Volcano, HI
August 2007

Stay On Established Trails

Hosted by Tony

Next: Service With A Smile

We woke up bright and early Friday morning. RG had already been up several hours and had wandered about in the rainforest. He was quite impressed until it came time to actually depart for our day trip to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.-(I say Volcanos...You say Volcanoes...)

After several minutes of trying to start the car and then looking for a gas can with even the slightest drop of fuel, Tony informed us that we were going to have to hitch hike, as shown above.

It actually didn't take long before we were picked up by a guy named Rich. He doesn't live in the subdivision and just happened to be cruising by.

Much to our surprise Rich didn't have plans for the day and agreed to take us over to the park and cruise with us. The excellent part is that he, being a federal employee of some sort, got us in to the park for FREE.

Actually even if it wouldn't have been free it is only $10 per car for a 7 day pass to the park!

We took RG over to the Volcano House and out to the Kilauea Caldera overlook. Quite an expansive view and quite spectacular.

We informed RG that we planned to hike down into the caldera as he was scoping out the view of Halema'uma'u Crater in the distance. He was quite excited.

I guess it is at this point that we should inform you that he nearly tumbled down from the overlook in to the Caldera. A fall that would have certainly ruined his day and ours.

We had assumed that those bits of bad luck portrayed in the commercials was simply acting. It is at this point we realized we were wrong.

Tony took great care to keep RG out of harms way from this point on.

Tiki Jr. and I get our fair share of attention but having the RG along just made it all the more fun.

As we began our descent on to the .7 mile trail, we came across Lawrence Rowland and his family coming up. He said he is a professor at Hawaii Pacific University in Honolulu. Tiki Jr. decided that though he had never actually seen a professor before Lawrence certainly had the characteristics of a professor...whatever that means. Lawrence just smiled and winked at Tiki Jr.

After a few minutes his family warmed up to our gnomish charm and allowed us to photograph them for the website.

The trail down is beautiful and enjoyable when taken at a leisurely pace. RG was pleased as we sauntered past the native trees & ferns.

I don't think the Kahili Ginger in the shot above is a native plant but it was blooming in abundance on both sides of the trail.

Rich finally agreed to have his photo taken at this sign.

We took a few minutes to consider the warning and decided that it'd perhaps be much safer if Rich carried RG down the rest of the way.

About half way down on the right we stopped at a rain shelter with much graffiti carved in to the walls. Tiki Jr. took quite a bit of offense to this and we moved on quickly.

More Kahili Ginger. RG was enamored with this flower and stopped to gaze at them often.

We arrived on the floor of the caldera and were amazed by the stark beauty we saw in this desolate lava field.

Growing in the midst of this parched lava were the amazingly hearty Ohia tree with the uniquely beautiful Red Lehua blossom. Bees love this flowers nectar and Lehua Blossom honey is quite excellent.

Far off in the distance we spotted two figures walking across the heart of the caldera. There is a trail that will take you all the way over to the Halema'uma'u Crater. Looks to be a good couple miles of walking for those that are a bit more adventurous.

We stopped and talked with Peter and his daughter for several minutes. We, of course, told them of our journey and RGs visit. Peter mentioned that he is a friend of the gnomes and showed us the secret hand signal. He told us he may be able to put us in touch with another gnome traveler.

His daughter took the opportunity to practice her photography skills on us. Isn't she cute holding RG? Don't forget to hook us up with your friend Peter!

We had lingered for nearly an hour here and the sun was beginning to take it's toll on all of us. It was time to head back up the trail.

Heading up the trail we stopped and talked with-(L to R) Mike, Shirley and Art of Danville, CA. Mike graduated from UH Hilo and now attends UH Manoa on Oahu.

Tiki Jr. asked if Danville is where they make yogurt and was told that it probably isn't.

Though it was by no means cold in the Volcano House we still took a few minutes to rest here after the moderately tiring hike back up. Obviously it was harder than going down, but we all survived.

Volcano House is both a place to stay and a restaurant. The buffet is slammed at lunch time as bus loads of tourists eagerly dig in.

The young man in the shot above was excited when he saw us outside of the Volcano Art Gallery. He apparently loves tikis and was impressed by Tiki Jr. They spoke Tikinese with each other for quite some time. We later discovered that this is Peter's son and his wife.

Peter had already told them about our meeting.

Ok...things start getting a little weird at this point.

The gal in the shot above is the same lady we met at Rainbow Falls picnicking with her husband! That's twice...Tony ran into them a 3rd time at Walmart on Saturday morning.

She told us that she's a photographer and gave us her website www.momentintimeince.net to check out when we find the time. We assured her we would.

We then headed over to the Kilauea Visitor's Center to get the latest news and updates about the park and the lava flow activity.

Tony pointed out the approximate location of his home with relationship to the park and lava flow.

We spoke with this cool park ranger and were informed that we wouldn't see much if we tried hiking out to the lava flows today. Just as well, it is often a few miles of trekking across a lava field.

Rich suggested we take these photos since this is about as close as we were gonna get to lava on this trip. Too true and quite right.

RG seemed to be disappointed that we wouldn't be checking out actual lava today. I knew that he and his friends at Travelocity were going to be bummed.

We decided to take RG over for a bit of wine tasting in an attempt to lift his spirits.

(Photos: Tony V. & Rich H./ Dialogue: Tony V.)

Mahalo for being a part of the site Peter & Family. Please hook me up with that friend of yours.

Mahalo to Rowland and his family, also Art, Shirley & Mike from Danville and all the others we spoke to that had your picture taken with us!

A special thanks to the ticket agent at the entrance who gave us a little attitude as she said "That's special." To which we replied, "Yes it is." LOL