There are quite a few requirements to fulfill in order to become the IVIP, or international volunteer in park, for the National Park Service. I am getting emails and lists and pdfs and stuff, and of course there is some essential reading and training to do, even before I get there. While I am looking forward to the training courses that will keep me busy for the first few weeks, there is also interesting material available online in web-based training courses and documents. Interestingly enough, one of the official books recommended for the volunteers is the “Roadside Geology of Hawai’i” that I had already bought back in 2008 while traveling in Hawai’i, so that was easy to get hold of – that is, in my own book shelf. The native birds of Hawai’i I will skip for the moment, methinks, and keep that for later.

However, I am currently going through the Eppley online university courses that I was pointed to, and the first one deals with the basics of “Interpretation”, the official name for the job that I will be doing: Explaining, teaching, guiding, providing orientation, answering questions and entertaining the visitors that will come to HAVO Park. Or as John Muir already said in 1896: “I’ll interpret the rocks, learn the language of flood, storm and the avalanche. I’ll acquaint myself with the glaciers and wild gardens, and get as near the heart of the world as I can” – while for Hawai’i, it will rather be Lava Flows and Steam Vents than avalanches, I assume. The profession of Interpretation is a wide one, and has developed in the last 100 years. As an interpreter, one connects the interests and motivations of the visitor with the artifact or natural heritage on site to achieve intellectual and emotional memories. As such, it is beyond giving pure information! It should give a vivid, lasting impression.

Off to the course now!

It seems I just got signed up for the National Park Newsletter, receiving some mails everyday now about upcoming activities where volunteers are being required or asked for their help, but also receiving the volcano updates from HAVO and also from the Kilauea Status at HVO, the Hawaii Volcano Observatory of the US Geological Survey.

It seems that Kilauea has started breathing a bit more actively than in the recent past, with quite a bit of fluctuation of the lake level at Pu’u O’o and Halemaʻumaʻu Crater lava lakes as well as … active lava moving towards the ocean, and actually inside the park (so expect some interesting hikes to these remote areas if this continues on during my presence, which I hope really bad!).

Kilauea active lava

While currently there is no lava entry into the ocean, this would be the crown of the spectacle and will hopefully happen anytime in the near future again, like during my 2008 visit to Kilauea, as depicted here. This picture was taken during a field excursion that was really a unique experience, as we were accompanying a National Geographic Film Crew working on an IMAX film – the only possibility to get beyond the standard visitor boundaries, and really a lucky chance to not only photograph a long-time exposure of the lava explosions hitting the cold ocean water, but also the lightning strike in the background due to the high static loading in the air when the lava hits the sea.

Kilauea Lava Flow at Ocean Entry

Here’s my new blog about my Sabbatical Experience, becoming a Volunteer National Park Ranger in Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island of Hawai’i. I was forced a bit into having a blog, and here it is. I will keep you updated about my activities and of course feature the latest pictures and videos of my tours and hikes.

For a sneak preview, find the following travel itinerary:

Southwest: I just discovered with horror that I shouldn’t have pre-planned too much of my accommodations – while initially planning to revisit Yosemite and then head up north along the Sierra Nevada, I just realized there is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be part of the upcoming Solar Eclipse of May 20. This means I am adjusting my travel plans now to a site with more blue clear sky guarantees, and that most likely will be in the “Southwest”, somewhere in Utah… so:
ZRH – SFO on May 17
SFO – pick up rental car and head to the Southwest Region for a good venture point of the Eclipse
Utah – California: Return up north towards the Sierra
May 25: Prepare for departure to Hawai’i

Volunteering at HAVO: SFO – ITO flight on May 26. Take 4 days to get used to the Big Island again. Start of volunteering program at the Park’s headquarters on Jun 1. So far I understand the official training sessions will start on June 4, by my birthday (June 7 – I do expect some presents from you!) I will more or less have had my first public talk about “How it all began” with the Volcano, and after 2 weeks of exercise and teaching, we are mostly ready to go and will learn much more of course on the job. I anticipate that we will be about a handfull of international volunteers and do hope there are people other than Swiss coming 😉

Enjoying the Hawai’ian Islands: End August through early September: Some relaxing on Maui and O’ahu before returning back to San Francisco.

San Francisco: Enjoy the city and the relaxed West Coast life before preparing for my drive across the country to the East Coast.

Across the US: Avoiding major interstates and too much tarmac and high-quality but high-boredom roads, I will try to make it across the US from West to East in approx. 3 weeks to visit my family. Along the route, I hope to cover Yellowstone National Park, the plains of Montana and Wyoming, some of the more famous National Landmarks in North Dakota before hitting the Great Lakes areas and enter Canada for some Visa regulation issues (I have to leave the US latest 30 days after the program has ended, and that inevitable is Sept 30) and then to be on time (hopefully) for the foliage experience in the New England area.

Return home: My flight back from Boston is due on October 15, arriving at ZRH on the 16th. Let’s see what happens…