We work up before 4:00 a.m. and decided to go to the Volcanoes National Park. The book told us it was a 3.5 hour drive and we should get there early. It was a little tough getting out of bed, but we were driving by 4:30. It was a nice drive-very dark and low traffic. As we hit the southern point of the island, it transitioned from a barren lava landscape to wind-blown fields of greenery and trees. It was beautiful. We briefly stopped at a random beach to photograph the sunrise.
We arrived at Volcanoes National Park before the entrance booth and visitor’s center opened. The park is open 24 hours a day so, again, we didn’t have to pay the entrance fee. We decided to later make a donation to the national parks because we do like to support them. We stopped at the visitor’s center and looked at the maps on the exterior of the building and decided to drive around the Crater Rim Trail, which circles the Kilaeau volcano caldera. Our first stop was at the steam vents that overlooked the caldera. The weather was rainy and overcast. The caldera was partly covered by clouds and/or gases. Mike joked and it called it the Hawaiian version of our Crater Lake trip. Luckily, the cover lifted and we saw a lot more here than when we were at Crater Lake. We stopped at a couple other view points. The caldera really is fascinating. All of a sudden, the road was closed. We ended our unguided tour back where we started, the visitor’s center.
The visitor’s center was open by this time and Mike asked a ranger for suggestions on where to go. We learned that portion of the Rim Trail road was closed due to volcanic gases being unsafe in the region. We continued traveling around the Rim Trail going the other direction. The sun had started shining and it was a very nice day, at this point. We stopped at the lava tube, which the condo’s Places to See pamphlet reported as a must do. Mike describes it as cute. When compared to the central Oregon tubes, this is just a baby.
We decided to hike a 4 mile loop around and, to our surprise, through part of the caldera. The hike also took us through the rain forest where we saw several Kalij Pheasants along the trail. They were camera shy. The hike itself wasn’t too hard but between the altitude (4000′), the temperature (low 70s up there), the humidity and the hills, it made us really sweat. It was a nice hike.
By this time, we were getting hungry. It was just about 10:00 am but we had only eaten a bowl of cereal at 4:00 that morning and had a couple handfuls of sweet potato chips on the road. We left the park to find a restaurant in Volcano Village but none were open that early. We bought peanut granola bars at a grocery store and called it good enough. Then, we went to Bird Park, which has a longer Hawaiian name too but we are happy with Bird Park. Unfortunately, the birds were also camera shy and hid in the trees. (As I type this on the lanai, mini dove birds are all over the lanai railing, hollering at us, trying to get too close to me, and Mike says “being cute”. The birds in Bird Park were not as friendly.) We were hot and tired by the time we were done and getting hungry. We decided to save the rest of the park for the next time we visit.
I wanted to see the green sand beach on our drive back but it was quite a ways off the road. We had eaten an entire bag of gummy bears and figured we were on a short timeframe before we would need real food. We decided to skip the green sand beach, but the black sand beach was close by so we stopped. It was awesome and we are both glad we stopped. The sand was beautiful. The surf seemed strong and crashed against the large lava rocks. It was probably too strong for us to swim. We also saw a large turtle sunning himself in a shallow pool area by lava rocks. I was enchanted with the 3-4 turtles swimming in the surf beside the rocks. They are strong swimmers and stayed in the area for a long time. They kept popping their heads up, and it looked like they were having fun.
We decided to return to the Kona brewery for an early dinner. By the time we got there, the gummy bear sugar crash had kicked into full gear. The food was restoring. We returned to our condo where we relaxed and watched the sunset.
Update: Later, Mike saw a National Geographic show in the park and learned that Mt. Kilaeau was the most unstable and dangerous volcano in America. And we left our footprints on it.
