The Big Island Explained

We decided to go to the Big Island one evening over drinks at Jenna and Dani's place. We were talking about how we weren't taking advantage of the fact that we were at a time in our lives when we really didn't have any big commitments and that we live so close to so many cool things. We came to a group decision that we had all gone too long in our lives without seeing lava. We decided that it was high time to visit the Big Island.

We rented our mini-van (6 people... it made sense at the time), bought our tickets, and booked our hotel. That was all the planning we needed. We all got on the plane Saturday morning without any idea of what we would really do or where we would go. In fact, when we got to the airport, we didn't even know the exact time of our flight or the name of our hotel. In Hawaii, that's what we call "havin' the aloha spirit."

We got to Hilo, picked up the van and made our way to the hotel. I'm not very picky when it comes to living conditions (ask me the story about the "hotel" in China where they were "remodeling" the bathroom... aka no running water, just a big barrel against the wall, and piles of human waste covering the floor of what used to be the bathroom; a clean path to the water source made only by walking across bricks set on the piles of feces. Separately, the time in Cambodia when Sheng and I got more-or-less robbed by a driver who told us he would show us his gun if we didn't pay him even more money than we already did for a ride he ended up not giving us. We slept in a "guesthouse" in the middle of no where which was actually a barn with cardboard walls set up to block your view of the family. Safety first.)

I digress... Where was I? Ah, yes, Uncle Billy's Hotel. I'm not sure why I had such a low opinion of the place. Part of it was the excessive amount of urine in the elevator (still wet!). Part of it was the fact that I spent $24 on internet connections, printing, and faxing of documents (I might buy a condo!) only to have the receiving end tell me that they couldn't use them because they were too dark. (I still paid for it all, though!) Or my problem with the place could have been the cracked tile, running toilet, no parking lot, and smokey rooms. Who's to say what it was. All I know is that I wasn't digging it. The only reason I feel I can complain here is because it was $120/night and not $1.20 like in Asia. That was the point of these past two paragraphs. Back on topic.

We were very excited to see a Wal-Mart in Hilo. I'm not sure why, but Wal-Mart has such a strong attraction. In Hawaii, it's like an oasis of affordable everything. Milk is only $4/gallon, not $8. Parking is plentiful and the selection seemingly unlimited. We ended up buying a bunch of drinks and snacks there and went to Volcanoes National Park. Once we got there we say the steam vents, the lava tube, the old lava flows, blah, blah, blah. We all knew that we were there for one thing and one thing only: See the lava.

We started the hike at 5:15pm. It was much further than we expected, but we were surprisingly well prepared. We all had tennis shoes and enough water between us to hike there and back (or for two of us to stay overnight, but Dan and I got overruled). We shuffled along with the excited crowd and happily watched everyone thin out as the miles added up. Some people out there were pretty crazy. A Swedish couple actually passed us wearing swimwear and 'slippahs' (flip-flops). On the way home, about 6 hours later, we saw some 100 year old Japanese tourists shuffling by 4" at a time. I'm not sure they made it to the actual flows. To be honest, I'm not even sure how they overcame the smallest incline.

We reached the lava just as the last bit of sun drained from the sky. It was perfect; the glowing orange/red guided our last few hundred feet. From there we broke out the marshmallows and roasted away. You would think that lava would be unbearably hot, but it really wasn't. It was like being next to a big camp fire. You could even stir it with a stick (it was like putting a stick into dry wall mud or wet clay). I also learned, just today, that it is really rude to poke lava with a stick. Apparently the fire god Pele takes offense to things like that. In our defense, we didn't know any better and we poked only out of respect and admiration. We did know that we weren't supposed to take any lava rock, and we respected that rule, so hopefully bad luck doesn't follow us for our indiscretions.

After that section, we went on a bit further (which took a lot of coaxing) to where the lava was actually flowing into the ocean. We couldn't see too much, but what we could see was impressive: liquid rock hitting water, making an explosion of rock and steam. Of course, we ended up standing exactly where we weren't supposed to in order to get a good look. I think the reward may have been worth the risk. We saw the earth spewing it's fiery guts into an angry ocean, violently expanding itself into the unwilling sea.

The walk home was long. The hardened lava has a reflective, silvery tint to it. We were able to use the light from the moon shining off of that to guide our way home. No flashlights needed. It was a surreal, dream like experience. We were all tired and hungry, it was nearly midnight, and we were walking across a completely barren landscape which was glowing, yet dark at the same time.

We made it back to Hilo at 12:01am. Why is the time important? Everything closed at midnight. The only saving grace: Ken's Diner. Open 24/7. We all had some pancakes, lots of water, and were ready to pass out before we laid our heads down on our smokey pillows.

The rest of the weekend was pretty fun, but not as fun as the volcano. Other highlights include: breathing the worlds cleanest air off of Kapoho Kumakahi point, playing barefoot in a giant banyan tree, relaxing in lava tube heated pools (almost one-hundred degrees), Akaka Falls, demolishing a Sumo Burger at Ken's, and having two drinks and promptly falling asleep at 11:00pm on our crazy night out Sunday evening.

Next destination: Kauai.