Night at the volcano

The park is open 24/7. In times of eruption, it is busy with viewers watching the glow. Now it is quiet.

The walkways are lit using low-profile solar lights. We thought it looked like a runway.

Back to the Kīlauea Caldera

We were in the neighborhood so we went to look at the crater again. It’s a bit different in the evening, and with the weather rolling in the view was eerie.

Steam but no lava. Next time…

Kīlauea Military Camp

We did a little relaxing and laundry after the long hike. Then we decided to go back into the park to check out the Kīlauea military camp. It’s a unique place that was built starting in 1919 as a place for military personnel to go and relax. (There is an article below that explains a little bit about the facility.) While you need military credentials or a sponsor to stay there, the other parts are open to the public. There is a bowling alley with a snack bar, a restaurant, and a convenience store. Like many things here the hours are very limited. The restaurant is only open on Fridays and Saturdays. We tried to go bowling, but it was all booked up for the evening. We got some food at the snack bar and the girls played in the arcade. Alix likes pinball. Sam likes the immersive video games. 

More strange and unusual plants

Not only are the rainforest hikes shady, but the plants are super interesting to look at. The flowers are unique, and the trees grow in all sorts of crazy ways. Banyans are not the only ones whose roots grow above ground. It’s been fun and interesting to see such diversity.

This fern starts as one giant spiral. It looks dead, but it is not. It will open up to reveal many other spiraled plants. Each one of those opens up to show spiral leaves. Eventually, when all the spirals open it is a multi-stemmed fern fern plant.

This was from one of our hikes yesterday. It shows what the plant looks like when it starts to open.

This is Himalayan ginger.

It starts as the stalk in the foreground and then opens to reveal the beautiful and unique flower in the background.

Picnic

Once we got back to the car, we decided to drive to the next overlook to enjoy our sandwiches. Another great picnic with a beautiful view.

One more view

We really liked this perspective because you can see both the small crater and the larger caldera, and there is a clear view of the trail we took.

That’s Byron’s ridge between the two craters.

The trail looks smooth from up here

But it is not. 400 feet in elevation gain gives a different perspective.

There is a viewpoint just to the left of the cinder cone. We were there yesterday.

The hike around the crater rim

We hiked around the rim of the Kilauea Iki crater to get back to where we started our hike. The trail was lovely and shaded and we enjoyed the view where the vegetation was thin enough to see.

That's the vent from the 1959 eruption. The cinder cone was not there before. It is also the crater side of the devastation trail that we did yesterday.

Byron’s ridge is the rim between Kilauea Iki and the main Kilauea caldera. From this angle we could see where the road fell into the crater in 2018.

We made it!

Leave it to the girls to find a bench for a test at the top.

The steep trail

There are steps for a lot of the way! The views are a good excuse for a pause. 

One last view

From the crater floor before we head up the switch backs to the crater rim.

Snack Stop

The hike was not particularly hot even though we were in the sun. There was a nice breeze (strong at times) and the dark lava did not heat up as we had expected. Still- this shady spot was a nice place for a snack. 

The last crater section

This part was much more of a rock scramble than the walk across. The girls are sitting somewhere on the edge by the trees. (In the shade.)

Crater Selfie

Since the kids were not around to take a photo, we took one ourselves. 

Not bad for the old folks 

The Vent

This is main volcano vent, or the source of all the action for the eruption. There is a tall cinder cone here now that was not here before.

Crater Plants

They are like a lot of determined pants in inhospitable places. Unique a hearty!

Bathtub Ring

There is a ring around the crater floor that shows the high lava line when the lake was most full. As the eruption ended some of the lava flowed back through the vent. Leaving a lower surface level. 

The girls are a tiny spec in the center of the photo.

Lava Mountain

As we got closer to the main vent, the source of the eruption, there were more lava piles. Some of them were floating islands that settled here as the lake cooled.

The lava lake is not smooth

From above the lava trail looks smooth with a few rolling ups and downs. From the crater floor not so much. As the lava lake cooled it cracked into large flats chunks that settled haphazardly. It looks like asphalt that has been tossed. It makes for an uneven craggy walk.

As they hiked, the girls took pictures of one another.

Jim and I did the same.

The crater is not solid. There are all sorts of tubes and underground chambers.

Lava Lake

We reached the bottom and started across the solid lake of lava.

We have no family photos of the traverse because the girls took off. No waiting for the old folks!

Kilauea Iki Trail

Today’s adventure is hiking into the Kilauea Iki crater. It is a smaller crater adjacent to the main Kilauea caldera. It erupted in violently in 1959 creating a new cinder cone and lava lake. The hike winds down the forested wall of the crater, traverses the now cool and solid lava lake, then climbs out on the other side. 

Back to the shadowy fairy tale forrest.

Volcano National Park

This is the first time the weather has cooperated for a picture.