June 26, 2010
Saturday morning we gathered ourselves up, had breakfast and
said hello to the resident Kalij Pheasant at the Volcano Teapot Cottage. The Kalij Pheasant is another of the many invasive species on Hawaii. This guys ancestors came from the area of Pakistan and Nepal. They were brought to the big island in 1962.
Then at the opposite side point, a little more than a mile, we started the 400 foot descent into the crater. 
We came to the "bathtub ring", a ring of lava rock left around the edge of the crater as the lava froze and shrank, leaving this initially solidified layer to crumble at the wall. In the picture on the left, Kathy is standing on the bathtub ring with some Ohi'a blossoms in the foreground. The Ohi'a is one of the first plants that sprouts in new lava rock. We walked across the bottom of the crater which didn't look so flat close up.
Jim poked at one of the many steam vents with his hiking stick. ( I can imagine the ranger's report: "witnesses said he was there one minute poking at the steam vent and then there was a "whoosh" and he was gone..."). Actually the lava, which is over 400 feet thick, has been solid since the late 1980's but rainwater seeps down to hot rock and a steam vent is born. The white coloring on the ground is some calcium compound dissolved by the water.
We then headed down the Chain of Craters road to see where the lava hits the ocean. We had been there in 2002 and seen the steam from hot lava hitting the seawater. As of May 2009 there is no activity, so it was sort of an aimless hike. It is interesting to see the lava covering the road that used to go to Kalapana, where we were the day before. 
Saturday morning we gathered ourselves up, had breakfast and
said hello to the resident Kalij Pheasant at the Volcano Teapot Cottage. The Kalij Pheasant is another of the many invasive species on Hawaii. This guys ancestors came from the area of Pakistan and Nepal. They were brought to the big island in 1962.
Anyway, the objective today was to explore Hawaiian Volcanoes National Park. We started at the visitor center and then headed for the Kilauea Iki Trail. A four mile loop said to be one of the best hikes in the world. 
We started out on the rim of the Kilauea Iki crater, a part of Kilauea that had a major eruption in 1959. From the rim, the floor of the crater 400 feet below, which is actually a frozen lake of lava, looks flat. The large Halema'uma'u pit crater is visible, smoking in the back ground.
We started out on the rim of the Kilauea Iki crater, a part of Kilauea that had a major eruption in 1959. From the rim, the floor of the crater 400 feet below, which is actually a frozen lake of lava, looks flat. The large Halema'uma'u pit crater is visible, smoking in the back ground. The trail took us to the far side of the crater, we saw a number of wildflowers along the way and took some artsy photos of the large ferns. 
Then at the opposite side point, a little more than a mile, we started the 400 foot descent into the crater. 
We came to the "bathtub ring", a ring of lava rock left around the edge of the crater as the lava froze and shrank, leaving this initially solidified layer to crumble at the wall. In the picture on the left, Kathy is standing on the bathtub ring with some Ohi'a blossoms in the foreground. The Ohi'a is one of the first plants that sprouts in new lava rock. We walked across the bottom of the crater which didn't look so flat close up.
Jim poked at one of the many steam vents with his hiking stick. ( I can imagine the ranger's report: "witnesses said he was there one minute poking at the steam vent and then there was a "whoosh" and he was gone..."). Actually the lava, which is over 400 feet thick, has been solid since the late 1980's but rainwater seeps down to hot rock and a steam vent is born. The white coloring on the ground is some calcium compound dissolved by the water.
We finished crossing the crater and climbed the opposite wall, taking a short diversion to walk through the Thurston Lava Tubes. We had paused for a snack and were about to enjoy it when a couple of tour buses pulled up. So we deferred the snack and went through the tube before the thundering hoard caught us. We completed the 4 mile hike and got back to the car.
We then headed down the Chain of Craters road to see where the lava hits the ocean. We had been there in 2002 and seen the steam from hot lava hitting the seawater. As of May 2009 there is no activity, so it was sort of an aimless hike. It is interesting to see the lava covering the road that used to go to Kalapana, where we were the day before. 
We got back up the mountain in time to drive around to the Jagger museum on the rim of the large caldera. The rim road has been closed for 2 years due to sulfur emissions from the steaming Halema'uma'u crater. There we took up a position at the overlook and watched as the sun set and the daylight dimmed. Then we could see the red glow from the home of the volcano goddess Pele. An awesome sight.
We had dinner at the Kiawe Kitchen in Volcano, looks almost like it should be a snack bar, it actually serves world class meals. Excellent.
We finished the day with a well earned soak in the hot tub at the cottage.
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