Pele

• Lori Palminteri
• Uncategorized
• January 15, 2026

Like all good volcano stories, mine starts hanging half out of a jeep getting a video of the eruption smoke bellowing in the air, letting out a series of stoked chants like, “whoohoo” or “let’s goooo!” No, that isn’t right. It actually started sooner. Back at the end of 2025, when I was already mentally in Hawaii, salivating at the thought of Kilauea erupting during my stay. Of course, I wasn’t staying on Big Island, nor did I have any other island trips planned— it wasn’t exactly in my budget. But to see a volcano erupt? To see lava spewing in natures awesome spectacle? Surely that was worthy of credit card now, pay later.

Perhaps it’s better to start at the end of the story. When it was all over. And I’m on the hopper flight back to Oahu. The flight was delayed because it was windy. Turbulence bounced the plane up and down, but I happen to be a very strange person who kind of likes the feeling of mild turbulence. Though there is a difference between mild turbulence and “oh fuck” turbulence. Still, I wasn’t scared because I knew that wasn’t how I would die. Furthermore, I was so content that I had seen and done so much in my thirty six years, far more than most, I figured even if I died it was less tragic for me and more tragic for those planning on spending holidays with me.

Let’s just start on how luck favors me in nature far more than it favors me in New York City. My Hawaiian housemate, Will, and I had loose plans to fly to big island on Sunday if the eruption was going to take place. We’d fly in, drive to the park, witness it and come back. Kilauea was oozing lava on and off. But she would erupt every few weeks, with fountains of lava spewing hundreds of feet in the air— that’s what you want to see. There are three live cameras on YouTube monitoring the volcano, as well as updates on the government geological site. I subscribed to the YouTube channel so I could join the chat. People from all over the world were watching this YouTube feed, which I found inspiring that people would rather watch a live volcano feed than get sucked into the brain rot of reel watching on social media. For hours, I monitored the updates and scrolled through the chat, trying to engage with the more intelligent people. Brushing up on my fifth grade science that I long forgotten through the years, I questioned what the “tilt” meant and how that was connected to how soon it would go off. Sensors detect if the tilt below the surface is increasing or decreasing. Before an eruption, it will increase (during the eruption it will continuously decrease as it’s releasing pressure).

The volcano seems to take a nap Sunday and I call off the decision to go. Instead, I went on a hike with a local couple to Mo’ole falls, a very off the beaten path trail to a waterfall. My housemate Will had an interview (remote) for a job he was excited about on Tuesday. So he wasn’t exactly free to jump on a plane the next two days (he was also coming down with a head cold). And all signs were pointing to an eruption happening soon. Last time I was in Hawaii, I went to Big Island for the first time. The main reason I went was to do nighttime Manta Ray snorkel. It was so amazing, I did it twice. Truly, one of the best things I’ve done in my entire life and I couldn’t recommend it more. It just so happened, I befriended a deckhand on that boat, a young man, Tyler, originally from New Jersey, and we went cliff jumping and had some other adventures together. Tyler had converted his jeep into an off-roading/camping machine. Honestly, the thought of driving around Big Island at night scared me even more than the cost of a rental car. I texted Tyler to see if he would be around to pick me up Monday afternoon and go stay over in the park for a night, offering to pay for gas and food. He was in. It pays to have pirate like friends.

Monday morning I woke up, and Kilauea was active. My flight wasn’t until 2pm, landing in Big Island around 3pm, and then it’s a two hour drive to the park. Once the volcano starts to fountain, it usually lasts between 6-8 hours. It was 8am and going to fountain any minute. Hawaiian airlines lets you switch flights without fees. By 10am, the volcano started to fountain. I was able to switch to an 11:30 flight. Once at the airport, I saw they were boarding a 10:30 flight. I ran to the Hawaiian airlines counter, pleading to get on that flight. The lady behind the desk said they don’t do that when a flight is mid boarding. “Please,” I said with earnest, “the volcano is going off now.” She looked at me, and then looked at my little hiking bag (which was packed with essentials for 2 days only). “That’s all you have? No checked bags?” “This is it.” “I’ll make an exception just this once.” My face brimmed with a smile, “I LOVE YOU.” She printed me a boarding pass and I ran to the gate, where I texted Tyler to grab me sooner.

This was such tremendous luck. It would mean I would land around 11am. And we would get to the park around 1pm. Unbeknownst to me at the time, the volcano would stop at around 6pm. Had I been on my original flight, I would have caught less than an hour of the eruption, but we got a five hour show.

On the plane over, I could barely sit still or focus on the book we were reading. Luckily, it’s a very short flight and the views are spectacular. When Tyler picked me up, we headed straight there. Volcano Park is massive. Once you’re in the park, you can see the smoke from the volcano. Sitting out the passenger window to take video, I chanted to Pele, the Volcano Goddess. Big Island natives are so used to volcanic eruptions through the years, they seem to forget that the vast majority of humans never witness something like this with their naked eye. It has always been a bucket list thing for me, as it is for many, and I was about to fulfill this dream.

The parking lots in the park are packed. I had even read that most car rental places on the island were out of car rentals. Our luck kept lucking and we got a good parking spot and headed to our first of multiple viewing points. The volcano is pretty far away, but you can still hear it roaring, like the ocean on a day with massive waves. Pele was in full glory, fountaining 100-200 feet in the air. Lava oozed in massive quantities, covering acres is an orange red glow before it got a crusty, black and smoking. She was beautiful. Frightening. Mesmerizing.

Pele, like many ancient beautiful goddesses, was banished from Tahiti because her sister’s lover desired her. Stunning creatures so frequently have devastating fates in mythology, though I’d argue the same could be true for mortals today. She created a new home. The Hawaiian islands. Her destruction also breeds new life. Such is the cycle of a volcanic island, and the cycle of every living thing.

We walked along the crater, taking videos and pictures. The smoke rising was often just as interesting as the glowing lava. We even got to see a “vol-nado,” which is was the smoke from the volcano swirls into a little tornado.

The steam vents all around were heavy with steam. The sky was clear. No fog or rain (also lucky). There are times in my life, I fear, that I don’t know I’m in the good part. There are times I look back at the things I’ve done or accomplished (usually career related) and regret how much I just worried instead of enjoyed it. Looking back, it’s so obvious they were the good parts. It is my fear I repeat this cycle. Over and over. That I’m not present in the good parts. Or worse, that I’ve lived all the best parts of my life already. But here, in this moment, it’s impossible to not be completely sure that you are living an epic moment, one that will live rent free in your head, happily. forever. There is no temptation to look at the phone (besides to capture moments). There is nothing outside of this volcano park, not in this moment. There is only Palminteri and Pele (and the hundreds of other people in the park). There is only now, the present. And what a present it was. Destruction and creation happening simultaneously. The Earth cooling off. What it all looked like at the beginning of time, and what it will look like in the end. My god, it is breathtaking.

After a couple hours on that side of the crater, we drove to “Destruction Trail.” Tyler knows the park well (even though this was his first time in the park during the daylight hours, he had only ever gone at night), which is super helpful. My own personal tour guide! Destruction Trail is a little bit of a hike, but it’s also a bit closer. Additionally, it was starting to get darker outside, so the glow from the lava just popped. Lava danced up and down, shooting bits of rocks around. Even though I’d been staring at this for hours already, it was like seeing it for the first time again.

We stayed at this spot for sunset, and a glorious sunset it was. At one end, you had the pink sky with the setting sun, and at the other, a lava fountain as bright as the sun, with a glowing reddish smoke above. Some hippies put out a blanket and this girl with long blond hair stroked a guitar. At first, I thought they might be annoying, but she was a lovely singer and reminded me of “Jenny” from “Forrest Gump.” As she sang, “this little light of mine,” with some harmony thrown in from her friend, Pele shut off just after the sun set. Like a performance team, the Earth and the Sun seemed to have planned their finale perfectly. It’s crazy how quickly it stops. Like turning off a has stove. It just stops. Acres of hot lava still glow, reflected in the clouds. What a truly magical day.

That night, we camped in the park. The night sky cleared and you could see thousands of stars accompanied by glowing red clouds. There have been many night skies I’ve gawked at, but this was unique and I’m unsure I’ll ever see something like it again. A meteor shot across the sky, and I made my usual wishes, though I just had one come true.

I slept for shit that night in the tent. Every little sound disturbing me (I’m frightfully scared of the dark). When I did finally drift off, I had a nightmare that there were wolves outside. Absurd, since there are no wolves in Hawaii. Still, I scarcely slept at all. I’d be grateful to be in a hotel the following night, you know with an actual bed and walls to protect you from wolves that don’t exist.

Still, I wasn’t unhappy nor am I complaining. I was very much in awe of how perfectly the timing turned out with the planes and Tyler’s availability and generosity with his time (truly, having him be the knowledgeable guide took away any anxiety I would have had). Pele had gone to sleep. As did everyone else. Except me. I closed my eyes and I could see her still, Pele. Like every hot mess, she was misunderstood. Couldn’t I relate to that.