Waking Up to the News

Kīlauea volcano is erupting again! It had stopped erupting right after we arrived on the island, and we were so hoping we might get to see lava flow. So when we awoke to the news today, we scrapped all other morning plans, jumped in the car, and headed straight to Volcanoes National Park! As we drove, the closer we got to the park, the more smoke we could see from the volcano. By 9 a.m. it was already quite crowded, but we were lucky enough to find parking at the Kīlauea overlook area (which was definitely not available by 10 a.m.). We took a short hike along the Crater Rim Trail, and almost immediately came across an amazing view of the spewing lava! I think a little boy summed it up best for everyone when he round the corner to the overlook (riding on his daddy’s shoulders) and shrieked “LAVAaaaaaaa! Oh my gosh- look at the LAVA!”

Videos from the eruption for those who might be interested!

Thurston Lava Tube

We parked at the Kīlauea Iki Overlook and took the forested hike down the path to the Thurston Lava Tube, which was one of my favorite stops in the park. This underground Lava tube was cool and dark, and surprisingly huge! It was so neat to walk through it (and cool down!), and think that it once had a vein of hot lava shooting through it right where we walked. Wild!

Pu’u Pua’i

Our hike down part of Devastation Trail (what a name, eh?!) took us to cool views of cinder cones. We got to reach down and pick up the cinders- the lightweight and shiny volcanic rocks. They were so cool to pick up, and they hardly weigh a thing because air gets into them as the lava propels them into the sky and they dry before they hit the ground.

Chain of Craters Road to the Holei Sea Arch

We drove 19 miles down the (awesomely named) Chain of Craters Road, passing by many cool craters and reminders of Hawaii’s volcanic past (and present!). The lava fields themselves can be so different, with some of them being full of cinder cones/rocks and some looking like the “dribble (sand)castles” we used to make on the beach as kids in Florida. The arch itself is “new”, having formed in the past 100 years. The 30 degree temperature difference between the volcano overlook (at 4000 feet) and the hot, humid 95 degrees arch at sea level was pretty brutal- not going to lie. I basically did a pike tsukahara back to the air conditioned car after seeing the arch.

Rainbow Falls

After we left the park and stopped for a late lunch, our final sightseeing stop of the day was Rainbow Falls right here in Hilo. This pretty 80 foot waterfall is known for having rainbows in it’s mist on sunny days, but we were unfortunately rainbow-less this afternoon. It was still nice to see!

UPDATE: On our way home from Volcanoes National Park, we heard on the radio that the Kīlauea eruption event has already ended! This eruption lasted only nine hours, and somehow we were fortunate enough to see it!! Lucky us! 🍀