The Big Island is BIG

We took a four-day birthday weekend to make our first trip to the Big Island, the Island of Hawai'i.  The Big Island is so-called so as to not confuse people between the Island of Hawai'i and the State of Hawai'i.  It is larger in land mass than all of the other Hawaiian islands combined.  It is also ecologically diverse; of the thirteen climate zones on Earth, eleven are present on the Big Island.  It is possible to spend one day at the beach, in the desert, in a rain forest, and skiing.

And we're off for four days of Big Island fun!

With all that, we did what we could in the four days we had.  We split the trip by splitting the island, spending two nights at Volcanoes National Park, about one hour from Hilo in the east, and two nights on the Kona Coast on the west.

One of the perks of working for the federal government (because being sent to Hawai'i was not enough) is the ability to stay right in Volcanoes National Park.  Currently the Kilauea Military Camp (KMC) is the only place to stay in the park.  The next nearest lodging is in nearby Volcano (the town).  (Active and retired military and Reservists can stay, too.)

Staying at KMC situated at 4,000 feet above sea level meant fireplaces and cozy blankets in the cabins, and jackets and hats outside.  But it also put us two miles away from the caldera and Halema`uma`u crater.  There is a 300ft vent in the crater floor that spews smoke.  This crater is also home to Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of the volcano.

At night it is pitch black at the crater except for an eerie orange glow coming from the crater floor and an amazing star-studded sky.

We set off the next day to explore the rest of the park.  During the day the glow from the crater floor is gone, but the smoke cloud is more pronounced.

Areas of the park are closed due to their proximity to a recently opened vent.  Signs posted around the park warn visitors of the health hazards from the steam and smoke.

There are lots of areas where steam comes up from underground.  Rain water drips under the surface and is heated by rocks heated by lava.

Chain of Craters Road heads south from the caldera down to the sea.  Along the way signs are posted designating the relatively recent lava flows.

Here a Noni grows amid the lava field.

We took a short hike to the largest concentration of ancient petroglyphs in the state.  It is said that there are more than 23,000 drawings chiseled into the lava.  We tried counting but got tired around 60.

Chain of Craters Road ends where the lava from the 1988 eruption covers the pavement.  This sea arch is near the end of the road and was carved from the lava cliffs by the pounding waves.

We retraced our ride back up Chain of Crater Road to check out a lava tube.  The Thurston Lava Tube is large enough to fit a bus so it's amazing the think about how much lava flowed through the tube.  Lava tubes are formed when the outer crust of a lava flow hardens but the liquid lava beneath the surface continues to flow through.  After all of the lava has drained out of the flow the hardened tube remains.

Entering the lava tube

The area surrounding the tube is a rainforest.

Next we hiked across the Kilauea Iki Crater.  The crater floor was a bubbling molten lava lake following the November 1959 eruption.  The surface has now hardened; from a distance the floor looks like a smooth gray "lake", but up close it is quite rugged.

Entering the crater floor, which emerges from a rain forest.

Steam vents on the crater floor.

Halema'uma'u Crater emitting smoke in the distance.

Kilauea Iki Crater view from above.

We finished our day by driving 90 minutes away from the Park with the hope of seeing current lava flow.  The County set up a public viewing area at the end of Highway 130 in the former village of Kalapana.  Kalapana was destroyed in the 1989 eruption.  We were able to see that some people moved back to the area, though no utilities or other services exist.  Some current property owners live in nice-sized houses, others live in tents.  

The smoke in the background is coming from where the lava meets the ocean.

Once it was dark we were able to see a red glow in two places off in the distance.  We were not close enough to see lava flowing (plus it is dangerous since viewing the current lava flow would bring people onto a precarious lava bench) but did see some sparks in the distance coming through a hole in a lava tube as well as a red glow from where the lava is flowing into the water.

After a long drive back we popped back to Halema'uma'u Crater to get one last look of the glowing lava, which looks like is might be an entrance to hell if one believes in that being a literal place, and the incredible night sky.