DATE: Friday, December 30, 2022

Today is our last full day on the Big Island. We’d spend most of the day today in Volcano National Park. This park is on the site of two volcanos, Kilauea and Mauna Loa, but we were at Kilauea, the second youngest, and historically, the most active.

After getting our bearings at the visitor center, we decided to do some hiking. We started off headed toward the Thurston Lava Tube. But we’d have to come back to it since the very small parking lot was full.

We headed toward Devastation Trail and began hiking from the Pu’u Pua’i lookout. We all hiked the 0.5 mile south to the Crater Rim Drive, a mile out to the Keanakāko’i overlook.

A mile back brought us to our next trail, the Byron Ledge. About a mile on this trail brought us to a crossroads and a decision. We could hike around the Kilauea Iki Crater at the rim, looking down on it (a 2 mile hike), or walk across the crater, 1.7 miles. Dad, Mom, Savannah, and Vivian opted to walk around the rim, while Zach, Eli, Meagan, and Seth decided to walk across. It was quite the adventure for all of us.

Both trails bring us to the Thurston Lava Tube. It’s a walk through cave formed by lava flowing underground. It’s also known as Nāhuku.

We came out of the park into nearby Volcano Village for lunch. There weren’t a lot of options, so we stopped at this little hippie place called Ohelo. I had a tasty burger, as most everyone did.

We didn’t have too much time left in the day. We still had to start packing everything up to leave very early in the morning for the airport. We decided just to go back into Hilo for some walking around. The stores were closed for the most part, except for one we went into for some last-minute mementos.

We then initiated a spontaneous family photo shoot at some nearby palm trees. We had so much fun. Of all the things we did, this will likely be the most memorable for me.

Afterward, back to the AirBnB for showers and to pack up. Aloha, Big Island!