Volcano National Park

Volcano National Park on the South side of Hawaii (the big island) is a MUST see and a must return spot for me.  

I stayed in the town of Hilo for one night - had breakfast and drove the short 1 hour into the Park.  First of all, all the national park staff I have met here in Hawaii have been fantastic!  They are so proud of their parks, of the National Park system and they are so happy to share their knowledge with visitors.  Kudos 

This is the most active crater at the moment.  I think they said it has been active for 40 years, but don't quote me on that!  Down the street from this crater there are steam vents that you can walk right up to, they give you just a little hint of the power and heat that must come out of this crater.  

This is a view of the same crater at night.  I was hoping to see a little more of a fireworks show (lava being thrust out of the crater) but it was still something pretty amazing to see.

Most of the landscape on the big island is covered in volcanic rock.  It's a black volcanic desert.  The Big Island is the "youngest" of all the Hawaiian islands, it hasn't had enough time to grow the diversity of plant life that can be seen on the older islands.  This is also the reason the highest peaks are found here, there hasn't been enough time for the elements to erode them away.  This picture is taken at the bottom of one of the craters.  On the hike down you can see the vegetation get less and less.  This part of the island is mostly covered in ferns.  

Not that I really wanted to see flowing lava...  Ok, lets be honest I DID!  I walked and walked and walked in the desert heat, thinking that at the end of this road that is what I would see.  I was hoping to see black cooled lava with red hot lava poking through, flowing into the ocean...  Well - what I did see is shown above, where the last lava flow took out the highway.  So this is actually where the road ends.  

I spent a total of 11 hours in Volcano National Park and I could definitely go back.  :)

Aloha

Off to Kauai.  The oldest of the Hawaiian islands.