Halema’uma’u crater by day
the hiking path across the Kilauea caldera floor
on the caldera floor
Thurston lava tube
After listening to rain fall all night long, we were not sure what we would experience today when we tried to go hiking at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. And when we woke up, the rain was still with us. Since Accuweather had not predicted the night’s rain, we were not too positive about their relatively sunny prediction for Wednesday during the day.
But, the weather started clearing around 9 and justified the later breakfast then was initially planned. Kilauea Lodge has provided us with a delicious breakfast and dinner so far. We ended up with great weather from 9 to 3.
THe group split into two. Sarah L and Ed went on a series of hikes that probably ended up being 10-12 miles. Chris, Deb, Sarah and Rebecca opted for a combination of hiking and park ranger presentations. They probably hiked 5 miles.
Both groups also drove down Chain of Craters Road which travels from the visitors center at 4200 feet to ocean level to observe the new lava flow that is going into the ocean. Due to conditions, very few people get to see the actual lava in person, the best we could do was observe the smoke plumes from its ocean entry.
All of us hiked down into Kilauea caldera (and back up again) and visited the overlook to Halema’uma’u crater which is belching forth the smoke plumes you saw in its nightly color show in yesterday’s post. Sarah and Ed also visited the sulphur banks and steam vents.
Dinner was Thai take out in the girl’s lodging.
Ed
9″45 pm Feb 27
Chris Klejbuk and Ed Heimel travel adventure 
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