Weekend Adventure! (Part Three) July 9th

The sun woke us up quite early so we packed up and drove back up towards Hapuna Beach. This beach was so beautiful, with super fine, soft, white sand and absolutely crystal clear water. The wind picked up as it got later but it was still beautiful. I sat in the shade and read my book (a new one I had picked up in Hilo cause I finished the other I was reading) while Jake explored and Richard snuck into the nearby hotel to watch the World Cup Finale. Later we went swimming/snorkeling and while adjusting to the ocean water in the strong cold wind both Jake and I were lucky to have a dollar bill float up to us (each), pretty cool. We swam around a bit then relaxed more on the beach. After a bit we ventured on.

The next place we found was not a beach but a really cool lava tube cave that was half filled with freshwater. Thanks to advice from the book I took my flashlight (which was really my small dive light, so it was waterproof). This was was extremely cold (like the river) but we went in and explored around. The place is called Queen's bath. Since my camera battery died, imagine if you will two holes in the ground and peering in and seeing crystal clear water between 3-7 ft deep with mostly smooth rocks on the bottom. Each hole was no more than 5-8 feet wide and both were connected below ground. You could also keep going back in the cave (where the light came in handy) and it was pitch black and really neat with the flashlight.

After that we headed south to another really pretty beach where I relaxed and read more in my book (not wanting to go back in the salt water after the nice freshwater pool, and it was really windy and kinda chilly). Around 3pm we headed back into town to unpack the car and take it back to the airport.

And thus ended the adventure.

Weekend Adventure! (Part Two) July 8th

We woke up and headed to a gas station to change and fill the tank. From there the main goal was to get to the waterfalls in the book because that seemed like a promising place to swim in the freshwater river and would act as a shower (cause we were stinky from the long night in the car). We drove around and missed the turn (which was basically the story of this trip too because we discovered that if they even put a sign for the turn off to many of the places we went it is somewhere in the vicinity of 5-20 ft in front of the the turn itsself and usually small and worn off). After a short drive we made it to Rainbow Falls, named thus because in the morning with the sun behind you this large waterfall usually gets rainbows near the bottom. However we had no such luck cause it was raining. (In case you were wondering we leared that the average rainfall in Hilo is way over 100 inches per year, it is the wettest city in the USA and they claim drought if they get less than 70 inches of rain in a year and start conserving water...ha). So this rain was apparently nothing out of the ordinary.

Despite the rain the waterfall was extremely beautiful and surrounded by rainforest which we got to hike through a bit. We went up a trail through a part of the forest and down to the river. Unfortunately there was no access to the pool at the waterfall and the river before it was way to rough for swimming. So we continued down the road.

The next stop was a place called Boiling Pots which was a series of pools linked by small waterfalls that often would look very rough (like they were boiling) as the water raced from pool to pool to pool. That day though the flow was moderate (or so I assume) and the pools were more serene looking.

Upriver is another large waterfall, Pe'epe'e Falls. There was a trail that led down to the river just above the Boiling Pots where you could see the falls several pools upriver. Just above the Boiling Pots was this nice large pool that looked fairly calm and quite inviting. So despite the "recommendation" of the sign at the trailhead, we went swimming. And boy did it feel wonderful. It was very cold and the water was a little murky, due to the fact that the river is mostly formed from rainwater and is just downstream of a large waterfall. The rocks are also a little rough, but I had my flipper booties on so that was no problem at all. There were two pools to swim through before reaching the large water fall, so we swam through them. My underwater camera housing came in handy here as I could take it with me and get some good shots of Pe'epe'e Falls close up. There was a cliff on one side that Jake managed to climb up and jump off of (a little too high for my tastes and the current in the waterfall pool was really strong). We hung out and swam around for a bit before heading back up the trail and to the car.

From there we drove back out of Hilo and towards Puna which has some really beautiful rainforests and naturally heated freshwater pools, as well as cool tidepools, some small, rocky beaches and as we discovered really fun 4WD roads.

There is a light house down a dirt road that sits at the most eastern edge of the island so we drove down there and breathed what is (according to our guide book) thought of as the purest air around the globe because it comes from across the landless Pacific. Its actually used as a standard by many governments to test against the quality of air in different places. From there we took a 4WD and really bumpy lava road down and around the coast, seeing some really amazing scenery and cool explosions of water as the waves crashed against the steep, rocky coast. We drove back around and down the road to try and find Lava Swimming Pool, a large heated freshwater pool. Unfortunately all we found was a really pretty road that went down through a rainforest and eventually turned into a really pretty and kinda crazy 4WD only road that of course we drove down (until we almost got stuck, then almost went into a ditch).

After our adventures in Puna we drove back into Hilo and out the other side to head towards the first beach park with camping (according to the book) so that we would have a situation like the night before. In doing this we discovered that it is no lie that it likes to rain on the northern side of the island and it was pouring constantly up to the park we had picked out. Luckily we decided that since we had enough daylight we should just drive around the the north-west side (where the good beaches are) and camp at one of those from the book. So we did and it was a good thing too because it rained the whole way until we were around the bend and on the more western side.

Of course it would have been too easy had it all worked out so here's the quick breakdown of what happened. We missed the turn to stay on the right highway and ended up going several miles out of our way on a highway that bypassed all the beaches and shot straight back into Kona, but we managed to discover that before it was too late and were able to cut back to where we needed to be and only have to backtrack a little bit. We got to the park from the book, Hapuna Beach Park, only to discover there was in fact no tent camping allowed, it was camping through a-frame cabins you had to reserve ahead of time. So we moved back up to a different beach park, Spencer Beach. This one however had a security guard at it saying, "sorry, you can't camp here because the park has been rented out by two family reunions." Okay, where's the next place we can camp? "You could try Mahukona 12 miles north of here." So we did and as we drove that way we drove right back into rain. We turned around and debated what to do.

In the end and with no way of barbequing we stopped at the only restaraunt around, named Harbor Grill, so you think hamburger right? Turns out its a super expensive place and dinner is either fish, steak, etc, no hamburger. However I had steamed Mahimahi with rice and it was the second best Mahimahi I've ever had. (the first was at an oceanside restaraunt in Maui last time we were there...when the Smith boys had to eat somewhere else cause that place was too nice). So about 40$ later (just my meal and a good glass of wine cause it was needed) we headed back towards Hapuna then off on a little dirt road where we proceeded to pull off into a deserty/grassy area for the night. Conditions were 100% better than in Hilo and Jake slept in the tent on the side of the road while Richard slept in the drivers seat of the car, and I made a makeshift bed in the back by moving all our stuff to one side and putting the seat down. It was actually pretty comfortable in the end and I fell asleep listening to Jimmy Buffet and the howling wind. (Oh yeah and my camera battery was giving me the low battery sign so I couldn't snap a shot of this place because I wanted to save what was left to get a shot at the beach in the morning).

And thus ended Day Two.

Weekend Adventure! (Part One) July 7th

Well, to call this past weekend anything less than an adventure would be an understatement. On Friday morning Jake, Richard and I took off in our cool green Jeep Grand Cherokee rental car -->
to go to the volcano and see as much of the island as we could. We left with little plan but to drive around and get to the volcano, then end at the beaches. The passenger seat occupant was navigator and was incharge of looking in the book to see if there was anything interesting we should turn off for.

We left a sunny Kona a little before 10 am and headed south towards Hilo (its on the eastern side). I drove most of the trip out which was nice because it kept me awake to see the different sites as we drove past them. Leaving Kona we went through some densely vegetated areas, not quite a rainforest but very tropical and really pretty. We continued driving around (sadly missing the turn off to South Point - the southern tip of the island- and thus the Green Sand Beach, because we didn't know about that until we were way past it). Along the way to the volcano we ran across the Punalu'u Black Sand Beach.

If you've never seen a black sand beach in person, it's definately much cooler than in the pictures. The sand itself is awsome, because the grains are so large (compared to the California sand i'm used to) and its definately pitch black. It was super windy at this beach so swimming wasn't really an option (larg surf, kinda crazy waves) so we continued our journey onward.

Our next stop was the volcano itself: Kilauea. There are actually 5 volcanoes on the island, but this is the only one that is active, the rest are old, like the ones on the other Hawaiian islands (with the exception of the newest Hawaiian island I learned about: Lo'ihi. Its still 3200 feet underwater, but will be a great spot to visit in about 100,000 years). Kilauea is currently erupting, but we only could see the lava from way far away (more on that later). When we first got to the park it started raining (which I later found out is very normal for that area). We got our maps and began to trek around the Park. We went around the big crater from the original and larger eruptions and saw some cool sites. The park is laid out really nicely, you drive around the big crater and see some cool stuff (I know Matthew, my cousin, would be in heaven here, there were so many neat rocks and holes and steam vents and of course the lava). The first thing we ran across was some large Steam Vents. These are areas where there is a hole in the ground that the super hot are escapes out of creating steam in the cooler air above ground. We stood by one as the steam gushed out and its about one notch below scalding, pretty awesome. We continued along the road to the Southwestern Rift, a large canyon like crack in the earth from a lava flow, and on to some other craters before heading down the "Chain of Craters" road. This road ends where the most recent eruption had run over it basically erasing the rest of the road (and a visitor center, little village and some other things). From here we were able to hike across the lava field to where you could see the current lava pouring out into the ocean. We were told the best time to see the lava was after sunset because it really stood out against the darker sky (which is true) so we hiked in late afternoon so we could watch the sunset and stay a little to see the lava at night. This is where some of the crazy adventure begins. From what I just wrote it probably sounds like we had this all planned out and were well prepared, but it wasn't quite like that. Here's about how it went down.

( ^The lava field headed towards the current eruption into the ocean 2.5 mile hike)

We drove to the stop point then got out of car and walked down to the lava field, thinking we would take some pictures and head out (we didn't know that was where you hike to see the lava too). When we got down there, about half a mile down the road from where you park, you see a bunch of signs saying things like: 2.5 miles to current flow, be prepared for a long, hot, dry hike! make sure you have at least 3 quarts of water per person, wear good shoes, bring a flashlight, don't go to close to the edge, use caution, so on and so forth. Well, when we got down there and realized that was where the lava was we decided it would be best to hike it, watch the sunset, and head back then get to the campsite and have dinner and go to sleep, timing worked out well (or so we thought). Then being lazy college kids and realizing how we were a ways from the car, we decided to just go from where we were and not go back to the car. What did this mean? Well, I hiked the lava field in my Reef flipflops with no water, no food and no flashlight (I also had no sunscreen and those last couple hours of sunlight led to my first sunburn (small) in several years :o( oops). Oh, did I mention that there really is no trail, you just hike out across the mostly jagged lava field towards the eruption until you get to the part with rope and signs. After dark there are six small blinking beacons over that 2.5 miles to guide you back to the road. (Poor Jake also hiked in his flipflops which ended up breaking so he walked back barefoot and has some cuts to remind him of that). However, the hike was really not bad at all, I didn't ever get thirsty until the end when I also got hungry, but we got to sit and chill for awhile as the sun went down and we waited for the viewing to get better (which it definately did, it went from seeing a small red speck to the whole edge turning red).

It was amazing to sit and watch the lava crash into the sea and explode as the waves crashed into it. The hike back was also not as bad as I anticipated (remember no light). Luckily there was a full moon and the lava rocks are kinda shiny so I could see pretty well as I hiked from beacon to beacon so I wouldn't get lost. I slipped up once and landed on my hand which got a little scraped and my pinky is still sore but other than that it was kinda enjoyable (in hindsight mostly).

After that excitement it was completely dark (and around 9:30pm) when we went out to find the campground. We got there easily only to have it be pouring rain (difficult for setting up a tent and basically impossible to start a fire to cook dinner with). So we made the executive decision to drive the 30 miles into Hilo find another campground where it wasn't raining. Unfortunately there are no other campground actually in the Hilo area, and it was still raining (hard). We decided to look for a cheaper hotel and sleep there with a fast food dinner. However every hotel in Hilo (that we could find from the book) had NO VACANCY with the exception of one that wanted $137 for a smokey, small room. No thanks. So long story short we ate at Taco Bell then went looking for a deserted section of road or something that we could pull off into. We found an empty lot in some warehouse section, pulled over put the seats down part way (Jake was sleeping across the back seat) and tried to sleep. However the rain made it so we had to keep the windows up, which made the car heat up quickly, so much of the night was a fall asleep/wake up game of opening and closing the windows as the rain stopped and started and the car got hot and cooled down.

And thus ended Day One.