Volcano Day

This is the Kilauea Volcano caldera as seen from the Volcano House. As you can see, the Halema`uma`u crater is active. At night, you can see the lave dome heaving up and down. The crater is really an impressive sight.


Posing in front of the crater.

This is the Devastation Trail. We started walking down this trail in a rain forest. I kept wondering why it was named the Devestation Trail. Then we came out of the forest and saw the lava flow. You can see the lava in the background above. It was stunning.


Just 100 yards from the lava flow, we were back in the rain forest.

We walked through the Thurston Lava Tube. It was not terribly long, but it was interesting. At the end, if you have a flashlight, you can walk another 335 yards through an unlighted section. We didn't have flashlights and we were the only ones in the tube.

We really got lucky. We were ahead of all the day tourists. We had just about every place to ourselves. If you like hiking and plan a visit here, you need at least two days. There are tons of trails.