A Little Too Close for Comfort...

Years ago, my friend Jim B. and I climbed up the side of an active vent (Pu'u O'o) of the Kilauea Volcano on the Big Island of Hawai'i.  It was a cinder cone about 800' high, with a bubbling lake of lava in the crater at its peak.  Standing on the edge of that cinder cone, looking down at the lake perhaps 300' below us was a very memorable – and crazy scary – experience.  I'm glad to have done it, but I don't think I'd do it again.

The scientist in this video is in a whole 'nother category of crazy: