Big Island Day One

Again, Rahul and I took advantage of the $18 airfare and went to hike around the volcano. The rain killed the views, but the area is neat anyways. We started by driving around the caldera and doing some small hikes. We were exhausted from the 330am rise to catch the 530am flight, but a nap made everything better. In the afternoon, we drove around the lower part of the park and saw the various cliffs (pali) that go to the ocean. We then drove up the Mauna Loa road up to 6500ft and hiked the first mile of the summit trail. Neat views.....

Thurston lava tube - we had the whole thing to our selves at 8am on a rainy Monday morning. By the time we passed there again around 11, the place was crawling with busses and every parking spot was taken. It was totally amazing. The tourists are like clockwork, and there's hoards of them. The lava tube was cool too.


The pali
Hilina Pali, and an escape from the rain towards the Ka'u desert
Drizzle makes plants look cool.....
A very surreal tree just after the goat-fence up the flanks of Mauna Loa.