Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

When I left Oahu and headed to the The Big Island. One of the places I had wanted to visit the most was Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. A visit to this National Park was like no other National Park I had ever experienced. This place lets you see and feel the power of nature in a very unique way. Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, established in 1916, is a United States National Park located in the U.S. State of Hawaii on the island of Hawaii. It displays the results of hundreds of thousands of years of volcanism, migration, and evolution.

                    The Caldera of the Kilauea Volcano

Kilauea and its caldera were traditionally considered the sacred home of the volcano goddess Pele, and Hawaiians visited the crater to offer gifts to the goddess. The park includes 505.3 square miles of land.

Over half of the park is designated the Hawaii Volcanoes Wilderness area and provides unusual hiking and camping opportunities

A seperate Caldera on the slope of Kilauea

I had never been to an active volcano before, so this was something very special for me. Active eruptive sites include the main caldera of Kīlauea and a more active but remote vent called Puʻu ʻŌʻō. The Chain of Craters Road, as the name implies, leads past several craters from historic eruptions to the coast. It used to continue to another entrance to the park near the town of Kalapana, but that portion is now covered by a lava flow.

      What Used To Be A Road At The Edge Of The Ocean

The view for miles in all directions is barren lava, but the amazing thing is seeing the plants starting to take root and grow in the lava. It will take time, but you see first hand how the Hawaiian Islands changed from molten lava rock to lush tropical forests.

Recent Lava Flow

Hiking out in the Lava fields is not recommended, but they do not try to stop you. They recommend sun screen, a hat, and plenty of water. I had none of these as I decided to hike out to try and get photos of the lava flowing out of the ground. That was one long, hot, and exhausting hike through that extremely rough ankle twisting terrain. It felt like I was on another planet at times.

        

                                  New Oceanfront Land From Fresh Lava Flows

It took me about 2 hours to get to an area where ther was some slow moving lava flowing up on top of the ground. Since I only had a wide angle zoom lens I had to get extremely close to the molten lava to create the composition of the next photograph. This was where I was really wishing I had opted for the telephoto zoom instead of the wide angle. But having ghiked that far out, and knowing it would be worse going back, I was determined to get some good shots. So I squated down as close as I possibly could and got off several frames. Molten lava is around 2300 degrees F.in liquid form. I actually burned/melted off most of the hair on my legs and the soles of my hiking boots were also starting to melt. But I got the shot I wanted!

     Molten Lava Flowing Onto The Surface Of The Ground

Here is a link to the park from theNational Park Service. 

http://www.nps.gov/havo/index.htm

Diamond Head Volcano

Diamond Head is one of the most famous landmarks on Oahu and the entire state of Hawaii. It has once been an active volcano, but hasn’t spewed any ashes for more than 150,000 years. The extinct crater and lookout point at the peak of it is a popular hiking destination for many. In fact, Diamond Head is one of the most photographed and painted spots on Oahu, adorning many wall calendars and postcards. So I naturally had to do the classic postcard shot as the sun set into the Pacific Ocean behind me.  

Looking East toward Diamond Head from Waikiki Beach

Located at the eastern end of Waikiki and right on the ocean, Diamond Head has already made an impression to early sailors. In 1825, British sailors noticed small sparkling calcite crystals in the beach sand nearby the crater and named the mountain Diamond Hill. This name was later changed to Diamond Head. This is how the crater got its English name.The Hawaiian name for Diamond Head is Le‘ahi, a contraction of lae, meaning point of land and ‘ahi, meaning yellowfin tuna. So Le‘ahi means “point (of the) ahi fish.” From a distance, the mountain looks like the dorsal fin of the ahi fish, hence its Hawaiian name Le‘ahi.

Honolulu from the summit of Diamond Head

I thought it would be great to hike up to the top of Diamond Head and take some beautiful sunrise photos and night scenes of the city of Honolulu. There was only one problem, it is a state park, and it does not open that early. ( I think 06:30 Hrs.) Soooooooooo I had to find another way in and made the hike up in total darkness. Diamond Head Crater measures 3,520 feet across and 760 feet in height. A hiking trail leads from the crater up to a lookout point. But be prepared to climb some stairs. In fact, there are two stairs, one has 99 steps and a second one has 76 steps. There’s also a 225-foot hardly lit tunnel through which you’ll have to go. The tunnel is a remnant of the former military use of the crater. So you should be in good physical condition to do the hike.(Which I am not, so I was pretty gassed) But it’s definitely worth the effort once you reach the top.

As usual, Murphy's Law kicked in for me on this hike. I had not attached my tripod plate to my camera yet and had left it attached to the tripod. Well somewhere along the route of sneaking in and hiking in total darkness, my camera plate fell out of my tripod on the way up. So when I finally caught my breath and started to set up my camera I noticed the missing plate. This rendered my tripod useless. So I had to prop my camera on a concrete ledge of the lookout platform at the top and use my self-timer on the camera.

           Sunrise looking East from the top of Diamond Head

There are many things to see do while you are visiting the Island of Oahu, but if you are physically able, you will want to make the hike to the top. Amazing views that go on forever to the curve of the earth. As for my now useless tripod, I had to go buy another new tripod since no camera store could get me the correct plate for mine. I then shipped my useless tripod home in the new tripod box. Let me tell you that shipping stuff from Hawaii is expensive.