We made a quick and rainy stop at Rainbow Falls and a wet walk through Hilo for some lunch before heading to our 24th national park of our trip. I felt giddy as we pulled into the visitors center of Volcanoes national park. It brought my back to days in the RV…
It was late in the day and the weather wasn’t so great, but that didn’t stop us from exploring the steam vents and the Ha’akulamanu (Sulphur Banks).
The next day was our big day in the park. There was light rain, but the fog lifted. We started with the Kīlauea Iki trail which decents 400ft through rainforest until you reach the bottom of the hardened lava lake. You cross the lake and then re assend through some awesome dense rainforest. Next we explored the 1969-1974 lava flows of Mauna Ulu and hike to the top of Puʻu Huluhulu Cinder Cone. We finished a packed day with a drive down to the coast to see some of the newest land on the planet.
Our last day on the Big Island was spend at Punalu’u beach, the most famous black sand beach of Hawaii. We also saw several endangered Hawksbill turtles and green turtles basking in the sun on the beach. The little man has now seen white sand, pink sand, green sand, black sand, and “normal” sand. Not bad for 22 months of life.
