Lava Hike Fail

We have been to the volcano, night and day, but we have yet to see any lava.  The hot oozing deadly destructive molten stuff.  The local news is reporting that the flow has reached the ocean.  This is something we have to go see, options include a helicopter, a boat, or by foot.  Our thoughts are to go by foot to allow us time to sit and admire the event.  How far of a hike can it be?  The flow is not in the Volcanoes National Park.  Getting to the flow by foot has two approaches, from the national park side and from the county park side.  The county has a lava viewing park which is on the east side of the flow.  With the flow being east of the national park and closer to the county park, the county park seems to be the easiest path.  With a little research, we determined it is a 4 to 5 hour hike from the national park, and a 2 hour hike from the county park.  Round trip or one way, hmmm, not sure.


Attempt Number 1 - The County Lava Viewing Park
Attempt Number 2 - The Trail in Volcanoes National Park

Off to the county park we go.  We headed out a little late from Kailua.  It's about a 3 hour drive to the county park.  That is if you go directly there and don't take a couple of wrong turns.  This park has strange hours, open from 2:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.





The Lava View (or rather gasses from the lava).

We get there at about 3:00 p.m.  The plan is still in good shape.  Hike to the flow in daylight, hike back in the dark.  We load up our cameras, flashlights, extra batteries, and water; then head down the directed path.  This path is an easy one-lane asphalt road laid on top of the lava.  The park attendants (code for private security guards) tell us it is a short 10-minute walk to the viewing area.  Hmmmm, that's okay, but we're headed beyond that and looking at the size of many people's backpacks so are they.  Signs of private property and Civil Defense Area are posted on the road and along the trail.  It is interesting to see the sporadic house precariously placed in the lava field.





One of the houses standing in defiance.  



...aaaand here we are at the end of the trail in the viewing area.  A security guard is there telling a little about the flow, but mostly telling people that this is the end of the trail, and any further, you would be on private property, which isn't allowed.  The only access beyond this point is by permit from the Civil Defense or with an approved guide.  We're told that these guides coordinate with the property owners in the area to allow specific access.  I'm sure with just a little revenue sharing.  The view from the viewing area is no different than the view from the parking lot.  Well this is a bust.





End of the line.

Not wanting to waste the 3 hour drive, we head on over to Kilauea in the national park.  There might be some action going on in the caldera.  It is cool to see the pit at night all aglow.  

Night view of the caldera from Jaggar Museum.

A couple of pictures and now what?  We'll head down to coast in the park to see what there is to see at night.  We get to the turn around about 8:30 p.m.

We park.  Might as well take a little walk, maybe just go as far as the pavement goes.  Since it's a short walk, I dump half my water and only take the little camera.  As we head beyond the parking area, we meet a young man who is also starting out.  He says he is headed for the flow.  I'm a little impressed.  We walk with him for short time until his pace just out does ours.  He is gone into the darkness, and quickly we can't see the light from his flashlight.  It is amazing just how dark it is.  No moon tonight, and we're conserving our flashlight batteries.  We have three flashlights purchased for this adventure, and an extra set of batteries with us.  Dark asphalt, dark black lava rock, and dark night, nothing to see.  We stay on the road only because of the white markings on the side of the old road.  When the white markings disappear under the black lava, we turn on a flashlight.  We would have fallen over a waist-high pile of old lava flow if we hadn't had the flash lights.  Okay, let's go a little further.  We shine our lights forward and they hit a series of reflectors that have been placed along a path.  Now, this is not a path that's been prepped in any other way.  It's just a guided direction over the old flows.  The rocks are sharp and at times sound like your walking on broken glass.  Concentration on each step is required.  Aaaand here we are at the sign "end of trail".


Photo of trail at night!

We've been blocked by an "end of trail" again, or have we.  Up on the hill to the left, there is a flashing yellow light, like those used to control traffic in construction zones on the highway.  Then looking down the perceived path, you can see another flashing yellow light.  With a little effort, you can see three or four lights.  Well the walk wasn't so bad so far, maybe we can hike to the lava flow, and off we go.  The strange thing is the sound of the ocean; it is always forward and to right a little, but never directly to the right where it should be.  We are hiking along the coast, but if you head for the sound, I don't think you would ever get to it.  We made it to the first beacon.  Not too bad.  Occasionally a little disconcerting, as you go down into a gully or just not being on top of a hill, you lose sight of the beacons.  Standing here at the first beacon I can't see the original starting beacon.  Okay, another check to see if we want to continue, then off we go again.  Using our phone with GPS, we figure we might be about a fourth of the way.  An hour and a half in and we are on course.  We made it to beacon two.  Not as confident as before, we head off again for the flashing light in the distance.  I keep hoping that we're going to get to these flashing lights lined up along an area as a warning to keep off the hot lava.

Up ahead, a pair of lights are coming toward us, a couple of hikers coming back from our intended goal.  As we meet and greet, we try to get a little understanding of what we should expect for the rest of our trek.  They tell us the lava flow was great, it is hitting the water and the glow is amazing.  Just keep on the path, then as you pass the seventh beacon, it's only another 3 miles beyond the park boundary.  It's not marked but just head further east and towards the ocean.  They only had two problems, not enough water, and a hard time finding the flow beyond the last beacon.  It took them 5 hours to get there.

Now it's time for a reality check.  We headed off on this trip with minimal information.  We did not bring a lot of water.  It's 10:00 at night, at best, we might make it to the flow and back by 5:00 or 6:00 in the morning.  Each beacon we reached was an accomplishment, now there are five more beacons to accomplish.  Then there is a no-beacon land.  At night.  Do we have enough batteries?

It took us two hours to get back to the car.  We made it home around three o'clock.  We're exhausted. 

End of trail.

Manta Ray Night Snorkel

If you come to the Big Island, you have to visit the Manta Rays.  You just have to.  The best and most exciting way to do this is by swimming with them.  Other ways are to ride in a glass bottom boat or enjoy the restaurant lanai at the Sheraton in the evening.  We've done all three.

Even though we chose to visit the Big Island, because of the ability to snorkel with the mantas, we waited until our son and daughter-in-love could go with us in November.


Waiting on the boat for others to arrive.
Engela, Chrystina, Eric, Rachel & Me (Bill)

For our manta snorkel, we chose a Sea Paradise because their tour leaves from Keauhou Bay arriving at the Sheraton in a whopping 10 minutes or less.  I've been told that the airport typically has more mantas, but due to the threat of my wife getting sea sick, we preferred the shorter boat trip.  All one needs is a mask, snorkel, and a short wetsuit, and all are provided by the tour operator for no additional charge.  We checked in at their store front in Keauhou Shopping Center, signed all the waivers, and put on the wetsuits they loaned us.  We chose to use our own mask and snorkel and not use fins. 

Once everyone has arrived at the boat, it is a very short ride to the mantas.  When the boat is secured and the raft with lights was ready, we walk down the steps into the ocean.  It is a short five yard swim, we grabbed hold of the raft, laid out flat, hung on, and waited.  If you don't see mantas you're given a pass to return and try again.  We began to wonder if we'd have to come back another night.

We knew the mantas were in the area, because we could hear snorkelers squealing from a neighboring kayak tour.  Still, it was a long wait, about thirty minutes in the water.  It was an easy wait, with the wet suits and a provided swim noodle to keep our feet up, it was just a matter of floating and holding on to the raft to keep us from floating away.  The time seemed to move slowly, even though we were occupied by watching the twenty or thirty fish and the plankton drawn to our lights. 





The 12 inch blue trevally provide a little entertainment.

Then, out of the darkness, a huge manta gracefully curls underneath us.  About ten feet below us, a barrel roll is started, moving up to within inches of our faces.  Not 24 inches, not 12 inches, but 4 or 5 inches.  Pass after pass, in and out of the light.  Another Manta joins in, and then another.  This was exciting; not scary. 




Snorkeler and Manta.  Yes, that close!

I had complete faith in these animals.  There was an occasional brush or slight bump by a wing tip.  All I could think about was wanting to touch them or make a quick dive following them down, but we'd been told not to do this.  Mantas can't swim backwards, and we might get in their way.  Touching them takes away the protective coating on their skin and makes them sick.

The snorkelers from another boat swam to our raft since we had the mantas.  Their divers swam beneath us with three mantas sandwiched between us.



Reef Manta approximately 12 feet wing tip to wing tip.

This continued for about 45 minutes.  The mantas seemed to get their fill of plankton, were tired of showing off, or were ready to check out the other tour boat for plankton, and so they swam away.  We exited the water, all of us in awe of what we had just witnessed.  As the boat prepared to leave, the Mantas returned to the lights as if to say good bye.

Watch the Manta Rays as they somersault closer and closer.

Notes from Engela: 

1.  Even though many ads say that you don't have to have experience, don't do this as your first snorkeling adventure.  You won't appreciate the mantas or snorkeling. 

2.  Check the wave and weather reports yourself, and wait until the surf was low and the winds were from the east.  I don't recommend trying this during a period of Kona Winds or when there is a surf advisory or small boat advisory.

3.  We chose a good evening, but I wasn't the only one who got sick in the water.  Make sure if your susceptible that you take a motion sickness pill an hour before your tour, and wait to eat diner until after the manta snorkel.

If I had it to do again.  I would wait until everyone arrived before boarding the boat so I wouldn't have been on the boat as long.  I would swim to the end of the raft furthest away from the boat, because the boats exhaust fumes added to the nausea. 

Also, see our first daytime swim with a reef manta in Hawaii.