Wow!! What a day. We set out this morning to drive the last part of the island we hadn’t yet seen - Volcanoes National Park. Along the way we drove through Kona, home to many coffee plantations. The familiar smell of coffee is in the air.
We also stopped at the most famous black sand beach in a Hawaii. The sand was very coarse so it was formed by water eroding the lava rocks. It is quite a sight to see. There were also a couple of sea turtles resting on the beach.
From one of the lookouts we stopped at, we saw the southern most tip of Hawaii. In fact, it is the southern most tip of the United States. You can drive down there but we didn’t have e time.
The drive to Volcanoes National Park took about 3.5hrs. One of the volcanoes, Mauna Loa is about 120 kms wide. We had to go around it as well as up to 4000ft. Once in the park, we stopped at an area where the steam comes up out of the ground. You can feel the heat as you get close. Surprisingly, there was very little sulfur dioxide smell.
We walked through another lava tube - this one was lit inside. It is quite incredible to see how smooth the walls are.
We drove along the Chain of Craters Road. This took us past many different craters and lava flows. They were sign posted to tell us when the eruption had occurred. The road goes all the way down to the ocean. It was quite spectacular to see how the lava had flowed down the mountain side. We could also tell which were the newer flows as there was no vegetation growing in the lava yet. The road is now closed down near the ocean as lava flowed across it. You can still walk along it. This is also the route to get to any current lava flow. We talked to a family who were just returning. It had taken them 6 hrs to walk the 18 km round trip. At times over very tricky lava platforms. But, they did see lava flowing. It would be brilliant to do that hike but you have to be prepared with the right shoes, clothing and plenty of water. It is amazing to think that the coastline of Hawaii Island is still forming by these lava flows. As recently as 2016, the lava was flowing into the sea. That would have been a spectacular sight. But, the direction of the lava flow is constantly changing so it may drop into the sea again one day.
Another stop was the Trail of Devastation. The track starts with vegetation and just a short way in it disappears and there is only lava. The lava is in tiny pieces called cinders. They are very very light as they dry in the air before landing.
The most active volcano in the park is Kīlauea. It has a huge crater, 2.5x2.5 miles which is called a caldera. Inside that is a smaller crater measuring 0.5 x 0.5 miles. This had a surprise explosion in 2008 which destroyed the viewing platform. The viewing area is now right back at the museum, a mile away. Kīlauea emits 200000-500000 cubic metres of lava per day. She has been erupting daily since 1983. There is no threat from the lava as most of it moves through lava tubes towards the shoreline.
The day was drizzly and foggy which is quite common that high up. The fog is called vog here - volcanic fog- but we could still see the steam plumes coming out of the crater. The rim drive has been closed due to the large amount of sulphur dioxide coming out so the museum’s observation deck was as close as we could get. The ranger in the Visitors Centre told us we could see the glow of the lava lake in the crater once it got dark. We went back up there just after 6pm and as we watched, a pink glow started to appear. It became redder as the sky got darker. We stayed and watched for over an hour. We even got to see little explosions of lava coming up from the lava lake. It was very very cool to see. If it hadn’t been so cold up there, we would have stayed longer. It has been an absolutely fascinating day.