Volcanoes National Park part 3
Sorry for the mid day drop off on day 3. I was having technical difficulties with the app and it was super late.
Our drive.
Quick Jeep shot lol!
Lots of A’a lava
Looking out to the ocean from the pond and yes it was a lot warmer. Not hot tub warm but they claim it’s about 90.
The road out.
The Ohia tree. Legend has it Ohia was a great warrior and Pele, the goddess of fire, wanted to marry him. When he refused she got really mad and turned him into a gnarly tree. He had refused because he was in love and committed to Lehua. Lehua was devasted that he was gone and the other gods took pity on her and turned her into the red flower on the Ohia tree. The Ohia trees are all over the lava fields and really beautiful.
This was a beautiful drive through a 1960s lava flow, can you believe all the tree growth! The craziest were the coquis, which I’ve heard in Puerto Rico a million times but hadn’t heard them here yet. They are tiny frogs whose song sounds like “coqui, coqui”.
Explanation.
A lava tree mold
Just a random beautiful flower.
It was as good as I remembered.
Last stop of the night a little family bowling!
Checking out the steam vents. The steam was crazy hot!
Last stop was the visitor center. The boys worked really hard to complete the Jr. Ranger program and got sworn in by Ranger Olivia!
I wrapped up the last blog post at the lava tube. Next we drove into the Puna area and headed to Champagne Ponds. Champagne Ponds are heated by volcanic steam vents. You have to go off road through a lava field to get there. You’ll notice houses in the background there, that is a gated community behind them and there is no access to it.
Our drive.
Quick Jeep shot lol!
Lots of A’a lava
Looking out to the ocean from the pond and yes it was a lot warmer. Not hot tub warm but they claim it’s about 90.
The Champagne Ponds
The road out.
The Ohia tree. Legend has it Ohia was a great warrior and Pele, the goddess of fire, wanted to marry him. When he refused she got really mad and turned him into a gnarly tree. He had refused because he was in love and committed to Lehua. Lehua was devasted that he was gone and the other gods took pity on her and turned her into the red flower on the Ohia tree. The Ohia trees are all over the lava fields and really beautiful.
This was a beautiful drive through a 1960s lava flow, can you believe all the tree growth! The craziest were the coquis, which I’ve heard in Puerto Rico a million times but hadn’t heard them here yet. They are tiny frogs whose song sounds like “coqui, coqui”.
Our next stop was Lava Tree State Park. It had tons of lava tree molds which are when the lava overtakes a tree and kills it but the lava leaves a mold of the tree behind.
Explanation.
A lava tree mold
Just a random beautiful flower.
We headed back to KMC in time for dinner at the Crater Rim Cafe. Our first night we discovered the soft serve machine! In college I used to eat soft serve with fruit loops lol. So the boys found a pack of fruit loops and tested it out for themselves.
It was as good as I remembered.
Last stop of the night a little family bowling!
We had two final stops before we left the park Friday.
Checking out the steam vents. The steam was crazy hot!
Last stop was the visitor center. The boys worked really hard to complete the Jr. Ranger program and got sworn in by Ranger Olivia!
We left the park on our way to Kona with some pretty crazy stops along the way. You will have to wait till tonight for me to blog about that and our adventures today!
Aloha!
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