The Lost Kona Coast Hike

April 5, 2020 by lavapix

Aloha,

This is an area that’s close to home that I first visited way back in 1991.

I call it the Lost Kona Coast because it’s a beautiful untouched coastline that hides in plain sight.

Back in the 1990s, there was talk of building several large cruise ship ports in this area and having a road that would shuttle passengers to town. Thankfully that never happened mostly due to the bad economy here at the time.

This area should never be developed.

I edited out the hike to the coast and the hike back. Those would add another hour and 20 minutes.

The hike started out cloudy and a bit dark but, soon the sun started peeking through allowing for colorful conditions.

This is yet another addition to my new series of hiking videos. They will appear in my Hike-U-Mentaries playlist. If you’re staying at home due to the worldwide pandemic, go on a hike with me. No fancy editing or cool music. Just everything I heard while out there.

Wear headphones or watch in a quiet place to avoid distracting sounds and take in the peacefulness of the area. Taking distancing to the extreme.

I’ll be loading a relaxing ocean sounds video using edited-out clips from this hike. For those Serenity Now people 🙂

Why would I show an area I love to hike that I never see other people at? I’m hoping that it helps to preserve this location by becoming a park status of some kind.

The hike takes you by beautiful inland beaches and numerous small sea arches.

I caution anyone hiking anywhere along the coast to be aware of tides and ocean conditions like large swells etc… At the time of this hike the tide was low and the ocean extremely calm.

You’ll notice very large rounded boulders. They get moved around by large swells. Avoid these areas during such conditions. Stay inland by the sand. That’s the high tide large swell waterline.

This area remains relatively pristine and free of trash other than some random fisherman trash near the start. Please keep it that way.

I used the GoPro Hero 7 Black and a polarizer filter. Also, the ZLMC Foam Windscreen.

No enhancements.

I was also testing out my Shimoda Action X30 camera backpack. (Not sponsored) An excellent camera backpack. You’ll hear its shoulder harness squeaking some. It just needed some breaking in. https://www.shimodadesigns.com/actionx-30

The nice thing about watching videos is you can skip ahead and watch at any pace you want.

Photos in my website gallery were shot with my Panasonic GH5 and the Leica 8 – 18mm. Dual image stabilization. I’m really enjoying the micro four-thirds camera system. My entire kit weighs only 7.5 lbs covering 8mm – 400mm (16mm – 800mm 35mm equivalent).

I didn’t bring my tripod as it was cloudy at the start and I wasn’t expecting to take very many photos. The tripod would have been for slow shutter speed shots. I improvised for them as it cleared and ended up being a beautiful day.

The gallery can be seen here. https://lavapix.com/#/gallery/the-lost-kona-coast/bl-66733-5-20-dxo/

The volcano stopped months ago and it could be years before it gets going again. I have tons of other videos I’ve been wanting to make so, now I can get busy on them.

Thanks for subscribing.

“To use this video in a commercial player, advertising, or in broadcasts, please email BryanLowry@Lavapix.com. ***Read The Description***

No warnings other than social distancing as there’s no flowing lava anywhere on the island. The Kona side has the clearest and most beautiful skies anyone can remember seeing. Be sure you have good sunglasses and reef non-aerosol fragrance-free sunscreen. The best I have ever used.

Fine art metal prints of my work are available at Pacific Fine Art in Kailua Kona, 75-5744 Ali’i Drive Hawaii at the Kona Inn Shopping Village. 808-329-5009. Tell them you’d like the option to order larger sizes.

Also on my website.

Social networks

YouTube
Instagram
WordPress
Twitter
Facebook – I stopped posting several years ago

Paypal Pay

“To use this video in a commercial player, advertising, or in broadcasts, please email BryanLowry@Lavapix.com. ***Read The Description***

Violet Moffitt Lowry

July 7, 1937 – March 12, 2018

New Lava Video & New Photo Galleries

August 12, 2016 by lavapix

Newest lava flow video.

Gopro video of the newest lava flow ocean entry at Kilauea volcano Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

These started a few hours before dawn Tues Aug 9th.
This footage was captured at sunrise looking directly into the sun.

When I first arrived the flow was just starting to cross the road in a very wide swath of fast moving lava.
These types of flows put out an extreme amount of heat.

“Why did the lava cross the road? To get to the ocean”

As usual with this summers weather, it was very windy. 30+ mph most of the time. The Gopro’s waterproof casing helps mute the strong winds.

My Nikon’s external mic on the other hand is very sensitive and a dead cat wind screen wasn’t enough. I’m currently editing footage from my D800.

Once the lava reached the ocean in multiple locations the steam plumes were engulfing the entire coast and inland area as the winds turned more onshore. This will be shown in great detail in my Nikon video clips.

Click here to view.

Two new photo galleries added to my website.

This one is from my lava flow hike back on July 26, 2016. When the first ocean entry started.

I decided to do something different with this gallery. I added the buy Now option directly to all the images and also have options for cropping and sizing.

People often like to purchase prints from my stock photo galleries so, this makes it easier from the start. You’ll also notice a variety of swirling ocean plume images. There were too many good ones that are unique in their own way so, I decided to add them all. I shot very few images for how long I was out that night/day. Maybe 50 total.

Click here to view.

The other gallery is something I never expected to be posting.

Fourth of July fireworks images from Kailua Kona’s 2016 event.

Generally the show lasts maybe 8 – 10 minutes so, there isn’t much time to get it right. Its a popular event over here so, it was very crowded at every vantage point.

They had a real nice variety this year as you’ll see.

I usually just watch vs shooting photos or video. Shot video a few years ago.

Be sure and check them out. All prints are available for purchase.

I’ll be getting a few on metal for my place.

Click here to view.

I’ve been out capturing footage often so, I’m at least 3 visits behind in editing and posting.

Thanks for subscribing and watching. Comments are always welcomed.

Many more photos & videos to come.
Be patient. What I do isn’t always easy.

My usual warning.
Do not attempt to do what I do.
I have 25 years of experience and I know what I’m doing out there.
So many things can go wrong for those who don’t understand or can’t recognize the dangers of a volcanic eruption.
Stay away and watch my videos instead.

If you’re able to hike 8-9 miles, go see this in person.
Stay away from the edge of the sea cliff. I know this area very well so, I also know where not to go which is the most important thing. Always be aware of what’s going on inland of you. Large breakouts can suddenly occur.

Prints from my adventures can be purchased on my website lavapix.com.
Or locally at Krazy About Kona in the Kona Inn Shopping Village, Kailua Kona, HI.

“To use this video in a commercial player, advertising or in broadcasts, please email Brave Bison at licensing@bravebison.io

Longer versions of each clip available.

Kilauea volcano, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Big Island of Hawaii

4th of July fireworks, Kailua Kona, The Big Island of Hawaii

5-05-13 Lava Flow Photos & Video 2-13-13

May 5, 2013 by lavapix

Aloha,

Yeah, its been a while since I posted anything. I’ve been plenty busy with hikes and all. Finding time to process my work is an issue.

This post relates to a hike back in Feb. A visit to the current ocean entry. It’s basically still in the same general area. The only difference now are the benches (New land) are larger. It was quite windy as always. We had ourselves a very windy winter on the Big Island of Hawaii. Or many now call it Hawaii Island. I also loaded a full HD video to my Vimeo page.

I met a couple of friends at the flow on this outing. It continues to be a nice short walk of maybe 45 minutes at best. Don’t let anyone fool you, its nothing difficult unless you hike from the park side at the end of Chain Of Craters Road. Then its about 14 miles round trip. An easy 3-4 miles on the Kalapana side.

You will see in some of my photos that people are going down onto the new land and to what they perceive as a new black sand beach. (Image posted below) Stay off of these areas. They aren’t even slightly safe. Just because you see others who are supposed lava experts doing it doesn’t mean its safe. That’s not a real beach. Its broken down lava rock on an unstable bench that is undercut and ready to collapse. Just watch in my video when the lava tour boat goes right up to that supposed beach. The waters deep and when the land goes, you go with it. If you understand all of this and still go there, good luck.

There are other hiking adventures I will post about once I’ve accomplished everything I’ve set out to do. This could take weeks or even months. Those posts will be much more detailed as the hikes were much more involved.

Enjoy and pass along this post to your friends.

Gallery link

Video link

People risking it all at Hawaii lava flow

Aloha, Bryan Lowry lavapix.com

10-14-12 Kona Ironman

October 14, 2012 by lavapix

Aloha,

This was my 20th Ironman race. All as a spectator. So, I took only a few images before sunrise and the swim start and the first pros to exit the ocean.

There was a small south swell. Lucky for the main group of swimmers, a larger set of waves came in just before their mass start. Many could have been caught on the fringes of the outside breakers.

Anyone who did the race in 2004 or 2005, you can look for yourself in the galleries below. File numbers are the race numbers. Images are for sale as digital downloads for personal use only. Publishing requires licensing.

2004 Kona Ironman Swim Start

2004 Kona Ironman Bike

2004 Kona Ironman Run

2005 Kona Ironman

This year I wanted to get some shots with my Nikon D8oo.

A great example of what this camera can do is the image below showing the extreme crop of the middle window opening. Check out the amazing detail.

It’s a shot of the Kona Inn restaurant at morning twilight. 5:44am. Let me add that this is a great place to eat.

Nikon D800 Nikon 50mm 1.8, 5.0 sec; f/5.0; ISO 100 Manual; Matrix metering

Click on the image to visit the gallery

Aloha, Bryan Lowry lavapix.com

6-17-12 Lava & Misc…..

June 21, 2012 by lavapix

Aloha,

Made another visit to the lava flow area. Activity was very subdued with many stagnant lobes of Pahoehoe lava scattered all over the flats below the pali. Finally found one small spot of more fluid breakouts. The pali flows were also sluggish. If it weren’t for the steep terrain they are on, they too could have easily been stagnant.

It was still a good visit. Windy as usual with some rain. Only took a few photos. Again, the new Nikon D800 is an amazing camera. A few from this hike will be in the Kona stores by late next week.

Added images from around here in Kona to the website. Just shots captured while playing with the D800.

Mostly I’ve been shooting stock photos.

This is a short post. Still waiting on the right weather conditions for my larger photo expeditions.

6-17-12 Lava Flow

Big Island Misc 2012

O-tech – Coastal shots of tide-pools and waves.

As always feel free to comment……

Aloha,

Bryan Lowry
lavapix.com

6-08-12 Nikon D800 Images

June 8, 2012 by lavapix

Aloha,

I guess my infrequent post are getting very infrequent. It only means I’m out doing fun stuff.

Finally updated my old Nikon D200 to the incredible new Nikon D800. I’ve shot with the camera since late April.

Unfortunately the weather hasn’t been the best in the places I need sunshine. Many shots might have to wait until next winter. In the meantime I have some other nice images. There was one visit to the current lava flow. The flow really has been barely hanging on in the Royal Gardens area. There just isn’t a real good supply line to the tube system, so it seems. Minor deflation’s easily kill the flats flows.This is the longest I have ever seen a flow meander on the flats without getting to the ocean. It’s not at all surprising either. I only bothered taking a few images. One with the crescent moon rising over the flow and most right at sunrise. They are so detailed its phenominal. These D800 shots can print to the size of a huge wall with no loss of detail. This camera has changed everything in digital photography. The only people I hear knocking it are the ones who can’t get one. Bought mine locally at Kona’s Lighthaus Camera. If your ever in Kona stop in for your photography needs.

Publishers take note, these images can go huge.

I’ve also been shooting lots of video since last year but, no time to edit any of it. I have more than 400gbs waiting for me to edit. I think its going to be a while before it happens.

Some of the new images will be in my display at Sunday’s Kona Stroll. I say some because many I ordered didn’t arrive in time. They will be in the Kona shops by this week.

The release of my new html5 website has been indefinitely delayed until the company with the software set up makes some very important changes. One is for my gallery thumbnails to show the correct image orientation and not squares. Hopefully they get this changed this year before everything I did is outdated. Stay tuned…..

When visiting one of the galleries below, open an image and click on the keyword “d800” to view all D800 images on my website.

As always feel free to comment on this post or any of the images. Your feedback is always welcomed. Forgot to mention you will notice my new blog.

5-14-12 Lava A visit to the meandering pahoehoe lava flows with my Nikon D800.

5-11-12 Pololu Valley. Went for sunrise. It was brief but, nice. Valley was clear most of the day. New No Trespassing signs. Seems to be the theme for this island lately. Might do a post on that subject soon.