After a good night’s sleep and breakfast, Team Gimlet spent one day exploring Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, home to Mauna Loa and Kilauea volcanoes.
When Mark Twain visited Kilauea in 1866, he described the caldera as “a scene of wild beauty”:
“Through the glasses, the little fountains scattered about looked very beautiful. They boiled, and coughed, and spluttered, and discharged sprays of stringy red fire … We had circles and serpents and streaks of lightning all twined and wreathed and tied together … and it was with a feeling of placid exultation that we reflected that many years had elapsed since any visitor had seen such a splendid display …” (Roughing It In the Sandwich Islands, ch. 11)
The caldera hasn’t erupted since 1982, so these days one must be content with dodging the relentless flow of fellow tourists which erupts from the buses circling the park.
Our first stop was the park headquarters and visitor center, where we watched a short film about volcanic eruptions and safety. We remembered a story about the senior Gimlet-in-law’s uncle: in 1921 this uncle visited Hawaii, and along with others in his group, climbed down to a cooled lava bench to get a better view of Kilauea in action. But soon he felt that it wasn’t safe, and no sooner had the group returned to the caldera rim when their bench crumbled and fell into the lava. It’s an exciting story, but he wouldn’t have been on that bench in the first place if there had been a safety film to warn him against doing exactly that. With thoughts of a past era which was in many ways much more adventuresome, we walked across the street to Volcano House and the Kilauea Caldera lookout.
The narrow walk behind Volcano House is traditionally a visitor’s first view of Kilauea and Mauna Loa. Even without lakes and geysers of lava, the numerous wisps of steam and the caldera’s size make it an impressive sight: the caldera is two miles wide, three miles long, and about 400 feet below the Volcano House.
Our senior team member especially wanted to visit the Jaggar Museum so we set off in a counterclockwise direction along the Crater Rim Drive. A day in the park is adequate to make this drive with a few in-depth stops for favorites, but two or three days spent hiking and visiting each point along the drive and Chain of Craters Road would be ideal. Sunscreen, hats, and plenty of water are essential for comfort as most of the trails and lookouts are hot and dry, and snacks or a picnic lunch are a very good idea, too.
We paid a visit to the goddess Pele’s legendary home, Halema’uma’u Crater, where our senior team member recorded a GPS waypoint. (Waypoints and benchmarks would account for many stops over the next several days.) Regarding the volcanic fumes, Mark Twain noted that “the smell of sulphur is strong, but not unpleasant to a sinner.” On this particular visit, the fumes weren’t too bad — similar to visiting Yellowstone.
Having driven nearly all the way around Kilauea Caldera, we turned onto the Chain of Craters Road to walk on some “fresh” (Spring 2003) lava. As the name suggests, this nearly 20-mile road travels past craters, several lava flows (both the chunky ‘a’a and ropelike pahoehoe), and even some petroglyphs, down to the ocean, where the 2003 flow closes the road. We had to park 
near the Holei Sea Arch lookout, then walk a little under a mile to get to the lava. Unfortunately our senior team member chose not to believe the young whippersnapper Gimlets who advised him that Hawaii in January would be about 80° and sunny, so (1) his layers of heavy sweater, long wool shirt, and thermal underwear were unnecessary; and (2) it would be a good idea to bring a bottle of water along for the walk. (Now would be an appropriate time to mention that one of said team member’s suitcases was packed full of sweaters and other cold-weather gear.)
We made our way carefully along the “safe path” marked by yellow highway tabs on the lava as our senior team member fell farther behind, “taking GPS readings.” However, we all eventually made it to the end of the lava trail, and on the way back our senior team member was greeted by a congratulatory group of park rangers who had mysteriously amassed at the trailhead. 
(If they had a stretcher at the ready, it was discretely hidden.) He was soon in our air-conditioned car, drinking water and reciting Gunga Din, so he appeared to have recovered from the hot walk.
A tour group was also hiking on the lava, fully dressed in safety gear, from protective hiking boots and thick gloves to hard hats and florescent vests, but we were amused to note that all their safety gear was unlikely to protect those who strayed past the warning signs to take pictures. Perhaps, in some ways at least, tourism has not changed much since Uncle Dade’s day after all.
Further Reading:
Related posts:
Tags:
family history,
hawaii,
national parks
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