Wandering Through Volcanoes on the Big Island of Hawaii
Beyond the Chain of Craters Road - Hawaii Big Island Trip Part II - Letters from a Wanderer No 3
Hello and Welcome to the third edition of Letters from a Wanderer!
In the last edition, I wrote about driving the Chain of Craters Road, focusing on how lucky I felt to be able to do it.
Since I wrote about my experience, the road reopened, so now anyone can drive it again. But we were only there for one week, and since I learned about it closing literally the day after we drove it, I felt lucky. It is all about perspective.
The Chain of Craters Road was only one of many volcano-related sites we wandered through on the Big Island of Hawaii. Today I will talk about some of my other favorites.
The Main Unit of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
As soon as we entered the main unit of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, even the weather changed. The phrase “four seasons in one day” took on a new meaning here.
We started the day in the rain, cool enough to wear long pants and a light jacket. Later in the day, as we hiked down into a crater, it got warm enough to feel like Phoenix with humidity.
After a brief stop at the Visitor Center, we drove to the overlook of Kilauea Crater, the highest point in the park. Surrounded by a tropical forest, in the drizzling rain, the scenic road climbed towards the top of Crater Rim Drive.
We passed the smoking vents that reminded us of Yellowstone, and continued until we reached the road closure. We were at Uwekahuna Bluff, near the abandoned Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.
The Observatory was damaged in the 2018 eruption of Kilauea, and it’s been abandoned since.
It was still raining, so we put on our rain jackets and looked for a trail. Since I noticed one across the street before we stopped, we started with it. The sign said it led to a campground, but since we didn’t plan to camp, took it just for the scenery.
Alone on the trail, in drizzling rain, the experience was surreal.
Eventually, we turned around, eager to explore other sites in the park. By the time we got back to the road, the rain stopped, and the clouds parted, offering us a beautiful view of the green valleys below.
Kilauea Caldera
From the parking lot, we took the paved Crater Rim Trail leading to the overlook of Kilauea. As the clouds parted, we had the most dramatic views of Kaluapele (Kīlauea caldera) and Halemaʻumaʻu crater near its edge.
Caldera or Crater? What’s the difference?
I called Kilauea a caldera with a crater inside it. I had to correct myself, since I first called Kilauea a crater.
While the two terms are often used as synonyms, a caldera is different from a crater. So what is the difference? Most of us who don’t live near a volcano or don’t study volcanoes might not know. I didn’t until this trip, so I thought it was worth mentioning here.
The easiest way to understand it is thinking of how they form: a crater is formed by the outward explosion of a volcano, while a caldera is formed by an inward collapse of a volcano. Because of this, they look different. Craters are more circular than calderas, since calderas might have parts of their sides missing since land collapses unevenly.
Calderas are larger than craters, and they might have craters inside them, like Halemaʻumaʻu crater inside Kilauea caldera.
A bit of background on Kilauea
The world’s most active volcano mass, Kilauea’s name means “much spreading” in Hawaiian. And for good reason, since its almost constant eruptions make it spread farther and farther, adding new landmass to the island. The volcano is a saddle volcano, an elongated dome built from lava erupting from its central crater.
Its summit that once was 4,090 feet (1250 meters) high, collapsed to form the caldera of almost 3 miles (5 km) long and 2 miles (3.2 km) wide, and about 500 feet (150 meters) deep.
The caldera’s floor is filled with recent lava flows from the Halema’uma’u Crater.
Halema’uma’u, meaning “Fern House” in Hawaiian, is Kilauea’s most active vent, the legendary home of Pele, the Hawaiian Goddess of Fire.
Hawaiian Mythology: Pele, the Goddess of Fire and Volcanoes
Pele, the Goddess of Fire and Volcanoes in the Hawaiian mythology, is the one responsible for volcanic activities, and lava flows. She personifies fire and volcanoes in all their forms, she is responsible for the volcanic landscape of the island. She’s the one who sends streams of molten lava flowing from the volcanoes, destroying everything in its path.
Her story starts in the mysterious past when spiritual beings lived among us and only a thin veil divided the natural from the supernatural, the living from the dead. Sometime during this mysterious past, Pele, Goddess of Volcanoes, arrived in Hawaii from a distant land, carrying her youngest sister, Hi’iakaikapoliopele, as an egg.
Her brother Kamohoali‘i, a guardian shark, guided her travels. After wandering for miles in search of a home for her fire and family, Pele settled in Halemaʻumaʻu crater, at the summit of Kilauea volcano.
While this is her full-time home, she sometimes visits Mauna Loa and sends rivers of lava along its slopes.
Steam Vents
The next stop along the Crater Rim Trail is the Steam Vents, visible from the Kilauea overlook.
It was at the Steam Vents Overlook that I first smelt the volcano, and it was not what I expected. Instead of the sulfur smell I came to associate with volcano steam vents from Yellowstone, it was a weird combination of steamed green, boiling vegetation. I suppose it was indeed because of the steaming vegetation near the vents. I actually liked it as I got used to it.
During our wanderings through the volcanoes of the island, I encountered this smell often, in several other areas, too.
Here, we saw the steam vents that caused it.
What Are Steam Vents?
Steam vents are created as ground water seeps down into the ground, and reaches rocks heated by magma underground. These rocks are hot enough to vaporize that water that returns to the surface through holes and fissures as steam.
Hiking to a Caldera - On the Halema’uma’u Trail
The approximately one-mile-long trail starts at the Volcano House, the next stop along the road, and descends 425 feet (130 meters) through a lush rainforest to the floor of to Kilauea caldera.
Though steep, the trail wasn’t too hard, and gave me an opportunity to learn about the tropical forest, some of the unique plants in the area (at different spots of the trail, several signs offered information about specific plants).
Though most of it shaded and pleasant when we started, as were descending, temperatures were rising, and by the time we reached the bottom, I felt an almost-Phoenix-desert heat.
Standing on the black lava bed was a surreal experience. It was too sunny to walk across, though we walked a few feet on the lava bed. I stood for a while, taking in the view, the vast extent of lava forming swirls and shapes on the caldera’s floor.
I love the ‘ohi’a’lehua, this unique bush with bright red flowers in sharp contrast to the black surroundings. As I learned on this trip, it is the first plant that grows on the lava. Once the lava cools, its tiny seeds settle in the smallest of crevices, get established, and eventually grow into trees.
The hike back was not as hard as I expected, and instead of huffing and puffing I enjoyed the tropical forest environment, with its huge ferns and unique trees.
Along the Chain of Craters Road
As I mentioned in my last Letter, the Chain of Craters Road was one of the highlights of my visit to Volcanoes National Park. You can read about it by clicking the button below.
The Kahuku Unit of Volcanoes National Park
Our first encounter with the volcanoes of Hawaii was actually at the Kahuku unit of Volcanoes National Park. While heading south along Highway 11, we took the road that leads up the slopes of Mauna Loa to the park. The unit is named for the Kahuku Ranch once in existence at the site.
This area is much smaller, less developed, and less visited than the main unit of the park. The landscape is not as dramatic either, since vegetation is growing all along the trails, and this side of the volcano looks more like rolling hills rather than black lava-filled craters of the largest volcano on the planet.
We drove the scenic dirt trail to the top of the volcano, stopping several times for a few trails. We only saw a few other cars while we visited, either stopped at the entrance or at one of the trailheads.
A Bit of History of the Area
The Kahuku unit has only been part of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park since 2003. Before that, it was a cattle ranch, changing several owners, from 1861, soon after its legalization of land ownership to non-Hawaiians.
However, long before Europeans set foot in Hawaii, the area was part of the largest ahupuaʻa, or division of land on the island. Ahupua’a were land sections extended from mountains to sea, organized to provide a variety of resources to a community. This included fish and salt from the sea, agricultural lands for farming taro and potatoes, and forested areas for timber and bird collection. They usually had triangular shapes, with a narrow top at higher elevation and a wider base at the ocean.
The size of ahupua’a depended on the availability of their resources. That’s why Kahuku, with its harsh lava fields on the southern slopes of Mauna Loa, was the largest on the island.
The word ahupuaʻa is a combination of two Hawaiian words, ahu (a pile of stones) and puaʻa (pig), because the boundaries of the divisions were often marked with a mound of rocks topped by an image of a pig, often a wood carving.
Mauna Kea
Translated as “White Mountain”, the name Mauna Kea is also known in native traditions as Mauna Wakea, the Mountain of Wakea. It is the first-born mountain son of Wakea and Papa, who were also the parents of the Hawaiian race. Mauna Kea symbolizes the umbilical cord (piko) of the island-child Hawaii that connects it with the heavens.
Scientifically, Mauna Kea, is a shield volcano, elongated, with large, rounded slopes. Its shape is caused by the type of eruptions that formed it, with a high volume of flows producing lava capable of traveling long distances.
We drove up to the Visitor Center of Mauna Kea, but stopped there. Since past it, the road turns to dirt and you could only drive a four-wheel vehicle higher up. The rangers made sure no one in a smaller vehicle drove to the summit. They also made sure everyone who was driving higher would spend at least 30 minutes at the Visitor Center level, to help with acclimatization to the height.
We enjoyed the views and the much cooler weather at the Visitor Center Level, didn’t feel the need to go up higher. We couldn’t have, anyway, unless we hitched a ride with someone with a four-wheel vehicle. I watched a couple do that, so I’m sure it is common practice.
Signs of Volcanoes on the Big Island Are Everywhere
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park showcases the volcanoes of the Big Island, and offers a possibility to learn about them. However, you don’t need to go there to see signs of volcanoes on the Big Island: they are everywhere.
In fact, you see them as soon as you land in Kona, since the airport itself sits on a huge lava bed. At first glimpse of the island, all you see is ocean and lava.
Along the coast, everywhere you go, you see lava rock near the ocean, even on the largest white-sand beaches.
However, you can also find areas with lush, dense vegetation, rivers and waterfalls. Volcanic soil, given enough time, is one of the most fertile soils on the planet.
The Big Island showcases not only the largest and most active volcanoes on the planet, but unique flora and fauna that can only grow here, and a rich cultural history.
To read more about our visit to the Big Island, you can do so by clicking the button below…
Thank you for reading and have a wonderful day!
Emese
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