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| Madame Pele |
One of the sights Siena was most looking forward to on our trip was going to the Volcano. Everyday we would leave our house and be surrounded by the now dormant volcanoes of Hawaii, and everyday Siena would point them out. To add to the experience we had found a book about a donkey (The Volcano Adventures of Keikilani The Kona Nightingale) that goes to visit the volcano and we read it to Siena each day. By the time we left for Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, Siena was ready.
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| Smokin' Hot Wife and Volcano |
After a beautiful ride around the island we arrived at the park. Due to a current eruption Crater Rim Drive is partially closed so we headed to see the museum and steam vents. The eruption is happening in the Halemaʻumaʻu Crater and is emitting a gas and steam plume viewable from Jaggar Museum, so we were able to get pretty close. No lava or lava flow views but plenty of smoke, and that is now what Siena sees when she thinks of a volcano.
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| Active Volcano |
We were adventurous while we were there and walked through the Thurston Lava Tube and along Devastation Trail. At the end of the trail you come to the Kilauea Iki Crater, which erupted in November of 1959. Looking down into the crater we were able to see the people hiking though the base of the crater 40+ stories below us. We were also greeted with a little rain that quickly turned into a rainbow over the volcano, what a sight.
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| A Good Sign |
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| Inside the Thurston Lava Tube |
We took the rainbow to be a sign from Pele and decided to see if we could find the end of the rainbow inside the volcano. Yes, we hiked all the way down into the volcano, a beautiful hike down (and back up) through a rain forest. It was a very different earth down inside the crater. The rock was hard and sharp and the earth folded up like the highways do when a big earthquake hits. Siena was of course a trooper through it all and seemed to love the trek.
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| Inside Kilauea Iki Crater |
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| Inside the Volcano |
After a full day we headed to Hilo for dinner and then home. A great day filled with visions of Madame Pele, the goddess of the volcano.
