Volcanos National Park

On Tuesday we flew into Hilo on the Big Island, also called Hawaii.  We drove into Hilo for some lunch and to quickly check out the town.  So different from other towns we have seen in the islands.  It reminded me of Puerto Rico. 



After a couple quick errands (I managed to forget the camera charger) we started our way up to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.  First stop, the visitor center.  



We got there just in time to hear a ranger orientation about the park and the various volcanoes on the Big Island.  Next stop Kīlauea Military Camp (KMC).  No longer used for active military it is a great place to stay inside the National Park.  It is just a mile from the Kīlauea Caldera and you can see the red smoke out the front door of our cabin.  It has a cafeteria style dining hall and a bowling alley lol!


Our cabin for 3 nights. 


There has been no time for bowling but I had to get a pic!

Our first night there were two evening programs at the visitor center.  We hit both!  First a geologist talking about Saddle Road and saddles generally.  Saddles are the areas formed between volcanoes as they encroach on each other and rise up from the ocean.  The second was an astrologer discussing the lunar eclipse.  Both were good but the astrologer was a bit more engaging.  

Then we were off to find the lava!  It was spectacular.  The pictures really don’t do it justice.  And I couldn’t record the sound but you could hear the lava bubbling. Just for perspective we are standing about a mile away from the actual lava lake in the Halemaumau Crater. Fun fact, a caldera is a crater over a mile long and a crater is a crater under a mile long.  The Halemaumau Crater is the current active area within the Kīlauea Caldera.


You can see the red haze from all over the park.  This is as we are approaching the caldera.  


The boys got to one of the viewing areas ahead of me. 


The really bright spots along the edge is lava spewing up out of the lava lake. 




The full moon made the clouds look crazy!

Around 3 am I woke us all up to see the lunar eclipse. I didn’t realize that the lunar eclipse is called the blood moon because the moon looks red.  It was very pretty.  



Wednesday it was time to see the caldera during the day.  Totally different during the day.  All you can see are the steam vents. You can’t see the red and you can’t tell there is even lava there. 


The whole area is the caldera with that smaller hole being the active crater. 


Budding photographer!

Our next stop was the Jagger Museum. The boys did a lot of running around to answer all the questions in their jr ranger book.  


Learning about seismic activity. 


View from The Volcano House

Well that gets us about 1/2 way through day 2 lol.  I’ll try to post again tonight with the rest of day 2 and day 3.  Aloha!!




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