Friday, September 25, 2009

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park


This was the reason we went to the Big Island. No where else could we have seen volcanoes! We went later in the day with our friends and it was amazing! The volcanoes were on the east side of the island and we were staying on the west side so the drive was about 2 hours. There is not much else really close to this area (obviously, with volcanoes erupting and all!) so that is why we chose to stay on the other side. But it was worth the drive. Especially for Lindy and Paige who rode with Alyssa and giggled the whole way there.

We were able to view the Kilauea Crater from different points. We started with the steam vents. You could see different areas where steam was just seeping through the ground. The steam is caused by ground water being warmed by the rocks which are heated from the lava below them.



The kids were so funny running though the steam. It was so pretty in the sun.


Not sure why they are all holding their noses, there was no smell!


This is steam coming from the crater. It is really quite amazing to see this up close.


We drove around part of Crater Rim Drive and stopped at various viewing points. This is from the area in front of Jagger Museum. The museum has lots of volcanic artifacts and equipment.


This sign gave the distance of the Mauna Loa volcano. We did not make it over to the viewing areas for this volcano we stayed at the Kilauea but you could see the huge mountain in the distance.


It is crazy to think we were really there!


I love this picture of Kyle and his Mimi. What a neat picture for him to have later in life to remember going to such a neat place with his Mimi.

A little boy in front of a huge natural creation.



Erin loved looking through the view finders, of course she needed a boost!


These girls had so much fun together during our trip. What a great memory for them when they are older.




Kilauea Iki is a lava lake that is still steaming and cooling from 1959.


The Thurston Lava Tube was a definite favorite. We walked through a rain forest area to the 500 year old lava tube. Pictures from the lava tube follow, lighting was not great so some are a little blurry.

Hard to imagine lava flowing through here and now we are walking through.




The end of the lava tube and back into the rain forest.

2 comments:

Rob M. said...

Me? There is just NO WAY I'd be walking thru a tunnel that at one time had lava running thru it! Looks a little bit scary to me!

U.B.

Gretchen said...

What fun, how fascinating and I love the pics!!