Kapoho is at the end of the island land mass and not quite so coincidentally right on the rift fault shearing lower Puna from the rest of the big island. This 1960 flow attests to the ever present possiblity of volcanic action here.

In the distance you see the start of the uprising effect and the start of the rift that traverses all the way down through the great crack in Ka'u. Just a little further up the road (back to Pahoa) is the geothermal utility plant built on hopefully lucky ground that provides about one third the electric power for the whole island.

is the furthestmost eastern point of land in the whole of the Hawaiian island chain. People come here to watch the whales and the ships go by or just to walk the lava.

I was astounded one day when I was hurdling the lava debris to try to get closer to the beach when I saw a stationwagon moving along ahead of me. After scouting around a bit I discovered that there are 4 wheel drive trails running all over the place down here if you can just find the on ramp.

There is a fairly good cinder road (although you have to cut your speed because of the washboard effect of the rain) on out to the point here that obviously had to have been built after the 1960 Kapoho flow.

At night I can see the light pulse in the distance from my home since it looks to be only 9 miles distant on the map as the gull flies.

Actually there is a housing subdivision at Kapoho called Vacationland south of here. But it is a subdivision without a center or store.

From the same spot as the next photo (1 mile north of the highways 132 and 137 intersection) is the view of the northern edge of the 1960 flow (looking east and a little north) from the road.

Hopefully you can see that the lava here is basically dunes of lava sand. This seems to be typical at the edges but usually is at the water edge where the lava exploded into sand.

My guess is this sand did come into contact with sea water somehow.

This excellent modern road is county 137 just a mile north of where it intersects the road to Pahoa (132). This view is looking south and a little east to see the uplifted mounding which is evidence of being right on top of the rift zone that stretches the entire length here in lower Puna.

The rift is where lava is most apt to flow once all the craters (i.e. Moku'aweoweo of Kauna Loa, Kilauea or its present Pu'u'O'o lateral vent) become plugged. Such was the case here in 1960. It could happen again tomorrow.

This shot was taken from the exact same spot as the previous picture which looks more eastward.