Monday, June 24, 2024

The next day we headed over to Volcanoes National Park, arriving right as the Visitor’s Center opened. We picked up a Junior Ranger handbook for LS, then hopped back in the car and drove up to the Kilauea Iki trailhead. My mom headed in the direction of the lava tube to wait while Mr. Strange, LS, and I headed into the rainforest to begin our hike.

I had read to do this hike counter-clockwise, and I was glad that this is the direction that we went. It was early, so we didn’t encounter anyone other than a park ranger for the first mile through the rainforest. The way down to the crater was very rocky, and I was glad to be going down and not up through the rocks.

As we started our trek across the crater, the wind really picked up. LS made a game where she was pretending to race the wind. The landscape of the crater was otherworldly. From the top, when we started our hike, it had looked flat and you could see a worn path across, but once you were actually there, there was no path and it was “bumpy” and full of cracks. The occasional ohi’a tree grew out of the cracks.

We started encountering a number of other people coming from the other direction as we crossed the crater, though it was not a crowded hike, even after we made our way back into the rainforest on the other side. However, I do recommend doing this early, as it was getting HOT in the crater, and would have been miserable come afternoon.

The way back up was a series of switchbacks (which I find easier to climb up than rocks). We eventually made our way up to the Thurston lava tube. My mom was there waiting. We continued on through the lava tube before making our way back to the parking lot.

We were quite hungry by this time, so we drove back down near the Visitor’s Center to Volcano House. It was just after noon, so we thought there might be a wait, considering it is the only restaurant in the park, but we were seated right away. Our food was good and the view was lovely.

Afterwards, we got back in the car and drove the Chain of Craters road. LS fell asleep, so we took turns getting out at each of the stops along the way so that we didn’t have to wake her. Seeing all the different lava flows and craters was wild! At each stop, it got hotter and windier. We finally made our way down to the Holei Sea Arch, where we snapped some photos.

Then I wanted one final hike before we headed back. Mr. Strange and I left LS and my mom in the car for this one, as it was quite warm and LS had had enough. We walked out to one of the largest petroglyph fields in Hawaii. It was an easy hike, but fully out in the sun. It took us about half an hour to walk to the site and back.