Today we spent most of the day at Kīlauea in Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park. We breakfasted at Ken’s House of Pancakes, and then loaded up to drive up to Kīlauea.
Kīlauea is undergoing some serious construction at the moment. We made it to the visitor’s center, but apparently this is not the normal visitor’s center. We got some intel from a ranger and then drove to the Kīlauea Iki Overlook parking area. Kīlauea Iki is a crater east of the Kīlauea Caldera.
We hiked the Kīlauea Iki loop, which is a combination of the Kīlauea Iki Trail and the Crater Rim Trail. We included a short hike add-on to Nāhuku (Thurston Lava Tube) as well. It was a great hike. We did it counterclockwise, putting a descent through some serious switchbacks on the east side of the crater at the beginning of the trek.
We descended through lush rainforest before coming out on to the desolate crater. Here hard volcanic rock was the terrain. It is generally flat, but involves going over and around some serious buckled earth. The trail was marked by ahu, piles of lava rock. A few tenacious shrubs eked out an existence here.
Hiking out was a lot like the hike down, but on the west side of the crater the trail had some steps in spots and fewer switchbacks. The environment quickly returned to rainforest.
After the hike we tried to eat lunch in the park, but everything was so busy. Someone in the group found Tuk Tuk Thai Food Truck parked at a golf course in nearby Volcano, so we ate there.
After lunch we headed back into the park to hike the Old Crater Rim Drive Trail to get a better look into the Halema’uma’u Crater, where volcanic activity is currently visible. The “trail” is a now-closed road along a south east section of the Kīlauea Caldera. There are a couple of overlooks, but the first spur trail to an overlook has the best view into the caldera.
With that done, we drove back into Hilo and stopped at Da Hawaiian Brain Freeze Shave Ice & Ice Cream for adventure treats. I have learned that adventure days deserve adventure day treats (especially for adventure kiddos). These Hawaiian Shaved Ices were gigantic. I got the keiki (child) size, and it was easily the volume of a small cantaloupe. I got lychee, mango, and guava syrups with “sno cap” sweetened condensed milk topping.
After dinner we regrouped at the hotel. My parents went out for dinner by themselves while the grown kids and the not-yet-grown kids got take-out from Verna’s right around the corner from the hotel.