Volcanoes Beckon

 Click Here for a crunchy Video of Kilauea Crater and steam banks

I was in Volcanoes National Park many years ago, before it was fancied up as it is now. We drove down the road to the edge of the Kilauea crater, and could actually hike across it if we wanted. Extraordinary, considering Mauna Loa and Kilauea are among the most active volcanoes in the world, and Kilauea has been spewing lava – often changing the landscape - every few years. One eruption was along a rift zone called Pu’u’o’o’ on the east side of the park; it lasted from 1983 to 2018. Another, from 2008 to 2018 caused the Kilauea summit – where we would have been hiking - to collapse. The latest eruption was in 2021, though it’s quiet for now except for dozens of little earthquakes. 

 

One word to describe this park is “vast”. To the north, the summit crater of Mauna Loa is over 13,600 feet. The entrance to the park, Kilauea Visitor Center, is near the Kilauea summit crater at 4000 feet.

 

 

Marked "August 1887"

It was intermittently cloudy but warm when I started on a 1.75-mile hike recommended by a ranger, beginning at the visitor’s center along the crater rim, ending in the steam banks, crossing the road to the sulphur banks and back through a forest to the visitor’s center.

The sulphur banks

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

Since the ranger said the Thurston Lava Tube would be most crowded between 10 and 2, I opted to drive the 20-mile-long twisted Chain of Craters Road through a rain forest down to the sea. 

The forest opened up to mind-blowing vistas – what I initially took to be the bluest of sky turned out to be the sea set against miles of new land created by the eruptions. I was disappointed that the petroglyphs required a mile-plus walk in the hot sun; I had to choose between them and the Thurston Lava Tube if I was to leave before dark. I’d advise visitors to begin around 10 in the morning to see everything, not starting at noon as I did. The Chain Road takes time to drive, especially if you stop off at one of the many sites along the way.

The end of the road

I was pleased to find that, though Hawaii is the "newest" island, another one is forming out in the Pacific to the south, about 30 miles away and 300 feet below the surface of the water.

I returned to Volcano House, waited a few minutes for a table at the small restaurant, and had a decent sandwich to revive myself. Then it was back down the road to Thurston Lava Tube. It’s situated in a beautiful, dripping, screaming green rain forest, and when I was there, was nearly deserted (about 5PM). The tube itself reminded me so much of the caves of France and Spain; it was surprisingly long, cool and wide. A must-see.

I made my way out of the park, west along the Hawaii Belt Rd. (Rte.11), foolishly assuming that sunset would be around 7:30. I forgot I was much closer to the equator, and by the time I was ready to find the turnoff to my next AirB&B, the sun had fallen with a thud. 

It's pahoehoe, not Aa, or ow ow, which is what you say when you step on it

This proved to be a problem.