Day 2: Volanoes National Park

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August 27, 2010

Alarm Clock
Rosters on Hawaii do not crow with the sunrise, which is about 6:30am. They begin at 3am and continue their snooze alarm through the rest of the night. Be aware, rural lodging may come with a defective alarm clock such as this.

Volcanoes National Park
In Washington, we have plenty of volcanoes to view. And at any given time, one of them may be doing something possibly interesting. But getting to walk around on a volcano which is actively erupting is something that is a little dangerous in the Pacific Northwest region. We spent the entire day with Kilauea. The $10 admission per vehicle is well worth the price if you enjoy short (or long) hikes through natural wonders. Our first stop was the visitor's center. The film was useful, giving a history of Hawaii and then a guide to the park. There were no impressive exhibits. We took part of Crater Rim Drive (half was closed for conditions) and walked along the sulfur pits. Don't blame your travel companion for the smell, it's from the volcano. Farther up the road was a museum and a good view of the crater with a huge plume of steam/smoke.

Then we took a drive down the Chain of Craters road, which has many turn-offs and short hiking trails. I believe the park intends people to stop at each pull out on the way to the ocean, but we went straight to the end and checked out the sights on the way back. What a time saver! As you continue to drive, you see more and more lava flows. So why stop at the first turnout when you're going to see miles and miles of lava on your drive. Another reason we went straight to the end was because we wanted to see where the road had been cut off by an eruption years ago. Getting closer to the end of the road at sea level, it was really neat to see the different colors and textures of lava flows over the last several decades. Walking along the lava was not extremely challenging, but we were careful to watch our footing. We could see a plume of steam in the distance, which would be our lava viewing destination later in the day. On our way back to the top, we visited the Thurston Lava Tube, which was the first lava tube I had ever walked through. Having a huge ceiling overhead, it was apparently an impressively large lava tube. Some of the craters seen from the road were interesting too, seeing how lava had spilled over the sides and poured onto the ground below.

We're Off To See The Lava
After running around the national park, Mom and I backtracked to see the actual lava flows. You cannot drive up to the area, but foot traffic is permitted until 10pm. We intended to hike in while it was still light and then hang out after dark so as to have a better visual of the molten red stuff oozing from the ground. With a proper meal of french fries and onion rings for dinner, we donned our packs and headed up the trail. The path in was paved, surprisingly.

The reason why - it is an access road for people who live on these cooled lava flows! About 20 years ago a major eruption destroyed a small town, annihilating everything. Today, those lots are still owned and a handful of people have decided to rebuild their homes; self-sustained, which means you're on your own to figure out what to do with your bathroom output. Why bother? I suppose it means something to them. Just this year the volcano's activity took down one of the homes. Not worth it in my book, but some are available to rent for the week if you are looking for adventure.

Back to our trek to see the lava. Excited but a little tired from the day's activity, we reached the end of the path to find... a barricade manned by attendants. Yes, we were barred from the lava viewing area. What a crock! We were told that if we waited till after dark, the steam that we could see in the distance would glow a reddish color. I've seen colored smoke, it's not exciting enough to captivate me. So we headed back to the car, disappointed but not carrying it on our shoulders. Now, there is a local hotline you can call for lava viewing info, but I do not know if it would have been much more help than what we were told at the park visitors center. Today, no lava for us.

Back To Home Base
By the time we were half way back to Hilo, the sun had gone down. Arriving home, we showered to get all the caked sun screen off (I managed with only minor color, which is a minor miracle). We then started the evening with mai tais and finished it off with a good chardonnay. Cheers, Hawaii!

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Comments

[Mom]

alarm "cock"
sorry, just had to do it! That rooster woke me up too, but not until 6:30 am. Must have been those extra glasses of wine before bed time that helped me sleep in until the organic alarm clock - er.. cock, went off. ;)