Photos 5, page 18
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Kayak Hilo Bay
| October 26, 2008 |
| I finally decided to get the old kayak out and go for a little spin in Hilo Bay. I hadn't been out since March (!) and I felt I really needed to get it wet. I first paddle out around Coconut Island (counterclockwise) then headed into Waiakea Pond. Waiakea Park is a beautiful place with ducks & geese & fish - a protected habit. There are pavilions and picnic areas as well as walking paths and beautiful bridges. Right in the middle of Hilo. I love paddling in there because it so quiet and just one stroke sends the kayak gliding forever... Green line out, magenta back... |
Hike Napau Crater Trail
| November 1, 2008 |
| I have a new little adventure for you. Remember the aborted hike that Robin and I took back on August 3? I decided to take a shot at finishing it. Ideally, one could hike all the way to Pu'u O'o but that's a 10 mile hike, making it a 20-mile hike. Definitely a two-day affair. I planned to hike out as far as I could until it was time to turn around, then turn around and get back before dark. |
| Here's the hike I took in relation to the Kilauea Caldera, Volcano House, Pu'u O'o, and the lava ocean entry at Waikupanaha |
| Here's the path I took, both out (green) and back (magenta). The numbers mark where I took certain pictures from. |
| Check this out. At Pahoa, there was this splendid rainbow. If you look, you can see another one in the upper left of the picture. Simply amazing...! |
| At breakfast at Volcano House a check of the wind direction, blowing southerly. That means the gases from Pu'u O'o won't be blowing in my face... |
| [001 - 10:53 AM] Pu'u Huluhulu I'm going to hike up there and take a I were up there and we couldn't see a thing... |
| [002 - 10:56 AM] That's Mauna Kea in the distance. To the left, you can see the slope up Mauna Loa. Just in front of Mauna Loa would be the Kilauea Caldera |
| [002 - 10:56 AM] Zoom |
| [Fork - 11:22 AM] At the bottom of Pu'u Huluhulu. I'm going up to the top, then coming down and heading toward Makaopuhi |
| [11:43] At the top of Pu'u Huluhulu, there's this... (WARNING, it's a big photo file so you can read it.) I came from the direction of Pauahi, about 5 minutes to 12 on the dial. I'm heading to 25 minutes past 12, Makaopuhi |
| Looking in the 12 o'clock direction, northerly, you can see Mauna Loa hidden by clouds on the left with the plume from Halema,uma,u Crater in the Kilauea Caldera at it's base. I think Mauna Kea is inside that cloud bank at the center of the picture. Those big mountains tend to catch clouds... |
| Looking easterly, along the East Rift Zone, marked "Puna Rift" on the clock above, you can see Pu'u O'o steaming in that mound in the center of the picture is Mauna Ulu crater. |
| This is the path from Pu'u Huluhulu to Makaopuhi Crater. A nice little 3D view. |
| Still at the top of Pu'u Huluhulu, zooming in on Pu'u O'o. You can just see the steam plume from the lava ocean entry at Waikupanaha over the left shoulder of Pu'u O'o... |
| [003 - 12:07 PM] Back on the trail, a view of Pu'u O'o and the lava field I'm about to hike. |
| ["Break Thru" - 12:15] The trail curved to the left and I wanted to go straight toward my goal. So I headed out across the lava field. I soon found myself in "rotten" lava - a thin layer of crumbly lava that gave way to air pockets beneath. I end up breaking through to my knees in one spot, scaring the shit out of me. After putting my heart back where it belonged I turned a sharp left and found the trail again! |
| <--[007 - 1:00 PM] Makaopuhi Crater [008 - 1:53 PM] --> |
| Makaopuhi Crater |
| <--[009 - 3:22 PM] On the way back, just a little steam... [003 - 4:08 PM] One last look back --> |
| From where I stopped it's another 2 miles to Napau Crater. I hear there are nice views of Pu'u O'o along the way. After that, it's another 3 miles to Pu'u O'o. I don't think there's much of a trail - they don't exactly encourage people to go walking around an active crater. As for me, I ended up hiking 8 miles in roughly 6 hours. I rested once on the way out and three times on the way back. I made it back by 5:45 that day so I did it right and turned back when I should instead of continuing on like I wanted to! Next time I'll be prepared to the spend the night... |
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