Back to the Volcanos and into Hilo

We decided to go back to the Volcano National Park.  There is a trail that takes you right down onto the crater floor and I wanted to do that.  We drove up there and got there about 11:30, stopped at the Visitor Center and then headed out.


We wanted to hike down into the Kilauea Ike Crater.  The trail starts with the Crater Rim Trail which took us from the Kilauea Ike Overlook parking lot to the edge of the crater.


Then we started to descend into the crater.  The trail went down pretty fast, with steps and switch backs in the tree cover.


Once we got to the bottom, the forest gave way to a jumble of big lava pieces.


Apparently after filling the crater with lava, it partially hardened, and then drained back down the vent that it had come up,  When that happened, the hardened floor dropped, leaving a “bath tub ring” of lava around the crater at the maximum height of the lava flow. 

Walking further across the crater, it becomes mostly flat and solid — a vast lava floor in the crater.


Halfway across we stopped and found some rocks which provided shade and had lunch.  Then it was back to walking across the crater and up the other side.  

The other side (which comes up near the Lava Tubes we visited before) is not as steep or rocky, more shady (and probably longer, but easier).


Thinking about it, the easiest thing to do would be to go down the trail starting from the Lava Tubes, walk across the crater, then turn around and go back the same way.  But it wasn’t that bad of a hike.  We were done by about 1:30, so a 2 hour hike.

With some time left, we decided to drive from the Volcanoes National Park down to Hilo and look around.  There was a bookstore we were interested in, but it turns out that it is closed on Monday (and today is Monday).

Once we were in Hilo, the maps all should said that the Rainbow Falls were close, so we drove over there.  The Rainbow Falls were okay, but they create rainbows mainly in the morning when the Sun shines from the East.  By the time we were there, it was late afternoon, so the falls, but no rainbow.


But once at the Rainbow Falls, the Boiling Pots were just a short distance upstream, so we drove up there.  The Boiling Pots are best with lots of water coming down the river, which is not the case at the moment, and you can barely see the Peepee Falls just upstream.


It seemed late enough, so we had dinner (at the Kūhiō Grill) and then drove home.


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