The Great Crack

Since I was a very young child I have had a recurring dream. I am standing in a barren landscape with some scattered trees. Suddenly there is loud rumbling and the earth starts shaking. Everybody starts running and a huge crack appears underneath our feet. Some people fall in and I have to run very fast to avoid falling in. At the end of the dream I am standing on the edge looking with despair at the huge gap. Until I learned better in school, I thought earthquakes always created cracks and gaps in the ground.

About two years ago I was fascinated to see a National Geographic program on television and I saw a rift in the ground, just like my dream. It was called the Great Crack and it was located in the southwest rift zone of Kilauea volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii.

The Great Crack is one of a series of cracks, eruptive fissures and cones that outline the southwest rift zone of Kilauea. Exactly when the crack formed is unknown, and although it is continuous for a great length all of it may not have been formed at the same time.

There are two ways to hike the Great Crack: one is Footprints Trail and the other from Crater Rim Drive. Both of these are located within Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

To reach Footprints Trail, drive from Pahala towards the town of Volcano on Highway 11. The trail is on the right side in the Park and is named for the footprints preserved in the ash of the 1790 eruption. There is a pull-off with an emergency phone. Walk along the trail and you will pass the footprints, which have now been covered over with a roof, and keep heading towards the ocean.

My friend Priscilla and I hiked from Crater Rim Drive, having parked near the sign for the Southwest Rift Zone. We followed the crack until we reached the top of some lava hills then hiked across the barren lava field until the Pu'u O'o trail brought us back to the road.

The crack varied from 20 feet (6 metres) across and 30 feet (9 metres) deep to just a series of small cracks. Much of the wall of the crack is jagged. In some areas it seemed that lava had spilled over the edges of the crack. Much of the edge is unstable so it is not always easy to take pictures - take care and test the ground if you walk there. There were hollow sounds underneath our feet and in some places it was like walking on glass or thin ice, where the lava just crumbled underneath our feet.

The views were awesome and were just like my dreams. I think the pictures speak for themselves.

Entrance to Footprints Trail	Footprints trail

From Rim of Craters Road	Large cracks

Some plant growth	Can you spot me?

Marijke in crack	Marijke above lava tube!

First signs of plant life

Lava Hills in the distance	Getting closer to the lava hill

Small cracks	Indigenous Alai'i

Alai'i

Ohia trees

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