Hawaii-The Volcano, Part 2

Sulphur Banks, a pretty stinky phenomenon, was an amazing sight (and smell) to see.  Hydrogen Sulphide gas and steam meet and form sulphur, gypsum, and hematite deposits on the ground.

There were also many steam vents where rain seeps into the ground, is heated by Kilauea, and is pushed back up as steam.

Hawaii-The Volcano, Part 1

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)

Hawaii-Exploring Puna

The last few days of Hawaii ran together a little for me.  Perhaps it was exhaustion, perhaps it was dreading the end of our trip, perhaps it was the fact that we went back and forth to many of these sites multiple times. So I don't know what day this was...somewhere in the last 3 or 4 days of our trip, but it was a good day.

We explored Puna, the most eastern point of the island.  We stood there and took a deep breath.  Since the winds come from the east, this part of the island (the easternmost point) is said to have "virgin air" as it has drifted over the landless Pacific Ocean for weeks.  This air is considered pristine and is analyzed by many countries and used as a benchmark.

After a few good long deep breaths, we set off (in the wrong direction) looking for a natural lava swimming pool called Champagne Pond.  After a L.O.N.G. walk on this black lava terrain, we decided to head back and move on to our next spot.  It was a beautiful "stroll" down the coastline.

The next stop was to discover the vast inter-connected tidal pools.  Some of the Kapoho Tidepools are volcanically heated and serve as the east coast's beach.  It's a far stretch from the NC beaches but fun to walk through to discover many beautiful fishes.

We soaked our feet in Ahalanui, a large volcanically heated pool.  This pool has a man-made wall and an inlet separating it from the ocean but allowing the ocean to feed it. The Kapoho eruptions of 1955 and 1960 reworked the plumbing so that this pool is volcanically heated to a toasty 91-95 degrees.  It felt soooo good.

We hung out for a while at Isaac Hale State Park and watched the locals surf.  We found a tiny (about 8' x 14') warm water pool set in the vine-covered jungle just a few feet offshore, but passed it by as it was occupied by 5 locals.

Then we visited this spot on the shoreline that is know for it's spectacular display of waves hitting the cliff.  As large waves hit the cliff, spray would travel down the coastline like dominoes.  It was amazing but terrified me.  Christopher will tell you that I am freaked out by rogue waves.  I remember watching this special on TV years ago about a very young couple on their honeymoon.  The girl was posing for a picture when a rogue wave came up behind her and swept her away into the ocean.  On our trip, I would walk yards off the shoreline and was always keeping an eye out.  Christopher teased me very badly.  This spot we were at was known for huge rogue waves.  See that huge boulder that McFatty is hugging (yeah, he's an idiot)?  A wave tossed that up onto the cliff.  I took this picture from VERY far away with my amazing zoom lens.  There was NO WAY that I was getting close.  This man stressed me out to much that I had to go back to the car after a few pictures.

Haircut Timeline

Hawaii-Day 7, Part 2

After leaving Akaka Falls, we made a pit stop by the open-air farmer's market in downtown Hilo.  Our senses were on overload - the sights! the sounds! the smells! the touches! and oh, the tastes!  We have never experienced fruits like these before.  After a local hand-whacked a young coconut open, we enjoyed coconut water.  I use the term enjoy loosely here...it was an odd taste; something I will probably never drink again.  But I can say that I tried it.  We also loaded up on some yummy fruits such as my favorite-white pineapple, Christopher's favorite-lychees, apple bananas, and some grape-like fruit (I can't remember what it was called now).

We made a quick stop at Mauna Loa mac nut farm and processing plant.

Then we drove down a tiny dirt road to our quaint, little cabin in the rain forest in Volcano, HI. It was so cozy and private.  A perfect place to spend our 10-year wedding anniversary!

Hawaii-Day 7, Part 1

We left the beautiful, warm, sunny side of Hawaii for the wetter, cooler side.  Why leave the sun?  For the active volcano, of course!

Before arriving at our sweet little cabin in the rain forest, we made a few stops.  The road you see below is a typical Hawaiian road.  

We visited the quiet little park at Laupahoehoe Point, where we walked around and took in the beautiful landscape.  We came across an adorable older couple walking hand-in-hand who lived on the island and had a nice chat with them.  We also were lucky enough to come across a second monk seal.  We kept our distance from this guy as we didn't want him to feel threatened as he sunbathed.  We also paused at the memorial for the loss of 3 adults and 21 schoolchildren that were swept away here during the 1946 tsunami.

We were able to see many beautiful waterfalls and flora before taking in Akaka Falls, which plunges 420 feet (the last waterfall picture).

This side of the island is definitely cooler and wetter, but so lush and beautiful. 

Hawaii--Day 6

Tired of Hawaii pictures yet?  Well, we're only halfway through...

We took at trip up to the very top of the world, actually to the top of Mauna Kea, which felt like the top of the world.  It's the highest we've ever been.  Mauna Kea measures almost 14K feet about sea level but extends about 16K feet below the ocean to the base of the ocean floor.  Mauna Kea, meaning White Mountain, gets snow about 2 weeks out of the year.  It wasn't snow-capped when we were there, but very windy and chilly.

Scientists recognize this spot as possibly the best place in the world to observe stars and have placed many of the world's finest telescopes here, like the Keck I, Keck II, and Gemini.  There's also a VLBA (Very Long Baseline Array) radio telescope here, which acts in sync with 9 other antennas across the US to simultaneously capture data to study celestial objects.

We slowly ascended to the top, stopped along the way several times to acclimate to the thinner air.  We stayed at the top for about 30 minutes to watch the sun set on the top of the world (and sadly our last sunset on the ocean of Hawaii as we departed for the the eastern side of the island the next day).  It felt like I had drank a whole bottle of wine but was soon feeling normal once we came back down a little.  We hung out for a few hours stargazing and drinking hot cocoa.  The stars were amazing!  We were able to see a few constellations from the southern hemisphere, like the Southern Cross, that we aren't able to see at home.  And check out our shot of the Milky Way!