All those times as little kids we'd say don't step there, or you'll be in red hot lava! And here I am face to face with the real thing. It looks like thick taffy, and moves very slowly, cooling and blackening before the crust splits again and more bright red lava escapes again.

I made it this far and no farther, because playing mountain goat over the lava field took its toll on my boots. I was about 20-30 feet from this stuff, on a patch of cool hard lava, and had to wait there while Craig took the camera and went on, across an active flowing lava tube, to see where the flow entered the sea, creating new land.