Day 4 - on to Volcano NP

This morning was our last in Hilo.  We had a special breakfast at Paul's Cafe.  If you read about his restaurant, he has only 3 tables.  You have to get reservations for breakfast or lunch.  We got in for 7am....we had been up for and hour and a half at that point anyway thanks to the 6 hour time change. I don't normally post food pics, but this was amazing.  A smoked salmon poached eggs Benedict with asparagus and fresh tomatoes. 

After breakfast, we packed up and said good bye to Hilo.  We felt very at home there.

Bye old Japanese kitty mural.  

It takes about 45 minutes to drive from Hilo to Volcano National Park.  Over 30 miles, we climbed 4000 ft. 

The rest of the day was exploring Volcano NP.   First we visited the Visitor Center and then the Jaggar Museum on the edge of the kilauea crater.

That's Kimmie in front of Mauna Loa...the tallest Mtn on earth measured from the sea floor. From sea level, it is over 13,000 ft.  It's also a shield volcano...she can tell you more about that.

Kilauea is a very active volcano.  The lava lake is about 1.5 miles away from teh viewing area.  You could barely make out lava spattering up from the lake...mostly steam and smoke.  

At night however......

You can really see the glow from the lava lake reflection off the smoke.  This is the view from the lodge, and even from our hotel room.  

On to the hikes.  We saw the Mauna ULu eruption site from the 1970s.  Crazy lava formations.  You're feet tell you it's just rock, but your brain says" this used to be liquid...right here". It's a crazy feeling.  You can see the lava where it was flowing and then cooled.

You can see where it ran into the road and cooled...crazy.

After we went to the Tomlinson Lava Tube...a natural tunnel made though lava by lava. 

That was all warm up for the next 4 mile hike into Kilauea Iki.  A crater that blew in the 1950s.  We hiked down the crater edge and through the middle of it.

A few from the crater wall...400 ft down is the crater floor.  Luckily the first 1/3 was all downhill.

Once at the bottom, it was like being on the moon.

The rest of the day was ckecking in to teh Volcano House - a lodge that has been around for a century in some form. 

We cleaned up, cooled off, and enjoyed hanging out.   National Park Lodges are the best.  There is nothing like them, anywhere.

Tomorrow we are heading out very early for a 10 mile hike (round trip) to see the lava flow that broke out this year.  It hit the ocean.  We can't miss it.