08/08/2019

I woke up to an early sunrise and first thing I did was check the weather; it was supposed to rain this afternoon. So rather than pitching the tent in the soaked ground or worse, in the rain itself, I pitched it in the morning before we left to go visit the park.

It’s $25 to enter the Park but your entry is good for 7 days with your receipt. First stop was the visitor center! There were lots of cool items for sale, and I bought the obligatory pins and sticker. I also bought this really nice long sleeve shirt that had the park’s name on it and a nice design in the back. Just outside the center are these stones that name this place as a UNESCO world heritage site.

We talked to a Ranger inside and he gave us a trail map for the hikes that could be done in the day. Some areas were unfortunately closed due to safety issues. At this time, there’s also no visible or flowing lava anywhere in the island, and there’s plenty of signs to remind you of this around the park. My goal was to do all of the ones he suggested, since it was so early in and we had plenty of daylight time. We walked around the center learning about the way Hawaii was formed, the wildlife, and the volcanic caldera’s formations. Outside, I got my Osprey daypack ready for hiking: bandana, water bladder, rain jackets, first aid kit, snack stuff sack, sunblock, head lamp, and hydro flask. They have a spigot with rain water that’s collected in the Park to fill all your water containers. My daughter said it tasted like pool water.

The first trail the Ranger suggested was the Sulphur Banks Trail. He said best thing to do was to leave your vehicle in the parking lot of the center and walk the loop (total: 0.7 miles). This trail is really neat and it’s best to use your bandana to cover your nose: The steam vents rise from the ground in clouds and smells really strong of the sulphur and kind of yucky. If you’re asthmatic or allergic to sulphur, this is probably not the place for you.

It starts on a boardwalk and continues on a trail, and you end it with this absolutely epic view of the Kilauea Caldera! It stretches long and far, and is massive! An interesting part to look at when you are there is the floor of the caldera, it looks like hardened chocolate.

Bonus: you can go to the second viewpoint of the caldera if you walk just a little further down. It’s away from the parking lot and way less crowded, with a better view in my opinion.

You continue towards the start and see more steam vents and I notice the flowers here are so different and pretty. The colors really pop out from the greenery and the blackness of the lava rocks. There’s clear skies today with fluffy clouds, but only a slight breeze.

The next trail we did was the Halama’uma’u Trail (0.8 miles one way) and it was challenging. You start off in what feels like walking through a rainforest. Canopies of trees and plants surround you as you start to descend down further into it. Parts can be sort of steep. This trail was not crowded; there were times when I felt we were all alone. Except for when we passed a group who looked like workers with tools . But if you’re careful with your footing and persevere, you actually end up at the bottom of Kilauea Caldera, which was very awesome. Only thing is: you gotta get out the way you came down. On the way up, my daughter and I talked about what would happen if you were lost in the woods. She said she would find water and follow it: well, that’s a good start at least. I need to teach her more things! 😉

It’s now around 1245 PM and we’re famished. The trail ends near the visitor center and just up the street from it is Volcano House, a lodging place that also has restrooms, gift shops, and a restaurant that gives you a beautiful view of the caldera (maybe for those who don’t want to hike):

We had chicken teriyaki with rice and macaroni salad. I also had a coke, which is soooooo good after hiking.

We went back to the truck to rest for a bit.I’m grateful for coming early to start the day; the visitor center’s parking lot is now full and it’s starting to get hotter. Next up is a short drive to the overlook of the Kilauea Ike Crater overlook:

We walked the Devastation Trailhead (0.5 miles one way). This walk shows how the lava destroyed the vegetation and you can see how it overcame the formations and continued to adapt and grow!

It was already around 5 PM, too late to do the whole 2.0 mile part of the Crater Rim Trail. The Park advises that you don’t hike in the dark, and it’s a smart idea. You have to leave your car in the parking lot and walk on the closed roadway to get to the first viewpoint. So we only do that part of the hike (almost 1 mile total). We get to the first viewpoint, take a look around, and then head back to the Devastation Trail parking lot. On the way back, we imitate the birds we hear and they answer back to us!

I check my thermometer on my daypack and it says it’s 75 degrees now, cooling down for the night. We leave the park and drive to the nearest gas station, located in a place a few miles down off Highway 11 called Volcano Village. The place with gas is called, appropriately, The Volcano Store (hmmm, I sense a pattern here….). There’s an impressive police and fire department patch collection on boards above the register. I pre-purchase my gas and ask the woman behind the counter who’s collection that was. She tells me the owner was a former police officer. I had one of my patches in my purse and offered a trade, which she happily obliged! I received one from Hawaii County, which I found out on their website that it’s not very easy to get one of these, so I’m really glad to add it to my own patch board.

My health app on my phone said we walked a total of 7.4 miles today! A meal before turning in for the night is well deserved, so we go back to Volcano House in the Park and purchase some sandwiches and take them back to the campsite to have with the bags of chips we had in the snack stuff sack and our rainwater. My daughter and I chat while I pick the bean sprouts out of my sandwich. It’s not a taste thing, it’s a texture thing. Blech!

We are exhausted from the hikes and the heat today so into the tent we go, with our trusty light and the beautiful stars again to fall asleep to.