The Big Island is most famous for Kilauea Volcano. We visited Hawaii Volcanoes National Park many times over the last few days of our trip. It was raining the first day so we saw lots of good steam action but couldn't get clear pictures. We went back another time for the clearer pictures. And we visited a few evenings to just stare into the glow.
In the park, there's a road that drives around Kilauea Caldera (think big bowl) called Crater Rim Drive. Inside the caldera are a few craters, one being the Halema'uma'u Crater, which is full of hot, red lava and is said to be the home to Madame Pele, the Hawaiian volcano goddess (Hawaiians don't mess around with Madame Pele!). This lava is just sitting in the crater, steaming and glowing. Part of the road around the park was closed due to high amounts of sulfur dioxide gas. Then, there's Chain of Craters Road which extends from the Crater Rim Drive down to the shoreline and passes by and through many older lava flows. There are a few craters and vents scattered off of this road, including Pu'u 'O'o Crater, which is where the current lava flow is. We weren't able to get close to the flowing lava as it was a L.O.N.G. hike over treacherous lava. Chain of Craters Road abruptly stops as it is covered with about 3 different lava flows.
Below is Kilauea Iki Crater, which once was a lake of magma as it filled from a nearby eruption that lasted 36 days and reached record-breaking heights! It took 60 years for this to harden and cool enough for people to hike across and still boasts molten lava only a few hundred feet under the surface. In the background, you can see the steam from Halema'uma'u Crater (more on that coming later).
We also hiked though Thurston Lava Tube where we could see how lava travels through its own plumbing.
We passed by and through many different lava flows from the many years of eruptions as we made our way to the coast on Chain of Craters Road.
Ancient Hawaiians carved their history into lava rock all along the Pu'u Loa Petroglyph Trail. This is the largest petroglyph field in the state. The many holes that you see are where parents bore these holes in order to place the umbilical cords from their newborns for good luck. This was such a peaceful place.
This sea arch, the Holei Sea Arch, was formed by the ocean undercutting the rock.
And this is the end of Chain of Craters Road. Road Closed... (LOL)
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