We made it to Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park today, leaving early to make the two-hour drive across the island to the Hilo side. We had a hike in mind, one we spotted last year after our hike along the caldera rim. We looked down on one of our trails and saw people hiking across the caldera itself. Next year, we said.
And next year it is.
The Kīlauea Iki Trail is about a four mile loop that start at the top of the small (though still huge) caldera through the rainforest and down to the lava lake. In 1959 an erupting fissure in the volcano caused tons of lava to eventually create a lava lake in the span of a month . . . and by lava lake I mean it took out a forest and created four hundred feet of now hardered lava that we hiked across. It’s incredible. You feel like you could be on another planet. You feel like you could create a whole D&D encounter with lava monsters erupting from the earth at the slightest earthwake.
We lucked out on weather too — after delaying our trip a day we couldn’t have asked for a more perfect morning to hike (especially seeing the sudden tropical rainstorm that came out of the blue after we had finished). We had sun, some cool breeze, and a beautiful view all around us. Dad planned ahead and got a guide pamplet that allowed us to spot markers along the trail and learn more about the geography and the histroy.
Truly a five star hike. We all got a medallion to attach to our hiking sticks to mark the occassion.
After a great lunch at the Volcano Lodge, a trip to the gift shop, and a dash through the pouring rain, we left the park and made a couple of stops on our way home.
First were the Kaumana Caves . . . lava tubes that we could explore. We had walked through the Thurston Lava Tube as part of the Kīlauea Iki Trail, so I was expecting something simliar (smooth pathways, some artifical lighting to guide the way). These caves made us feel like true adventurers. I now see from the picture that a sign says “No walkway, no lights, sharp, loose rocks” but I 100% didn’t read that going down. Nor any of the other warnings that I now zoom in on, including “low light levels to complete darkness”, “a complex, unmarked route”, and “flash flooding without warning”.
After a short venture to the right tunnel over rocky and uneven surfaces we reached a dead end (at least for us without starting to crawl) and then headed left. If we hadn’t seen people coming out of the cave in the way they did I wouldn’t have ventured far in but we went down, ducked low, squatting our way over uneven rocks to not hit our heads and the cave opened up to a high ceiling tunnel that ventured further and further back. The ground remained relatively unven and mind you there was absolutely no provided light and we soon found ourselves the only ones in the cave. We used the flashlights on our phone and my dad had an actual flashlight in his backpack.
It was the just the right amout of creepy and adventorous that I love. Water dripping from the walls and sometimes flowing through the rocks beneath our feet . . . the eerie shadows of the tunnel and lights from us dancing in odd patterns on the high ceilings. We probably walked about an eighth of a mile back (maybe further?) before deciding to turn around when it looked like we would need to climb over boulders to keep going. But in the complete dark, unguided like that it felt like a long, long ways in.
I don’t think we knew what we were getting into, but we made it out and it’s something I’ll always remember.
The tunnel entrance
Our last stop was an easy one, Rainbow Falls. We could drive up to the parking lot and get out to immediately see a beatufiul and powerful waterfall. We didn’t hit the right time of day to see rainbows (thought I did see a double rainbow earlier when we drove across the island, the largest and brightest rainbow I may have ever seen), but the mist the water generated was still awe inspiring.
After a long day away, our Valentine’s Day evening consisted of hutning down ice cream, wine, and watching Avatar: The Last Airbender.
But wow, it a good day of adventure.
With Love,
Natalie