Day 21: Hiking in the National Park

 

After breakfast and a stop at the post office, we headed out to the Jagger Museum before beginning the day of hikes. The first stop was at the Southwest Rift Zone. Here we viewed the crossbedding of ash sediments deposited by wind before walking the crater's edge.

 There have been 17 eruptions and 4 collapses of this crater over time. We were able to see the NeNe while at the crater. The NeNe are extremely rare and were almost driven to extinction but a breeding program is trying to prevent the loss of this bird.

From there we headed to Devestation Trail. The area is close to a climate community. Before the Kileau eruptions, the area was a mature forest. There is evidence of ash along the trail that buried the trees. Runners, small ferns, and ground cover can now be seen along the trail.

We headed to the Thurston Lava tube for lunch then a hike to the mouth of Kileau'iki. The area around the lava tube is a native forest and the rangers have removed non-native species along with erecting a fence to keep out ferral animals. The walls inside the tube are etched with the different lava eruptions and there was some drip marks and fleuting also seen in the wall of the tube.

Hiking in the crater was a lot of fun. There were fummerals and steam vents along the way along with uplifted strata due to the pushing up from the magma below.

 

Day 20: South Point, Punalu'u State Park, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park,

We headed out to the National Park but along the way, we stopped at South Point. South Point is the southern most point in the US. Along the way, there were old windmill farms along with new windmill farms. Since there is a lot of wind velocity off the coast, these farms help to generate electricity for the island. It's also a clean form of energy. Too bad people in Mass. are dead set against have windmills put up in Nantucket Sound. They're too worried about maring the view however it would create a lot of power and could have us not rely on using the power plant or obtaining energy from out-of-state sources. South Point is a great place to view the power of waves eroding the coastline. The volcanic rock is rich in olivine crystals. The crystals form inside the magma chamber slowly. When the magma is brought to the surface, the rock is filled with green crystals.

We stopped at Punalu'u State Park to spot the Pacific Green Turtle. There were are few sunning themselves on the black sand while others were surfing the waves.

After photo ops at the area, we headed on to the National Park.

 

Once we were checked in, we took a walk along the Sulfur Banks Boardwalk. Spied the Lenua Ohea tree which is related to the Rata tree we saw in New Zealand. There were steam vents along the way and we saw sulfur crystals along a scarp. Other minerals like gypsum, opal, and hematite were also found along the scarps. Fummerals were also along the boardwalk. Unlike a steam vent, which is produced when rainwater enters the area, fummerals release not only steam but gases into the area.

From the Sulfur Banks, we headed to the visitor's center to gather more information about the area and to look over the caldera. Watching the sun set capped off another beautiful day on the Big Island.

Day 19: Kaelakeua Bay, Pu'uhonua o Honaunan State Park, Kahalu'u Beach

 As we traveled along with road to Cook's last stand (Kaelakeua Bay), we spotted split-leaf philadendron, oranmental ginger, Lobster claw heliconia, mango trees, Kona coffee trees, poisettas, and papaya trees. Even spotted a Gold Dust Day gecko haning out on the vegetation. Across the bay is a memorial dedicated to Cook. There are plaques around the area giving information about the ecosystems, such as, the sand communites, the rocky outcroppings, the coral turrets and the lava rocks/boulders. In each ecosystem, a list of organisms is mentioned that call that ecosystem home. Another plaque gives information on the Spinner Dolphins who use the bay as a resting spot.

We traveled to the place of the refugee, Pu'uhonua o Honaunan State Park. Each major Hawaii district had a place of refugee and law breakers could get a safe haven there if they made it and weren't killed first. No matter where the people came from, they were given a safe haven. The young were taught to take care of the land and the ocean and if after the age of 12 they broke the law, they would know what the consequence would be. People seeking refugee had to swim across the bay.

While touring the place of refugee we met Tava (taeki) and listened to him talk about his adventures in a double canoe. In 1976, he along with 12 other men, sailed from Hawaii to Tahiti in a 67' double canoe for 31 days. Again in 1985, he sailed along with 12 other men to Whitangi (New Zealand) in the same boat for 3.5 months.  His history is tattooed on his body and is one of the last of his generation to do so.

Next to the park was a spot for us to snorkel. Spending 3 hours looking around, swimming out to the pod of dolphins, just viewing the variety of ocean life made for an AWESOME day. Once we were done playing, we headed to Kahalu'u Beach, one of Kona's Public Beaches to do some more snorkeling. There wasn't a lot of live coral here but there was an abundance of fish. This is do to the fact that people feed the fish. It was funny turning around and having this wall of fish staring at you. We had one fish that followed us around and every time we turned around, because you could feel something watching you, it would turn around also. It was very comical. We did spot a Pacific Green turtle feeding in the area. Leaving was hard to do. I could stay in the area all day. Next time, I'll have to dive the area and see more.

Day 18: Kona Coast

We headed up towards Hamakua coast. The areas was onced filled with sugar cane, now it is filled with eucalyptus trees which would be harvested. Along the route, you were able to see the dramatic change in vegetation due to the rainshadow.

Eventually we stopped at the Hapuna State Beach. This was a chance to recharge and enjoy the 85 degree water. Most of us spent time wave surfing or buring people in the sand. Hapuna Beach was derived from broken rocks and shells.  Having a day to just relax was nice. Doc took his siesta and everyone got a chance to soak up some sun.

Day 17: Wai'Opae Tide Pools, Pahoehoe lava field

The morning was spent at the Wai'Opae Tide pools. The area is considered an earthquake scarp. Many varieties of organisms were seen in the pools, such as, Coral (Lobe, Thick Finger, Finger, Lichen, Hawaiian Plate, Papyrus, Rice, Smooth Rice), Anglefish (Potter's, Fisher's) Blenny (Ewa Fang, Scale Eating Fang) Boxfish (Spotted, Whitley's) Butterflyfish (Raccoon, Multiband, Treadfin) Hawaiian Sergeant, Hawaiian Rock Damselfish Pacific Gregory, Goatfish (Whitesaddle, Sidespot, Orange), Soppted Puffer, Moorish Idol, Tiger Cowry, Urchin (banded, Collector, Slate) and the list goes on.

After our jaunt in the pools, we headed to a pahoehoe lava field. Before getting there we stopped at a church that was moved to prevent it from being destroyed duirng a lava flow.

At the lava field you could see where younger lava was flowing under the older lava because areas would be raised up in spots. The basalt is considered extrusive and is made of olivine. The basalt here in Hawaii is heavier in its specific gravity then the basalt we saw in New Zealand. This type of basalt is characterisitc of oceanic volcanoes. There was a lot of primary succession happening on the lava field. Eventually over time the area will be able to support tree life.

We spent some time hiking along the field to see where lava was flowing. Walking over the field was interesting. Certain areas had a hallow sound to it. Steam could be seen coming up from areas. Some of the flows altered in color from black to grey and to combinations of both. Orange and white lichen was seen along with small ferns in crevices and cracks.

 Finally we made it to the edge were we could see a wall of steam coming up from the ocean. When the waves crashed along the shore, the steam would part and you could see the red, hot lava flowing into the water. Once the lava hit the cooler ocean water, it would shatter making the volcanic sand of the beach below.

After spending time seeing what we spent a hour hiking too, we headed back to the vans and headed to an area to sit in a hot pool. The area was filled with locals and tourist.  Surfers were enjoying the waves in this little nook while others were enjoying the hot pool or the setting of the sun. A nice way to spend a long day out in the sun!

Day 16: Day of Rest

We left for the Maku'u Flea Market after breakfast and before church. At the flea market many items could be purchased. There were many white pineapples and cocoa pods for sell. Purchased a few items, one being this wooden carving of a dolphin. I wanted the turtle but it was sold when I went back for it. Bob picked up some bar-b-que and tortillas.

After church we headed to the lava tubes to go swimming but since it was very crowded, we traveled the red road to the geothermal pools. The road has red ash in it, hence the name. Gray lichen was seen on the lava fields, pioneer speices.

A fissure opened up releasing the a lava fountain that covered the area. Magma still flows undergournd and flows out into the ocean.

After spending the time in the pools and the sun, we headed to Kileau to see the NorthEast Rift Zone. There are two huge rifts in the caldera; one located NE of the caldera and the other, SW. This rift zone marks where the Big Island is pulling apart. In 1955 a fissure opened up and a deeper conduit opended causing a flow of lava to wipe out a small town. Dykes formed in areas around the fissure. Erputions can sometimes be fountains or sheets and don't have to come out of a vent. There are two types of lava: pahoehoe and aah. Pahoehoe is ropy lava while aah is rigid and jagged.