Hiking Hawai'i allows you to see its unique diversity close up.  From the lush rain forests to the stark lava fields, it's well worth taking time from snorkeling to trek around a bit.                         O                    0

Our family landed in Honolulu on O'ahu July 10th, 2006.  From there Aloha Air jumped us over to Hilo, the capital of The Big Island where we were to stay with relatives.  Early the next morning I jogged about two miles to find Rainbow Falls.  Though it's just off the road, it is well worth seeing and climbing around.
  






When you live in a rain forest, you learn to just give in and enjoy the sudden gusty rain that sweeps down the valleys.  We learned to be prepared.

Akaka Falls State Park is ten miles north of Hilo, and though it is well traveled, the twenty minute hike through a lush, rain nourished jungle to view Akaka Falls drop 442 feet, and catch a glimpse of Kahuna Falls, a smaller one, was a very enjoyable experience.  This is a hike for everyone.  Not surprisingly, it rained.

If you go to The Big Island you must visit the Volcanoes National Park and nose around the forested part as well as the lava fields.  Everyone takes the short hike through the strange, cave-like Lava Tube.  My son and I decided to hike around one of two craters within the larger Kilauea Caldera Crater.  It took us about one hour to get around Halema'uma'u Crater, maneuvering
   
over lava, around the sulfurous steam vents, and not always finding the narrow trail.  Afterwards we noticed on the map that we had traversed an unofficial trail.  No wonder we saw warning signs.




   
Though we had a great time, we would recommend that you find the Crater Rim Trail that takes you around and into Kilauea Iki Crater.  This is about a 2 1/2 mile trek.

One afternoon I left the family at the beach and headed back to VNP to find the most recent lava flow.  This hike is not for the faint of heart.  From the entrance of VNP you must drive about 45 minutes down near the shoreline where you come to a temporary ranger station - temporary, because it changes with each new lava flow.  For the first half mile you walk on a road until you come to where the lava has flowed over it (below, right).  The "extreme danger" sign is posted at this point. 
     
                              

For the next half mile you are to follow small tabs stuck to the lava about every 10 to 20 feet.  This brings you to the end of "the trail" and from that point you are to generally head for numbered poles with lights on top.  These seem to be placed every 1/2 mile (below, left).  It took me about one hour to get to the last pole, which is where the rope begins.  The rope cordons off the danger zone.  It is probably 1/2 mile long and leads you to the closest legal vantage point for viewing the lava flow.  Lava hiking does not offer the most pleasant terrain, and because the day was hot, I only met seven people on this last leg of the journey.

               
    
   
You have to hike beyond the present lava flow to see it.  Where the steam clouds begin, you can see a spot of red magma flowing into the sea (left).

This excursion, out and back, took me just under three hours of solid hiking and climbing over a very uneven surface, sometimes solid, sometimes crumbly.  I took three, 8 ounce bottles of water and was glad for it.  Make sure you wear hiking boots, a hat and use sun screen. 

If you are adventurous you will find this hike to be a challenge that you can't pass up.
  
  
Waipio Valley is legendary, once as the meeting place of island kings and now as something of a frontier where hippie squatters squabble over territory and wild horses roam.  Two waterfalls can be seen from the lookout, but there are many more.  Only four wheel drives are allowed down the steep entrance to the valley.  This winding road drops about 1000 feet in the space of a mile and a half.  After jogging most of the way down, I found the dirt road at the bottom either heading left and deeper into the valley, or right and out to the beach.  I turned left and soon 1,200 feet of Hi'ilawe Falls came into view.  The smaller falls, Hakakoa, is next to it.  As with the lava flow, helicopters were continually flying over this spectacle.  I had only walked for twenty minutes when I came to where it appeared the river had washed out the road, keeping me from continuing.  Disappointed, I turned and hiked back to the bay, an easy forty minute walk.  On my side of the valley I was soon able to work my way right under the 600' Kaluahina Falls.  Across the river which divides the valley I spotted some wild horses roaming feely.

                    

The hardest part of the day would have been the steep, 1 1/2 mile hike out of the valley, if it had not been for Jay who had pity on the old guy and gave me a ride out.  He informed me that if I had waded across the "washed out road," continued for several miles, waded the river between a mountain gap, I could have gotten right up to Hi'ilawe Falls.  Maybe next time.


Although my son and I didn't do any real serious hiking on this trip, we all certainly enjoyed ourselves immensely, thanks in no small part to our host and hostess. 
     

From left to right: Our niece, Karen Costales & their children, Hoku & Timmy. Pastor Daniel. Our family: Mike, Bonnie & Elton

                                

        How can one describe a place where even under a common stone bridge, the rain forest is spectacular.

                                       "...the whole earth is full of (God's) glory."   Isaiah 6:3
                              Hiking Ricketts Glen PA State Park                   0
                _____________________________________________________________________________
                                   
                The official website for the National Parks Service: Hawai'i
  
                ► Go on a 16.4 mile hike up Half Dome in the breathtaking Yosemite Valley
  
                ► Try hiking Ricketts Glen in Pennsylvania where there are 22 waterfalls
     
                ► Here is the most popular hike in the Mid-Atlantic region:  Old Rag, Virginia

   
                Read about the dramatic cultural & spiritual changes that took place in Hawai'i in the
                early 1800s by going to Hawai'ian History
               
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                      Visits:                                          Hiking Hawaii, the big island
                     Photographs © 2006, Elton D. Hannaman
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