Wanderlust Wednesday-Volcano Nat'l Park

Island Maker

Cheap land in Hawaii, ocean front and extremely private!  Sounds fantastic doesn't it?  Hard to believe?  Fact of the matter is, the Hawaiian islands are continuously growing and expanding due to the volcanoes Kīlauea and Mauna Loa.

And in several thousand years you might be able to build a house on this island.

Islands like these pop up all over the Hawaiian Islands and eventually they will become part of the chain of islands around Hawaii.

In honor of National Parks week and because I simply find Hawaii to be awesome and beautiful I am writing about Volcano National Park - Hawaii for this weeks Wanderlust Wednesday.  Volcano National Park was a fascinating look at the geological workings of the world.  Lava has flown continuously since 1983 and you can actually get a look at it.  Of course you can't get very close, but just to see it is fascinating.  Unfortunately the day that we were there no lava flows were safe enough to visit, so the only lava flow that we saw was from our helicopter flight, but the option is there if you get lucky enough to visit at the right time.  Check in at the Kilauea Visitor Center to see where the lava flows are for that day, they are constantly changing.

Crater Rim Drive is an absolutely fascinating drive that takes you around the rim of the caldera and has you drive through landscapes as varied as a desert and lush tropical rain forests, all within an 11 mile drive, just fantastic.  Unfortunately as would be the pattern for this park we had banged my camera accidentally on the car door, so most of my pictures from here were blurry.  We ended up having to stop at a camera shop on the island and pay some insane amount of money for a lens.  Yeah I put it on the credit card, you all can lecture me later.  There was no way I was vacationing in Hawaii without a camera.  Lesson learned - be extra specially careful with camera lens while on vacation and bring a backup :).

Being able to look down into a volcano crater is something that every person should see.  The sheer power of a volcano and what it can do with that power is just awe inspiring.  Although the ground looks desolate right now, volcanos actual create very fertile soil and soon new plant growth will start to take over this area and turn it into forest again, the circle of life continues.

On top of our camera mishaps it rained the day that we were there as well and so our hikes were cut short.  We did get a chance to walk through a lava tube.  These tubes are underground lava rivers and are cavelike in their structure, so bring a jacket or a sweatshirt to wear if you are going to walk through them.  The sheer size of these tubes are crazy.  I mean a HUGE amount of lava had to have flown through these tubes!  Lava tubes are scattered throughout the Hawaiian islands and can be found here on the Big Island and on Kauai, Maui and one on Oahu.

As you can see from the picture above we had been rained on and chilled on our hike, so FYI yes you need to bring a sweatshirt and jeans to Hawaii, even in August haha.  There is hiking and biking galore and two campgrounds in the National Park to stay at.  Chain of Craters road has no facilities so make sure that you use the restroom and bring your own supplies, enough to give you the option to take hikes if that is something that you want to do.  Be very aware of the park alerts as things change so frequently and the neat thing about this park is that you can visit it one day and then go back another time and it could be completely different.  While we were there lava was flowing into the ocean, causing steam and smoke all along the cliffs.  We were lucky to be able to see it from our helicopter ride.

 

What have been your experiences at Volcano National Park, land of the island makers??  I would love to know about them, leave a comment.

Extra helpful links.

National Park Service

Hawaii - The Big Island

Island Maker

Cheap land in Hawaii, ocean front and extremely private!  Sounds fantastic doesn't it?  Hard to believe?  Fact of the matter is, the Hawaiian islands are continuously growing and expanding due to the volcanoes Kīlauea and Mauna Loa.

And in several thousand years you might be able to build a house on this island.

Islands like these pop up all over the Hawaiian Islands and eventually they will become part of the chain of islands around Hawaii.

In honor of National Parks week and because I simply find Hawaii to be awesome and beautiful I am writing about Volcano National Park - Hawaii for this weeks Wanderlust Wednesday.  Volcano National Park was a fascinating look at the geological workings of the world.  Lava has flown continuously since 1983 and you can actually get a look at it.  Of course you can't get very close, but just to see it is fascinating.  Unfortunately the day that we were there no lava flows were safe enough to visit, so the only lava flow that we saw was from our helicopter flight, but the option is there if you get lucky enough to visit at the right time.  Check in at the Kilauea Visitor Center to see where the lava flows are for that day, they are constantly changing.

Crater Rim Drive is an absolutely fascinating drive that takes you around the rim of the caldera and has you drive through landscapes as varied as a desert and lush tropical rain forests, all within an 11 mile drive, just fantastic.  Unfortunately as would be the pattern for this park we had banged my camera accidentally on the car door, so most of my pictures from here were blurry.  We ended up having to stop at a camera shop on the island and pay some insane amount of money for a lens.  Yeah I put it on the credit card, you all can lecture me later.  There was no way I was vacationing in Hawaii without a camera.  Lesson learned - be extra specially careful with camera lens while on vacation and bring a backup :).

Being able to look down into a volcano crater is something that every person should see.  The sheer power of a volcano and what it can do with that power is just awe inspiring.  Although the ground looks desolate right now, volcanos actual create very fertile soil and soon new plant growth will start to take over this area and turn it into forest again, the circle of life continues.

On top of our camera mishaps it rained the day that we were there as well and so our hikes were cut short.  We did get a chance to walk through a lava tube.  These tubes are underground lava rivers and are cavelike in their structure, so bring a jacket or a sweatshirt to wear if you are going to walk through them.  The sheer size of these tubes are crazy.  I mean a HUGE amount of lava had to have flown through these tubes!  Lava tubes are scattered throughout the Hawaiian islands and can be found here on the Big Island and on Kauai, Maui and one on Oahu.

As you can see from the picture above we had been rained on and chilled on our hike, so FYI yes you need to bring a sweatshirt and jeans to Hawaii, even in August haha.  There is hiking and biking galore and two campgrounds in the National Park to stay at.  Chain of Craters road has no facilities so make sure that you use the restroom and bring your own supplies, enough to give you the option to take hikes if that is something that you want to do.  Be very aware of the park alerts as things change so frequently and the neat thing about this park is that you can visit it one day and then go back another time and it could be completely different.  While we were there lava was flowing into the ocean, causing steam and smoke all along the cliffs.  We were lucky to be able to see it from our helicopter ride.

 

What have been your experiences at Volcano National Park, land of the island makers??  I would love to know about them, leave a comment.

Extra helpful links.

National Park Service

Hawaii - The Big Island

Island Maker

Cheap land in Hawaii, ocean front and extremely private!  Sounds fantastic doesn't it?  Hard to believe?  Fact of the matter is, the Hawaiian islands are continuously growing and expanding due to the volcanoes Kīlauea and Mauna Loa.

And in several thousand years you might be able to build a house on this island.

Islands like these pop up all over the Hawaiian Islands and eventually they will become part of the chain of islands around Hawaii.

In honor of National Parks week and because I simply find Hawaii to be awesome and beautiful I am writing about Volcano National Park - Hawaii for this weeks Wanderlust Wednesday.  Volcano National Park was a fascinating look at the geological workings of the world.  Lava has flown continuously since 1983 and you can actually get a look at it.  Of course you can't get very close, but just to see it is fascinating.  Unfortunately the day that we were there no lava flows were safe enough to visit, so the only lava flow that we saw was from our helicopter flight, but the option is there if you get lucky enough to visit at the right time.  Check in at the Kilauea Visitor Center to see where the lava flows are for that day, they are constantly changing.

Crater Rim Drive is an absolutely fascinating drive that takes you around the rim of the caldera and has you drive through landscapes as varied as a desert and lush tropical rain forests, all within an 11 mile drive, just fantastic.  Unfortunately as would be the pattern for this park we had banged my camera accidentally on the car door, so most of my pictures from here were blurry.  We ended up having to stop at a camera shop on the island and pay some insane amount of money for a lens.  Yeah I put it on the credit card, you all can lecture me later.  There was no way I was vacationing in Hawaii without a camera.  Lesson learned - be extra specially careful with camera lens while on vacation and bring a backup :).

Being able to look down into a volcano crater is something that every person should see.  The sheer power of a volcano and what it can do with that power is just awe inspiring.  Although the ground looks desolate right now, volcanos actual create very fertile soil and soon new plant growth will start to take over this area and turn it into forest again, the circle of life continues.

On top of our camera mishaps it rained the day that we were there as well and so our hikes were cut short.  We did get a chance to walk through a lava tube.  These tubes are underground lava rivers and are cavelike in their structure, so bring a jacket or a sweatshirt to wear if you are going to walk through them.  The sheer size of these tubes are crazy.  I mean a HUGE amount of lava had to have flown through these tubes!  Lava tubes are scattered throughout the Hawaiian islands and can be found here on the Big Island and on Kauai, Maui and one on Oahu.

As you can see from the picture above we had been rained on and chilled on our hike, so FYI yes you need to bring a sweatshirt and jeans to Hawaii, even in August haha.  There is hiking and biking galore and two campgrounds in the National Park to stay at.  Chain of Craters road has no facilities so make sure that you use the restroom and bring your own supplies, enough to give you the option to take hikes if that is something that you want to do.  Be very aware of the park alerts as things change so frequently and the neat thing about this park is that you can visit it one day and then go back another time and it could be completely different.  While we were there lava was flowing into the ocean, causing steam and smoke all along the cliffs.  We were lucky to be able to see it from our helicopter ride.

 

What have been your experiences at Volcano National Park, land of the island makers??  I would love to know about them, leave a comment.

Extra helpful links.

National Park Service

Hawaii - The Big Island