As dusk fell, we finally wedged the last spike deep into the volcanic rock.
Wherever the fingertips touch, the gravel remains, and the residual warmth of the daylight is like the pulse of this sleeping giant that has not yet cooled down.
When we were at the edge of the Ma'anling volcano crater, the entire urban area of Haikou had turned into a blur of light twenty kilometers away. However, this huge "bowl" in front of us, which belongs to one of the youngest dormant volcanoes in China, is relying on its silent posture for thousands of years to welcome another starry night that is about to come.
🌋 Volcanic texture·Earth epic
There is a geological wonder in this area composed of dozens of volcanic cones. What is most shocking is not its height, but the sense of primitive power that seems to be within reach.
Slowly moving along the lava flow ruins, the black volcanic karst landform beneath your feet looks like solidified black waves. It records the violent changes that occurred deep in the earth's crust hundreds of thousands of years ago.
The section called the crater section is covered in dense tropical monsoon forest. The aerial roots of the banyan tree hang down like a waterfall and cling tightly to the rock wall. This symbiosis between life and geology is the most vivid footnote of the volcanic culture of Hainan Island.
In the surrounding ancient villages, there are still gray-black stone houses, stone mills, and stone mortars. They are the embodiment of the "Stone Mountain Culture" passed down from generation to generation by local villagers and the use of volcanic stones as building materials, telling the humanistic inheritance of people and volcanoes being interdependent.
🌌 Starry Sky Whisper·Galaxy Concerto
After the rays of sunlight gradually disappeared from the silhouette of the coconut grove, the sky began the most critical performance of the trip.
At this moment, stargazing conditions have reached their peak. There is no industrial light pollution here, there is high-altitude air transparency, and there is stable high air pressure in autumn, which makes astronomical observation such a luxury.
At first, Venus lit up on the western ridge, like a diamond brooch pinned to the edge of the night; then, the "Summer Triangle" composed of Vega, Altair and Deneb hung high above the head. above; by ten o'clock in the night, the core belt of the Milky Way stretched across the sky in a majestic manner, sloping down from directly above the crater, as if what this ancient volcano erupted was not magma, but billions of stars.
Lying quietly in the tent, looking up at the sky through the gauze, you can clearly see that the four Galilean satellites next to Jupiter form a straight line, and the halo of Saturn looks like an exquisite straw hat in the telescope.
From time to time, meteors would pass by and fall towards the depths of the crater amid the gentle shouts of astronomical science enthusiasts. At that time, the grandeur of the universe and the depth of geology perfectly merged together, making people suddenly have a sense of heaven and earth that "a mayfly is placed in the sky and the earth, a drop in the vast ocean".
🔥 The remaining warmth of the earth's core·Natural philosophy
The most mystical experiences happen after midnight.
When my eyes fully adapted to the darkness, I discovered that there was a faint red light coming from the bottom of the crater. This was not geothermal activity, but an optical illusion caused by the moonlight shining on the volcanic glass rock reflected by the mirror surface of the volcano at a special angle. However, this was enough to trigger endless reveries about the pulsation of the earth.
If you listen carefully, the wind blows through the grooves formed on the edge of the crater, making a sound like breathing in ancient times. This sound is called the sound of the earth. It is intertwined with the nighttime chirping of insects in the grass, and together they form a three-dimensional natural symphony.
Through nights like this, we can re-understand the definition of "tranquility". True tranquility is not that everything is silent, but that when you hear the heartbeat of the earth, you can also hear the echo in your own heart.
In geological time, this volcano, which has experienced countless eruptions and dormancies, is like a wise elder. With its life course of hundreds of millions of years, it reminds every visitor that human beings are just fleeting passers-by in the long river of time. Only by adhering to an attitude of awe and humility can we achieve harmonious coexistence with this land.
🌿Farewell in the morning light·Eternal mark
As the night draws to a close, the eastern horizon gradually turns a fish-belly white color. The sea of volcanic clouds beneath our feet is constantly churning. The outline of Haikou City in the distance is faintly visible in the morning mist.
Putting away the dew-soaked tent and putting every piece of garbage into the backpack is the most basic gesture of respect for nature.
Looking at the ancient banyan tree, it is rooted in the crevices of the volcanic rocks, and its roots have been blended with the rocks, just like the revelation this trip gave us: true beauty never needs to be conquered, but must be understood and protected to become a humanistic memory that will never fade in life.
If you ever set foot in this area one day, then stand quietly on the edge of the crater for ten minutes, let the wind blow through the millions of years of time, and let the stars illuminate the confusion deep in your soul.
Here, every time you look up, you are communicating with the universe, and every time you lower your head, you are recognizing the earth.
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