| Hanalei |
Jun 10th, 2007 08:16 AM |
Tiname,
Drive from Hilo towards Pahoa using HW130. You will pass Pahoa and continue towards Kalapana (end of the HW). There are signs saying that. You will see sign(s) along the way stating that HW will end (mile marker 21). At the end, there is a sign that says the road is closed except for the area's residents and officials. Drive past the sign and you will be driving on partially graveled road. It is actually in patches. You will be on a couple hundred yard or so of gravel, then partially paved road appears, then gravel... We had a full size car and it is manageable. There are a few potholes so just veer away. Both sides of the road is hardened lava and you will see lava covering almost to the top of residential mail boxes. Further into the lava, you can see some residents living in trailers or shacks. Keep in mind that this is road can only handle one car at a time. If there is any resident leaving the area or tourist returning from the hike, you have to pull over to the side (no shoulder). We clocked the mileage and it is about 3 or 4 miles past the "road closed" sign. You cannot miss the parking area because you cannot go further. It is shaped like a cul-de-sac and is graveled. There will be lots of cars parked there if you go in the afternoon like we did.
When we were there, there was a van from University of Hilo with several volcanology major students. They walked towards the VNP direction (to the right of the parking lot if you are facing the ocean). That must be a longer hike and I do not know how much you see. We headed straight from the parking lot and veered some to the left in the ocean direction of where the plume begins. Beware that in some area, there are "aa" lava that is brittle (much more aa lava as you get closer to the flow) and will crumble when you step on them. This is the type that cuts you like glass. Do not walk in straight line as this will hurt your knees. Try to meander around the high lava humps if you can. I think we could see lava really well before sunset. You can start heading back when the sun sets at 7. That way you do not have to hike in the dark round trip.
Our landlady hiked the next morning and did not see much. She met others who went out at night and were returning. They told her they did not see much. I don't know what happened. When we were there, lava was oozing out inland in some patches. Walking towards the shoreline and looking down at the cliffs, we saw hardened lava and red lava in small patches. We also saw small streams (sliver size) flowing into the ocean, not huge streams though. I wish I can post some pictures, but we do not have a website album.
There was a couple that hiked from VNP all the way to the Kalapana side. I don't know how long it took them, but it must be at least 3 hours. The lady was in a white, cotton dress ( I am not kidding) and black boots. They said it would be too long for them to hike back towards the VNP and did not have enough water. Some people offered them water, but they declined and rather get a ride from the parking lot to the main road so they could hitch hike back to the Chain of Craters Road.
Make sure you have enough water, flashlights plus spare batteries and first aid kit. I cannot stress enough the usefulness of gardening gloves and headlamps . At night it is hard to return because all you see is lava field. Of course, the parking lot was near the ocean but I am not sure how far from the shoreline. The guiding red light tower was not visible where the lava was flowing until you get to about half mile from it. Plus the hilly lava makes it hard to see your cars. As we got closer to the lot, every once in a while, we saw lights in the distance and knew it was from people's cars leaving or entering the parking lot.
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