Big Island - Days 2 and 3!

Yesterday Erika and I headed up the coast of the Big Island, north to Pololu Point. After a long and winding drive over lava flows, through narrow, one-way bridges, past a port, and into a surprisingly lush jungle we got to our destination - the head of the trail. From there we descended down a mile long hike down to the remarkable black sand beach. We walked around the sand and took great photos and video before beginning the long hike back up to the trailhead where we parked. We emerged sweaty but triumphant. 

After that we drove back to our hotel in Kona, stopping at a rather uninspiring lunch spot (our first miss of the trip). There, we quickly changed into long pants and long sleeve shirts and then drove to meet our guide and group for our Mauna Kea Summit and Stars tour. 

Our guide, Brett, introduced himself and answered all of our questions about volcanoes and lava flows as we drove to pick up other more, ahem, needy guests. Then we turned up the center of the island and began our ascent up Mauna Kea. We stopped at an old sheep-herding compound to enjoy a really delicious dinner and some hot tea, and also to get used to the altitude - at that point 6,000 feet. 

After dinner and acclimation we donned our parkas, turned on the four wheel drive, and climbed to the visitors' center at 9,000 feet. We didn't stop there, though, traversing a treacherous, steep, unpaved road that would challenge even the Ford Fiesta. 

We got up to the summit and saw the world class telescopes at nearly 14,000 feet about twenty five minutes before sunset and walked around the summit (freezing our faces off) until seeing a truly spectacular sunset above the clouds. 

Being up there was amazing. All we could see around us were he telescopes on Mauna Kea, the thick clouds below us, and the peak of Mauna Loa (a bigger but shorter volcano) in the distance. 

After getting our fill of the heights and the sunset we descended to 12,000 feet where our guide, Brett, parked the car, set up his powerful telescope, and handed out very necessary hot chocolate and brownies for dessert. We warned our throats and stomachs before he taught us about celestial navigation. He pointed out the North Star, Polaris, and then showed us the Line of Ecliptic. We saw the Big and Little Dippers, Gemini, the Southern Cross, Alpha and Beta Centauri, and many other stars and star systems. 

Then, the real fun began: Brett trained his telescope on Venus and we got great views of Venus in its half phase. Then he turned the scope to Jupiter and we saw, for the very first time, Jupiter. Not just as a blur, but with its stripes and four of its moons, the Gallileo moons, arranged in a perfect line diagonally across and beside the massive planet. After geeking out about Jupiter and taking a second and third turn at the telescope Brett trained the scope on Saturn, the same sight that made me so excited about astronomy several years ago, and we were able to see the ringed planet in all of its glory, of course with its rings. Finally, we got a great up close view of the craters and surface of the moon. Then we descended down the mountain, dropped off our, ahem, needy guests, and headed back home at 11:30pm. 

After a late night we got an early start today, heading to Hilo on the opposite side of the island. On the way we stopped at Akaka and Rainbow Falls. Akaka Falls turned out to be a remarkable patch of rainforest. We arrived as it opened, headed down the beautiful treehouse-esque path, and took in the grandeur of the falls. 

We then stopped at Rainbow Falls before unfortunately finding out our helicopter  volcano safari was cancelled because of the weather. Undeterred, we drove up to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. 

We plotted our course at the visitor center and started by seeing the steam vents and also getting up close to the active Kilauea Caldera and Crater, which has been erupting continuously since 1983. The steam was powerful and the caldera was massive, and the combination of both took our breath away. 

Next, we continued to the Jaggar Museum and its lookout point, getting great views into the active crater itself. 

After stopping for a quick lunch, we visited and hiked down the Thurston Lava Tube, created when lava flowed over itself out of an eruption of Mauna Loa over 500 years ago. 

Then we drove down past several awesome lava flows from the 1950s through 1970s, all from Mauna Loa and all leaving a wide trail of destruction and, later, rebirth in their wake. The closer we got to the coast the wider the destruction fields seemed to be. 

We finally got down to the lava arch, created over years of erosion as waves have battered lava flows that reached and cooled in the ocean. 

We climbed back through the sulphuric and rain cloud mix back to the Jaggar Museum before finally leaving the park and beginning the long drive back to our hotel. Finally, we concluded the night with another pizza tasting at Kona Brewing Company. Again, our choices were on the mark - the pizza was superb.