EPIC! Hiking Volcanic Craters, Lava Tubes, and Halema’uma’u!

26 September 2017.

Every American national park I’ve visited has been epic and Volcanoes National Park did not disappoint! :D SO EXCITED! After visiting Akaka Falls and Hilo, we ventured to volcanoes! :D

We split up. The less active group (and baby!) went to check out the lava tubes and the more active group (me!) decided on hiking the Crater Rim Trail, which was at least a few miles. It was already late afternoon and if we were quick enough, we would (hopefully) make it back around sunset. I brought my headlamp just in case.

I was in the front, daring to keep up with Dave.

It was easy to determine that our trail would be to walk along the crater rim, descend, and then come back across the Kilauea’s summit caldera. SO COOL!!!

YAY HIKING!!!

There’s be breaks in the trees and I was so mesmerized I stopped at a lot of them. David took a picture of me taking a picture of the sun setting and the gasses steaming out (aka “Pelehonuamea’s breath”)

Pretty dramatic. :D In addition to admiring the sunset, it was also observing how much time we had left to complete the miles before the world would be without lights.

 

Descent down onto the caldera!

It’s pretty awe-inspiring in person.

https://vforvacay.smugmug.com/2017-09-Hawaii/n-jT8pqJ/i-kR4sw9w/A

Pictures don’t quite do it justice.

There was a surprising bit of native plant life.

There were steam vents along the way that we stopped at as well.

It was interesting to remind myself that we were walking on an active volcano, which could erupt at any time. Someone else had had the same thought, and I said, “At least it’d be quick!” :P

This looks Photoshopped haha.

Darkness descended before we finished the trail. Since I had a good headlamp, I lead the pack but being the first to traverse/ascend into a dark, lush forest was a bit scary so I gave someone else my headlamp after a while. :P

Once we were back at the parking lot, we decided to quickly go to the lava tubes. The other group had been waiting for a while but we said, “Five minutes!” and came back more or less in that time.

I am not afraid of the dark.

It was cool inside. Ancient lava highways!

And for our last stop, we went to the Jagger Museum and Observatory! In the gift shop, I purchased the vintage-style postcards that I collect of all the national parks that I visit!

In the morning, we had home-packed delicious big sandwiches (custom blends of sliced deli meat/avocado/tomatoes/onions/condiments). Someone had initially labeled with simply names like “Venus” but the ones I named were more descriptive like “Asian Santa Claus” (Dave), “The Supreme Chef” (Chef), “Lisa the Greek” (she’s actually a very proud Italian), and “David the Disney Princess” (I was impressed he knew all the songs). It was fun when they read it. :)

It was cold. We sat at the edge of the observatory, looking at the smoke billowing from the center of the earth. SO COOL!!! There was at least a few helicopters that flew overhead. I had researched prices but they had been more than I wanted to spend, in the range of US$500. One day!

 

Once in a while the wind would pick up, and the smoke would clear a bit so you could peer inside Halema’uma’u and ponder about the sheer heat and magma coming from the center of the earth.

You could see the magma activity sometimes if you looked closely enough. SO COOL! :D To everyone’s amusement, I had packed an emergency blanket, took it out, and turned myself into a Venus burrito. I was so shiny and it helped with the cold. :D Eventually, everyone was satisfied with being on an active volcano and we headed back to Kona, the other side of the island. It was an approximately 2:15 hour drive. (Thanks for that, Dave!!) I’m sure we all slept so well that night. :D

WHAT AN AWESOME DAY!!! I decided since I had rented the Renegade, I’d have to make it back before the end of the trip back to Volcanoes National Park. :D YAY ADVENTURE AND EPIC DAYS!!!