Hawaii - Day 7

On our last full day in Hawaii Jay and I drove down to Volcano National Park.  It was about noon by the time we got down to the park, about 2 hours from Kona, so we had to be a little choosy about how we spent our time.  Our first stop was Kilauea Iki (mini Kilauea), a frozen lava lake from a 1959 eruption.  We hiked down across the lava lake and there are open cracks with steam pouring out of them!  It was amazing!  Due to activity in the Halema'uma'u crater there were sections of the park that were closed, but at one time you could walk right up to the rim of the crater!  There are many hiking trails with great overlooks and we went as far as we could before a myriad of signs warned us to turn back due to sulphur dioxide gas emissions. 

When we got back up from the crater we walked over to Thurston Lava Tube for a short walk through a very large tube.  The lava tube was one of the things everyone seems to do, but I think the lava tubes near Bend are much more interesting.  We then drove down the Chain of Craters Road to head down to the ocean.  The guidebook recommended stopping to see Devil's Throat, a giant rocky crater!  There were no signs leading to Devil's Throat but it was very close to the road.  It is amazing to think about how these craters formed.  

  We stopped at view points along the way down to the end of the road.  The road used to make a large loop but over the last 10 years lava flows swallowed the road, so you can only drive to a certain point.  But then you can walk past the gates and over the lava if you choose.  There were quite a few people out and about the day we were there, so rather than fight the other tourists we chose to park a little farther away and walk down to the lava cliff's edge.  Many signs warn you that these cliff's could break off and fall into the ocean at any time!!

  On our drive back up to the park we stopped at the Pu'u Loa Petroglyph Trail for a little trek.  Hawaiians who once lived in this area would carve small holes in the lava to place the umbilical cords of their newborn children.  The would place a rock on top of the umbilical cord and if it was still there the next day the belief was that the baby would have a long life.   

  We took a detour down Hilina Pali Road.  If you don't have a good reason to drive down here, don't bother.  It's a long 9 miles to an area that would be a nice lookout on a clear day and the start of many hiking trails, but there wasn't much to see in the foggy drizzle.  

  Little did we know that the coolest sights were still ahead!  We decided to go to the Jaggar Museum and stop at the Sulphur Banks along the way - that's some hot steam!  When we go to the Jaggar Museum there was a great overlook of the Halema'uma'u Crater - sulphur dioxide gas spewing out of the giant crater and an ominous orange glow!  We walked around the museum as dusk fell so we could get a better view.  Recently the lava level in the crater had been rising - maybe it would reach the top!!??!!  

  After snapping a large number of pictures we decided it was time to find some grub.  The restaurant in the park is closed for seismic renovations, so we drove down the road and found a nice little diner.  On our drive back to Kona we could still see the orange glow from the crater under the pitch black sky.  If we had been staying closer to the park we could have driven east and then south from the diner to see the active lava flow, but that wasn't in the cards this trip.  Maybe we'll be back in a few years!  I'm sure the park will look very different by then!

  We were pretty tired when we made it back to the condo and we flew out the next day in the early afternoon.  Mahalo Hawaii!!