thanksgiving to their great Deliverer. This proves the real danger of meddling with Pele’s palace and trifling with her power.”

“Had this occurred in the days of unbroken superstition, it would doubtless have been ascribed to the anger of that false deity, and multiplied her worshippers.”

“But now such a deliverance was justly ascribed to the care and power of Jehovah, the knowledge of whose attributes displayed in the works of creation, providence, and grace, has introduced the Hawaiian race into a new life.” (Hiram Bingham)

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November 17, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

19th Hole

A standard round of golf has only eighteen holes. The 19th hole is a code term typically for a pub, bar or restaurant on or near the golf course, very often the clubhouse itself. Golfer will say they are at the ‘19th hole,’ meaning they are getting a drink after the round.

The Volcano House was advertising golf at “the sporty nine-hole golf course nearby with earthquake cracks for hazards.” (Thrum 1925)

“A golf course has been constructed near the rim of the crater of the vulcano Kilauea on Hawaii Island (in 1921,) which is comparatively flat on top. The course is claimed to be an ideal one and although there are lava holes here and there, these have been wired over so that balls will not be lost.”

“Now and then a golfer will be standing near one of these vents when a lot of lazy steam will come up through it, but Kilauea volcano is well tamed and golfers need not worry …”

“… unless they happen to be of the strong arm variety and shoot the ball to the 19th hole, which is the crater of Halemaʻumaʻu itself. Then it’s flowers for that particular ball and scores will not count.” (Golfers Magazine, December 1922)

“The nineteenth hole of Kilauea golf course at Hilo, Hawai‘i, provides the worst golfer in the world a chance to record his hole-in-one. It is the Halemaʻumaʻu fire-pit of Kilauea volcano and is half a mile wide and 1200 feet deep.” (Bismarck Tribune, February 27, 1931)

The Hawai‘i National Park was created by Act of Congress in 1916, and was formally received and dedicated as such in July, 1921. (NPS)

“It is the Halemaʻumaʻu firepit of the Kilauea crater in the Hawai‘i National Park on this (the largest) island in the Hawaiian archipelago. “Mammoth golf was played from the brink of the huge firepit long before the advent of the baby courses (miniature golf.)”

“Golfer, good, bad or indifferent, who play on this course are assured of making a hole in one, as the giant 19th offers a target that cannot be missed.”

“Tourist guides and chauffeurs act as caddies, supplying a golf stick and ball. Certificates are issued to travelers who make the shot, attesting that they have made ‘world’s greatest hole in one.”

“Because it can be played the year round, golf is a popular sport in Hawaii. There are twenty courses on the four principal islands. This Island (Hawai‘i) has seven courses; on Maui there are four; Kauai island has two; and on Oahu (the island on which Honolulu is located) there are seven courses.” (Prescott Evening Courier, November 27, 1930)

“The Secretary of the Interior, Hubert Work, Director Mather, and Governor Wallace R Farrington, who took a keen interest in the park, all took part in the dedication of the first park museum.”

“After dedicating the building, the Secretary exploded the charge of powder that initiated work on the triangle portal of the Chain of Craters Road. And after that, he became the first unofficial member of the “World’s Greatest Hole-in-One Club” by driving a golf ball into Halemaʻumaʻu.”

Hui O Pele (Society of Pele) was organized in 1923 at the suggestion of Charles C Moore, President of the San Francisco Pan Pacific International Exposition.

“Moore visited the Land of Pele the year before and was so impressed by the volcanic phenomena, the Pele legends and other features (in the area.”

“He suggested the formation of an organization that would perpetuate the name and tradition of the volcano goddess through the grant of membership certificates to persons who visited Pele’s fiery home.”

“Moore contributed $100 to begin the organization, and through the interest of various Honolulans it was formed the next year.”

“All of the organization’s funds are derived through the sale of one dollar membership certificates and subscribed to the park for the improvement of visitors’ facilities.” “(I)ts first donation for park improvements in 1927, and the existing shelter at the beginning of the trail into the Thurston Lava Tube was constructed with it the same year.” (Hawaii Nature Notes, November 1953)

Hitting golf balls into the crater was a popular stunt for park visitors. After the first tee collapsed into the Caldera, (Hui O Pele member LW) de Vis Norton strongly opposed the re-establishment of a new site. He pointed out the sacredness of the area to the Native Hawaiian people when he wrote:

“Most of the Hawaiians have a sincere reverence for Halemaʻumaʻu. To them the place is sacred – and they regard the stunt of pluggin golf balls into Pele’s abode much as you would view a game of craps played on the grave of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington.”

“To me, it is sacrilege of the worst kind and I sympathize sincerely with their inner feeling that white men should at least respect their age-old beliefs.”

“You can do a lot of good by saying a good word for the Hawaiians now and again. After all, it was their country until we grabbed it, and while they parforce, must accept the situation – they are very ready to appreciate a friendly feeling among those who now rule over them, and respond with real affection to any evidence of love for their race.” (Nakamura)

The fad continued for a number of years, but later stopped. Today, Hawai‘i has Hawaii has 108 golf courses to choose from (including the now 18-hole course at Volcano.) (golflink) (Lots of information here is from NPS and Nakamura.)

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Hawaii Volcano National Park-general map-1926

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February 29, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Pele’s Hair

“In the afternoon, Messrs. Thurston and Bishop walked out in a NW direction, till they reached the point that forms the northern boundary or the bay, on the eastern side of which Kairua (Kailua) is situated. It runs three or four miles into the sea; is composed entirely of lava …”

“… and was formed by an eruption from one of the large craters on the top of Mouna Huararai, (Hualālai,) which, about twenty-three years ago, inundated several villages, destroyed a number of plantations and extensive fish-ponds, filled up a deep bay twenty miles in length, and formed the present coast.”

“An Englishman, who has resided thirty-eight years in the islands, and who witnessed the above eruption, has frequently, told us he was astonished at the irresistible impetuosity of the torrent. Stone walls, trees, and houses, all gave way before it ….”

“Numerous offerings were presented, and many hogs, thrown alive into the stream, to appease the anger of the gods, by whom they supposed it was directed, and to stay its devastating course. All seemed unavailing, until one day the king Tamehameha (Kamehameha) … as the most valuable offering he could make, cut off part of his own hair, which was always considered sacred, and threw it into the torrent.”

“A day or two after, the lava ceased to flow. The gods, it was thought, were satisfied; and the king acquired no small degree of influence over the minds of the people, who, from this circumstance, attributed their escape from threatened destruction to his supposed interest with the deities of the volcanoes.” (Ellis, 1823)

Others did the same in offering hair to Pele. “This volcano, which has the name of Peli (Pele) from the goddess supposed to inhabit it, is also called by the natives, Kairauea Nui (Kilauea,) or the greater, and the extinguished crater, Kairauea in, or the little …”

“Night increased the magnificence, perhaps the horror, of the scene. The volcano caused … ‘a terrible light in the air.’ The roar occasioned by the escape of the pent up elements, and the fearful character of the surrounding scenery, suited with that light; and all impressed us with the sense of the present Deity …”

“No wonder, then, that the uninstructed natives had long worshipped, in this place, the mysterious powers of nature. Here it was that they supposed the gods of the Island had their favourite abodes, and that, from this centre of their power, they often shook the land, when it pleased them to pass under ground to visit the sea, and take delight in open places.”

“The first pair who arrived at the Island, with the animals and fruits necessary for their subsistence, met the fire gods, say they, on their first landing, and propitiated them by offerings of part of their provisions. …

“Hence no ohelo berry was eaten on Peli, till some had been offered to the goddess of the same name: the sandal-wood was not cut, nor the fern roots dug, without propitiating her by locks of hair, and often more precious things.”

“Frequently the hog and the dog were sacrificed to procure her favour; and never was the ground disturbed or any thing carried away from Kairauea.” (Byron, 1825)

But these offerings of hair to Pele are not the focus of this summary; this is about Pele’s Hair – a volcanic phenomenon that internationally carries the name of ‘Pele.’

Missionary Titus Coan describes Pele’s Hair: “All at once the scene changes, the central portion begins to swell and rise into a grayish dome, until it bursts like a gigantic bubble, and out rushes a sea of crimson fusion …”

“… which pours down to the surrounding wall with an awful seething and roaring, striking this mural barrier with fury, and with such force that its sanguinary jets are thrown back like a repulsed charge upon a battle-field, or tossed into the air fifty to a hundred feet high, to fall upon the upper rim of the pit in a hail-storm of fire.”

“This makes the filamentous vitrifaction called ‘Pele’s hair.’”

“The sudden sundering of the fusion into thousands of particles, by the force that thus ejects the igneous masses upward, and their separation when in this fused state, spins out vitreous threads like spun glass.”

“These threads are light, and when taken up by brisk winds, are often kept floating and gyrating in the atmosphere, until they come into a calmer stratum of air …”

“… when they fall over the surrounding regions, sometimes in masses in quiet and sheltered places. They are sometimes carried a hundred miles, as is proved by their dropping on ships at sea.”

“This ‘hair’ takes the color of the lava of which it is formed. Some of it is a dark gray, some auburn, or it may be yellow, or red, or of a brick color.” (Titus Coan)

Scientists say Pele’s hair is “volcanic glass that has been stretched into thin strands by the physical pulling apart of molten material during eruptions. Most commonly it forms during fire fountain activity.” (Batiza)

Thin strands of volcanic glass drawn out from molten lava have long been called Pele’s hair, named for Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of volcanoes.

A single strand, with a diameter of less than 0.5 mm, may be as long as 2 m. The strands are formed by the stretching or blowing-out of molten basaltic glass from lava, usually from lava fountains, lava cascades, and vigorous lava flows (for example, as pāhoehoe lava plunges over a small cliff and at the front of an ‘a‘a flow.)

Pele’s hair is often carried high into the air during fountaining, and wind can blow the glass threads several tens of kilometers from a vent. (USGS)

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