Ka'u Desert Trail (Fossil Footprints)
Nine miles from National Volcano Park and a hot and dry one mile walk across 800-900 year-old pahoehoe lava flows are preserved footprints of Hawaiian warriors. These 200 year-old footprints were preserved in accretionary lapilli tuff from a hurricane-like blast of hot gases and ash, also called a base surge. Accretionary lapilli tuff is fine volcanic ash that into forms tiny balls as a result of eruptions that involve water. The 1790 eruption, which produced this ash, was one of the most devastating explosions in Hawaiian history. The Ka'u Desert is the site where at least 80 Hawaiian warriors suffocated from volcanic ash getting into their lungs. The 1790 eruption occurred at the same time that warriors of Chief Keoua were traveling around Kilauea to Ka'u to oppose the dominant chief, Kamehameha. The footprints of these warriors are preserved in the ash.
Picture provided by www.usgs.gov
This is the volcanic ash that composes the Ka'u desert.
Picture provided by www.usgs.gov
Another photo of the volcanic ash.