As soon as it started to get light, we were on the road headed to Volcanoes National Park. Since it was ambiguous whether week passes could be purchased before 9:00, we first went to the Black Sand Beach that sits about 20 miles down the road from the park.
The beach is a county park and was nearly deserted so early on a Thursday morning. Not only was the black volcanic sand very unique, but the beach was also the kind I really like. Some sand with craggy rocks and tidal pools. The rocks and pools had many fish, crabs and other marine life scurrying about.
The waves were fairly calm, but for an inlander, they were still fun to watch.
Maybe it is common, but I felt lucky to be able to see a large green sea turtle on the black sand.
After spending a while at the black sand beach, we headed back to Volcanoes. Purchasing our week pass, we headed into the park. The first thing I saw were the steam vents, where moisture that has come in contact with hot magma underground escapes. Several of these could be walked right up to, and they reminded me of Centralia, Pennsylvania. I guess Pennsylvania missed the boat as they could have called themselves the Volcanoes of the East instead of a tragedy. Later in the day, we saw several abandoned roads, furthering the tie to Centralia. I say this with apologies to Hawaii and Pele - I am in now way equating an environmental screw-up that devastated a blue collar coal town to the natural amazement that is an active volcano...
Halema Umau Crater itself was very impressive. Apparently, the lava lake had recently grown to be able to briefly be seen from the Jagger viewing platform, but on this day it was just steaming. Occasionally noise could be heard from the area indicating the violent activity that was present somewhere in the crater. The haze and fog in the area made getting good pictures somewhat difficult.
From there, we headed toward the other side of the park and the Thurston Lava Tube. We got there before the tour buses so it was enjoyable to see with almost no other people.
Crater Rim Drive near Chain of Craters Road is open only to foot or bike traffic, so we walked down the road and were very glad we did. Keanakakoi Crater was almost more interesting than Halema Umau since I could walk right up to it. Granted, it isn't active, but still amazing to be so close.
We had a good lunch at the Volcanoes House and sketched out a continuing plan for the day and the next few. We headed back to walk along Kilauea Iki Crater. Seeing people walking on the bottom, I knew I had to do that. SO wasn't up for the aggressive walk back up, so she waited and looked around at the top.
The walk down to the bottom of the crater was quite easy, and I was really glad I did. Walking on top of what used to be an active volcano was probably the day's highlight. Steam vents still poured out heat and the crater floor was very warm near the steam vents. Standing in the middle of a volcano, it was too easy to feel insignificant.
The hike back up and out of the crater was strenuous, but not difficult. On these aggressive climbs, I find it is best just to keep moving, and I passed many people on the way up.
We decided to postpone the Chain of Craters Road drive until we could do it early in the day when less people were there. Leaving the main part of the park, we drove a short way down the road to the Tree Forms. These are "holes" that were formed by trees that resisted burning because they were wet. However, once covered by lava during an eruption and dried out, they eventually burned, leaving the form of the tree behind. Very interesting and would have been even more interesting if jack-wads didn't through stuff in the bottom of some of them. A few of them had trees growing in/through them, the roots extending down the hole.
The Tree Forms were just off of Mauna Loa Overlook road. The map said it was one lane but paved so we headed up. The first few miles weren't too bad, but then it turned into a very narrow road - closer to 3/4 of a lane than 1 with a few areas of huge potholes. After beating the Dodge to a pulp and making it to the top, the view was exceedingly anticlimactic. We hiked around a little bit since I had seen references to some short hikes that allowed for good views, but didn't find anything that remarkable. It was pretty easy to get turned around as well. I'm sure the more grueling 18 mile hike to the Mokuaweoweo Caldera is worth it, but that (obviously) was not going to happen. The saving grace was Ke Amoku Lava Flow which was dramatic and the drive goes right through it. I took pictures of it, but they just didn't do the actual thing justice.
We headed back towards Hilo and decided to go to the Lava Trees Monument. These are formed in a similar manner to the Tree Forms, but they stand proud instead of being holes. What is different that these form "standing up" isn't very clear to me...
We grabbed some takeout before heading back to the Hideaway, making it back in the daylight this time. I proudly wore my badge of tourism on this day and it was amazing.
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