2012-03-08 19 -155

Location

In a cattle pasture just outside Volcanoes National Park. Only a mile or so from the highway.

Participants

Simon

Plans

No plans. Spontaneity rules.

Expedition

At 5 pm I decided to try. Sunset was 6:30 pm. Google said the hash was 35 miles away and only a mile or so from the highway. Seemed doable.

Drove up past Volcano through the usual east Hawaii drizzle. A couple of miles past the crest, it dried out and I found a little dirt road leading off through an old a'a field. The road has a locked gate but no signs. There's a convenient parking pullout a few feet away. A nice sunset stroll down the dirt road led to some cattle pastures. Flushed some nene. Followed the GPS through the pastures until I was stopped by a fence, electrified. Only 5 arcsec away! Close, but not close enough to claim success. By that time, it was almost completely dark, so I threw in the towel. Walked back to the car by the light of Venus and Jupiter with the Stygian glow of Kilauea's smoke column close by.