Hawaii 2021 - Day 4

 Rick vs. The Volcano

Not quite the movie with Tom Hanks, but there was a battle of the elements. Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is like many of the U.S. National Parks, full of splendor, impeccably maintained buildings, roads, and trails, and larger than life. They get a lot of visitors which, to be fair, would probably triple if the access to it was easy. Being 90 miles from Kailua-Kona, where most visitors to the Big Island congregate, it is a rollicking two-hour plus car ride on a mostly two-lane highway marked at 35 and 45 miles per hour most of the way. Taking a bus is not a bad option.

But we didn't. We shoved off early - 6 AM. While I had expected it to be cooler, the grand plan was to pack long pants (the only pair taken on this trip) and a hoodie I wore to SeaTac airport when it was in the mid-40's. The plan was solid for the 55-65 degree day expected in the park, but execution was lacking when I realized the hoodie was still hanging in the condo closet after we left. D'oh! 

We arrived at the Visitor Center and took a quick 1.5 mile hike that took us through steam vents with the notable rotten-egg smell of sulfur compounds. The hike was pleasant until the rain came. With the temperature at 55ish, a dousing rain is not exactly the typical Hawaii rain where a rain shower is welcome. This was cold. We scampered back to the car to turn on the heater in order to warm our chilled bodies and dry out the clothes. 

Did this slow us down? NO. Next stop was a trailhead to the Kilauea Iki trail and corresponding overlook where we saw this:

The wetness had stopped and partly cloudy skies encouraged us to move ahead on the trail. The descending trail went along the rim of the crater with points to stop at and gaze at similarly majestic vistas. The trail itself was full of greenery normal to Hawaii, resembling a tromp through the jungle, much different than some of the bleak loss of foliage suffered after the eruption of this particular volcano. This photo shows a portion of the trail with the crater on the right.

Another trail, called Devastation Trail, shows the result of a major lava flow event in 1959 that took out an area and left it devoid of plants and trees. Where much of the park has had lava events thousands of years previously and nature has returned to form, this area is only 60 years from being wiped out and there are only a few signs of plant life returning. Here's Cathy looking at a section where a few red plants have returned

At this point, it looked like the rain was going to persist and disturb our travels around the park. Wishing to stay dry and warm after a morning of getting wet and cold, we decided to move on despite getting just a taste of this vast wonderful park. 

On the way to and from the Kona side to the Volcanoes, travelers pass by another notable location that is hard to pass up. The place is called Punalu'u Beach, but most everyone just calls it Black Sand Beach. We have been there on a prior trip, but we couldn't resist going there again. Besides being a beach with the unusual feature of having black sand, it is often loaded with sea turtles. True to form, the turtles were there and we enjoyed watching them...not move. 

Sea turtles are a protected species and that means people must keep their distance, not touch them, not feed them, and not tease them. Cool beasts, even if they aren't a bundle of energy.