When I was in Hawaii, I went on a tour of Hilo, the only active volcano in the big island of Hawaii. My dad and I were with a group of about eight other people, including the 2 tour guides. We had a long hike to get to the active lava sight. We had about 3 miles to walk in thick jungle. We slipped, tripped, fell, and got our boots stuck in 3 feet of mud. We knew we were close to the volcano when we could feel heat. The jungle stopped so abruptly, it was like a bulldozer ripped right past it in a straight line. I stepped out onto the black, rocky desert. My feet were blazing. Every few moments I had to move because the tour guide said our boots would melt. The two tour guides ran off in different directions to find active lava.
While I was waiting I stuck my walking stick into one of the cracks in the ground. When I pulled it back out it was charred. That meant there was lava at least 5 feet below me. Freaky! After 10 minutes, one of the guides came back and told us to follow him. It wasn’t long until we saw him poking a stick at a gooey rock. Then the rock made a crack and his stick went in. A loud hiss made me jump back. Instantly, orange glop slithered down the rocky terrain. Pictures snapped from both my sides. The other guide came over to us and told us to poke the lava. He distributed sticks about 7 feet long to everyone. When we stabbed the lava, we could only stay next to it for 5-10 seconds, because the heat was too much. We had to keep poking it, or else it would freeze and turn into a rock. Then, somebody went behind the rocky hill and shouted, “I found more!”. My dad and I walked around the hill and saw this guy using a ton of strength trying to puncture the rock. I could see that the rock was gooey before, but the outside froze. That meant that there was molten lava inside the rock. The man could not break the rock. So one of the tour guides came over and stomped on it! He was crazy! He had one foot on the ground and one foot on the rock. He stomped on it again, and again, and we eventually heard a crack. The guide ran back to us and asked my dad if he could borrow his pokey stick. Dad handed it over and the guide shoved the stick in the cracked part. Lava poured all over the ground and the temperature went up like 20 degrees!
We were at the lava field for about an hour. In that hour, one of the guides pulled a package of meat out of his backpack. He also pulled out two iron plates that looked like the top of a grill. Then he unpackaged the meat and plopped it on one of the grill thingies. He smushed the other grill on top of the meat. He found an old piece of wood and put it on a clump of lava. He carefully and quickly placed the meat and metal sandwich on the wood and waited. He poked the lava to make sure it was still emitting heat. After a minute, he turned it over and stepped back again. He took the meat off the lava and started handing out steak. Lava steak is quite scrumptious. Once everybody got tired and bored, we started heading back. It was a nightmare. I slipped and tripped and got thorns all over myself. I was so happy once I saw that disgusting van we came in. We got back into our lousy jeep (it didn’t even have four-wheel drive!) and stopped at a McDonald’s. Mom wasn’t that happy about that part. But the long, hard journey was totally worth it to see active lava three feet away from you.
While I was waiting I stuck my walking stick into one of the cracks in the ground. When I pulled it back out it was charred. That meant there was lava at least 5 feet below me. Freaky! After 10 minutes, one of the guides came back and told us to follow him. It wasn’t long until we saw him poking a stick at a gooey rock. Then the rock made a crack and his stick went in. A loud hiss made me jump back. Instantly, orange glop slithered down the rocky terrain. Pictures snapped from both my sides. The other guide came over to us and told us to poke the lava. He distributed sticks about 7 feet long to everyone. When we stabbed the lava, we could only stay next to it for 5-10 seconds, because the heat was too much. We had to keep poking it, or else it would freeze and turn into a rock. Then, somebody went behind the rocky hill and shouted, “I found more!”. My dad and I walked around the hill and saw this guy using a ton of strength trying to puncture the rock. I could see that the rock was gooey before, but the outside froze. That meant that there was molten lava inside the rock. The man could not break the rock. So one of the tour guides came over and stomped on it! He was crazy! He had one foot on the ground and one foot on the rock. He stomped on it again, and again, and we eventually heard a crack. The guide ran back to us and asked my dad if he could borrow his pokey stick. Dad handed it over and the guide shoved the stick in the cracked part. Lava poured all over the ground and the temperature went up like 20 degrees!
We were at the lava field for about an hour. In that hour, one of the guides pulled a package of meat out of his backpack. He also pulled out two iron plates that looked like the top of a grill. Then he unpackaged the meat and plopped it on one of the grill thingies. He smushed the other grill on top of the meat. He found an old piece of wood and put it on a clump of lava. He carefully and quickly placed the meat and metal sandwich on the wood and waited. He poked the lava to make sure it was still emitting heat. After a minute, he turned it over and stepped back again. He took the meat off the lava and started handing out steak. Lava steak is quite scrumptious. Once everybody got tired and bored, we started heading back. It was a nightmare. I slipped and tripped and got thorns all over myself. I was so happy once I saw that disgusting van we came in. We got back into our lousy jeep (it didn’t even have four-wheel drive!) and stopped at a McDonald’s. Mom wasn’t that happy about that part. But the long, hard journey was totally worth it to see active lava three feet away from you.