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| Devastation to Volcano Overlook, HI | |
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| | Devastation to Volcano Overlook, HI | | | |
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Devastation to Volcano Overlook, HI
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| Hiking | 1.82 Miles |
175 AEG |
| | Hiking | 1.82 Miles | 49 Mns | | 2.48 mph |
| 175 ft AEG | 5 Mns Break | | | |
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[ show ]
| no partners | | Woke up to sunrise view above Hualālai (pronounced [huwəˈlaːlɐi] in Hawaiian), an active volcano on the island of Hawaiʻi where my cousins live.
I'm hearing "There's an eruption." There was one last Friday they didn't get to see as it shut down while they were enroute. Gotta get ready to go. Eat quick breakfast but will stop along the way for Portugese something or other. Gather things like umbrella. Two vehicles that include their dad and workers from My Hawaii Hostel, which they own. And we're off. Terrible weather, long drive. Stopped at Punalu'u Bake Shop, the southernmost bakery in the USA for malasadas, fried dough pastries, similar to donuts.
And we're off again, about 45 minutes to the Volcano House. Find parking, very crowded. Dash through to the viewing point that shows us.... NOTHING. It's socked in  . But wait, it's starting to lift and finally, you hear all the "Wows"  , including mine. We were lucky to get a fifteen minute viewing of this magnificent work of nature. You could see, feel and hear Kilauea. The rumbling was quite surprising. We could even hear it when we could no longer see it. We waited a little longer and then decided to head out to another viewpoint.
We all piled into one car and got on the road to a parking area close to where the other Overlook was, just in case we could see the volcano. It was rainy and getting rainier and windier as we continued on, others were also coming and going. I was glad for my umbrella and rain poncho. We kept a pretty decent pace as it was slightly downhill until we hit the turn to walk on the lava gravel. The trail is marked by markers and ropes. There is a nice interpretive sign just before the Overlook that was.... you guessed it, socked in.
It was really windy here as well. There were probably two dozen people hoping the weather would clear because it was also pretty cold. All we really got to see were some steam vents. My regular camera couldn't focus on anything but fortunately, the Ultra 25 came through for a few photos and a movie. We stayed as long as we possibly could, throwing in the towel after about 15 minutes. So off we went. I tried to use a couple bigger people in front of me as a wind break for a little bit. Once we got to the pavement, we tried to pick up the pace. After all, you couldn't really see much. I took one photo during that mile back to the parking lot. There were still lots of people coming and going.
I counted myself lucky to see what I got to see. The following Sunday, May 25th, Kilauea went off again. We had just come back from that area so we didn't make the two hour drive, which was too bad as it was a nite time blow where you get to see the colorful lava flow. My other cousin and friends, employees were at Green Beach (less than 45 minutes to Volcano House) so they were able to run up and see it. I, on the other hand, got to see another beautiful rainbow and sunset from my windows in my room.
We went via Hilo on our way back. Yahoo. We were starved, of course, so we got to eat at their favorite Thai place on the island, Tina's. Delish. We got to go to the Big Island Candy Store where we went in 2022 too. Here they give you a free small coffee. I ended up buying coffee cookies and some candy. In case you don't know, pure Kona is my favorite coffee as I don't have to add any sugar or cream to cut the acidity.
For our drive home we took Saddle Road that cuts across the island (east/west for us) and then we hang south around Waimea. We did the drive in 2022 and it was fabulous. Today, we had to go through weather and it was ferocious at times and then sun at times. Anyway, what a great day on the Island and I got to see Kilaeua blow in all its glory  .
The video of the volcano turned out pretty decent considering the circumstances. I tried to enhance the movies. [ youtube video ] |
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Wildflowers Observation Light
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For me, sometimes it's just as much about the journey as the destination.
Oh, and once in awhile, don't forget to look back at the trail you've traveled. |
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