Mike in the Wild

As Hawaii's coastline came into view from my window seat, it didn't take me long to identify the Big Island's tallest volcano, Mauna Kea.  Capped in winter snow, the mountain rose almost 14,000 feet above sea level and defined the entire northeastern corner of Hawaii.  (Back home, Arizona's highest peak is only 12,637 feet high.)  Cloud cover and my seat's location prevented me from seeing the island's four other volcanoes: Kohala, Hualalai, Mauna Loa, and Kilauea, the last three of which are active.  Mauna Loa is the giant however, just a little lower in elevation than Mauna Kea but more than twice as massive in volume.  The other three volcanoes barely compete in size: Hualalai is just over 8,000 feet and Kohala about 5,500 feet.  Meanwhile, the most active of the volcanoes and the star attraction at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Kilauea, currently tops out at a mere 4,091 feet above sea level.   Kilauea and its siblings on all the Hawaiian Is...