Captain's Log: Day 4

Day 4. With two websites predicting two opposite forecasts, we decided to take our chances and set out for the National Park. We soon realized that our efforts were rewarded since we were

lucky enough to witness an amazing spectacle...ERUPTION!

Except...not. We did hike on the devastation trail though and got a different view of Kilauea Iki which we had hiked on our first day. Staying on proper trails of course, we then hiked to Byron Ledge and got a great view of Halemaumau crater in the Kilauea Caldera. After taking in the view and discussing the potential threats of the smoke coming out of the crater, we headed back to the car just in time to escape a little drizzle.

Halemaumau Crater

Next we drove down Hilina Pali road and soon found ourselves parallel to the fault that separates the fast moving land (seaward) from the slow moving land (landward). As we were looking for the "end" of the fault, we decided to leave the road and climb onto it. Paul discovered the "easy way in" but considering his difficulties we all found another way onto the rocks.

Paul found the perfect route

When we were satisfied with the discoveries we had made, Paul and Steve got the cars while the group kept walking down the road. Gordon often found something interesting and ran into the woods so we played Gordon Brown, our very own version of Marco Polo, in order to locate him. We found Gordon, the boys didn't injure each other playing rock tag and we all got back into our cars.

Top of the fault

Our next stop was Hilina Pali (Hilina Cliff) where the view was breath taking...well at least to most of us.

Enjoying the view...

...too much for Ian to handle

We hiked down the cliff a little ways to enjoy the geology of the area and again got into our vehicles right before the rain hit. We headed back to the cozy Breakfast Lanai, turned it into a Lunch Lanai, and enjoyed a hearty meal. Having exhausted all the sunshine in the morning, we explored the Jagger Museum in the afternoon to learn more about the Hawaiian Gods and other cool stuff in the park. Seismic activity meters indicated that an earthquake had hit the island the day before but (un)luckily for us we did not feel it.

Needless to say, it was all pretty neat.