It's a very cool crisp morning with a clean blue sky over the volcano & east. However, looking west over the ocean you can see faint hint of Vog streaming up from around the SE corner of island. The active volcano Kilauea is producing the sulfur dioxide Vog/haze. My hike will be all clear skies.
I've done this hike only once before with my old buddy Billy. He and I actually got a little lost up in the heavy forest area for about 20 minutes! (Note to self; don't go off the main path)Goodtimes!! Today I follow "the road less traveled". If you stay on the path you can not get lost. Today there are only 3 other cars at end of the road however, during my entire excursion I see no other signs of life except a stray dog, tons of birds, wild goats & sheep.
Below are some images from my hike. I didn't make it to the summit but reached about 6700ft elevation. The red cabin is part of the Bishop Estate & King Kamehameha Schools. Some clouds started to roll in so I decided to head back to my car. The entire hike took about 3hrs and 15minutes. Very steep sections with mostly crushed lava stone.
The sound of silence up above the clouds is deafening. The exotic birds were quietly making noise and the cool Hawaiian breeze whispered between the O'hia trees and Cook pines. The harsh lava landscape is dotted with colorful flora & fauna. The clouds begin to weave there way up slope as if someone was draping the silent landscape with puffy cotton balls.
What follows is absolute silence....
Summit of Hualalai Volcano just over 8,000ft
Cabin overlooking Kona town @ 6700ft.
You can see Maui's Volcano Haleakala summit in background just over 10,000ft
Around 6700ft. Turnaround point...
Crater with crazy parrots down below
the Lehua flower
Crater rim looking towards Maui
Crater rim with Mauna Kea summit @14,000ft
about 15 minutes into hike @ 5300ft .
1 comment:
beautifully written. i was there before i even saw the photos. -Megan
Post a Comment