We entered Volcano National park and headed to the Visitor's Center. We saw a great video on the 1959-1960 eruption on Kilauea Iki- a fissure that erupted on the side of Kileuea and blew molten lava into the area for 255 days! We visited the Iki crater site and marveled at what was once a molten sea.We discreetly followed along with a tour guide who gave some great background on the history of the volcanoes that created all the Hawaiian islands including the Big Island. Kilauea is the youngest and most active. While we were there it was eating several homes in the area and flowing lava into the sea. The air quality "vog" (volcanic smog) was a visible haze and the sulfur dioxide was too dangerous for some tours to take place. We drove down to the sea on Chain of Craters Road and Deanie and Ellen walked the 10 minutes to the ocean on a sea bed of petrified volcanic ash. It looked like a moon scape- very cool. The other part of the road was closed as the sulfur dioxide gases were too dangerous and the lava was busy burning up houses in that area!
One of the coolest places we experienced were the giant steam vents in the ground approaching the volcano crater. As we approached the giant fissures along the walkway, huge steam clouds fogged out glasses with a huge blast of moisture!
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| Kilauea Visitor Center |
We left Volcano National Park after a full day and headed to Hilo on the East Coast of the Big Island.
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| Kilauea Caldera |
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| Kilauea Iki Crater |
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| Thurston Lava Tube |
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| Chain of Craters Road area |
Petrified Lava Bed near Ocean
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| Steam Vent |
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| Steam Vents near Crater |
Lava Tube Entrance
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