Volcanoes National Park

Once Ashlyn had a decent nap and Rust and I recovered from seeing naked men raking, we headed to Volcanoes National Park. This is definitely the reason why we came to the Big Island. We were really excited to see some lava! Although it turned out that it's a bad time for lava. Once the park ranger found out that we were planning on hiking out to the lava with a baby and another on the way, she began her long lecture about how dangerous the hike is. Four years ago, you could drive to the lava, but now it's just a slow trickle into the ocean. It's really rocky and uneven footing, with no guarantees that the lava rock below you won't break and drop you into a hole. And since it's such a long hike and you have to see the lava when it's getting dark, the hike back would be in pitch black with no markings. It was a convincing speach, but all she really had to say that it was a 6 hour hike with NO BATHROOMS! (and of course, no bushes or anything like that).

We didn't do the hike, but we did hike down to where the hike would begin. This is where, four years ago, the lava covered the road and was flowing into the ocean.

We also hiked the lava tube. I don't know the exact geology behind the place, but the lava flowed underground here, so it's like a big tunnel.

Here are some petroglyphs we also hiked out to.

After all that hiking, it was definitely a LOST night. So we went back to our hotel and watched the most amazing season finale ever!!