Wednesday we headed out to Volcanoes National Park. We got there before the big crowds starting coming in, which was nice. We toured the visitor center, got our park passport stamped, and did some gift shop shopping. Then we headed out to start driving Crater Rim Road. This road allows you to drive around the caldera, which is a big crater and sends lots of steam into the air. The steam is caused by rain from the surface hitting the hot lava under the surface, releasing steam.
We hiked to the sulphur banks. Here you see where the steam has a large amount of acid, minerals, and sulphur in it, causing the rocks to turn a bright yellow/green color. While it may look like eggs, it doesn’t smell like eggs. There are signs everywhere in the park telling you that volcanic fumes can be hazardous to your health, basically telling everyone but healthy white males they shouldn’t proceed! I ignored it and continued on anyways….However, part of Crater Rim Road has been closed for a while because the amount of fumes being emitted from the caldera makes that area way too harmful for visitors.
Walking to the caldera overlook, we saw a field of orchids. I couldn’t believe that orchids were growing like wild flowers on the side of a volcano! I don’t think anyone else took the time to notice the beautiful flowers either.
You could approach steam vents nearby and you could feel the warmth coming up from the earth crack. There was a lot of steam this day because it rained off and on the whole time we were in the park, making for a cool, grey day around the volcano.
We then descended down Chain of Craters Road to the Holei Sea Arch. Along the way we took a few detours, including a stroll through a lava tube. A lava tube is left after a flow of lava travels down the mountain and then the molten lava inside drains out, leaving the shell of a tube (like a cave). We brought our flashlights so we could travel to the end of the tube. The park has some of the tube lit and then a portion has been left as is, allowing visitors to continue on if they came prepared! So we went another 334 meters into the tube to its very end. Several times we didn’t think it could go on any further and then we found our way around. I have to say this was a very cool experience. At the end we turned out our lights to see how really dark it was. Pitch black doesn’t even begin to describe it!
Back out of the tube and onto the road, we stopped at a view lookouts and drove through lots of old lava flows. After 20 miles, we finally made it to the sea. Here we stopped to see the sea arch. This naturally occuring arch in the cliff was caused by erosion from the waves. Very awesome because the arch is right there, not off in the distance to view.
We walked about another mile or so down a paved 2-lane road, which had been closed. The reason? Lava flowed over the road a few years ago! Not far from here you could see where the new lava flows were happening. The steam clouds rolling off the coast line are enough to make a sunny day grey.
Heading back out of the park we made our way to where the new lava is flowing. The county has the road blocked off (because lava is flowing over a portion of the road, so the road ends anyways) and you can park nearby and walk to a viewing area. While we were not able to get to the area where the lava was ground level, we could view the lava pouring into the sea. This may be the coolest thing I have ever seen. Actually seeing new land being formed in front of my eyes. The darker it got, the more orange and red the clouds became. Very awesome that the earth has this power to create anew.
Oh, I forgot to mention you also needed flashlights for this adventure too. To get to the viewing area, you had to walk about 20 minutes on lava flow. Not the easiest thing to do, particularly in the dark! Someone twisted their ankle on the way out in front of us. I don’t know how some people did it in flip flops!
There was so much wonderful stuff about this day. I’m sure I haven’t captured it all, but being able to experience the volcano from so many perspectives has been incredible.