Ghost Tree Above Hilo Town

There is a stretch of the highway coming down from Volcano, Hawaii that has many mini-forests of giant albizia trees.

These trees grow so tall that they essentially kill themselves because their root systems are so shallow that wind can play a factor with their survival.

Others like this lone sentinel survive standing as a skeleton

What the Surface of the Earth Might Have Looked Like Millions of Years Ago

I made this photograph along the Crater Rim Drive in Volcanoes National Park on a rainy, misty afternoon.

It reminds me of a primordial time on earth when things began to settle down after eons of vulcanism, before simple life forms appeared.

The big lava rock in the foreground was probably ejected from an explosion in the Halemaumau crater.

Because of this activity that began years ago, Crater Rim Drive is closed to the public.