
Lava isn’t the only dangerous element flowing from the mountains in Hawaii—cloudbursts create flash floods in streambeds and have racked up more fatalities than the combined forces of eruptions, tsunamis, and hurricanes. The Wailuku River (translated as “destructive waters”) gathers runoff from the saddle between Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea, the world’s tallest mountains as measure from their underwater bases to their peaks, and sends a torrent screaming through bedrock into Hilo Bay. Wailuku River State Park features two falls popular on the tour-bus circuit.
