Kapa`ele`ele Trail

Posted on May 16, 2013 by sandersnm

Yesterday, I went on a short hike with my boss and coworker to see if it was a good hike to take the kids on for our summer program. It was SO much fun. After our hike, we were heading to lunch at Masa and Joyce in Kaneohe and spotted a Hawaiian Monk Seal hanging out on the beach. It was definitely a Hawaiian adventure day for me!

Ms. Maureen and Liz hiking!

Kahana Bay. So beautiful!

Steps on the trail.

Pretty flower…no idea what it is.

Tunnel under the road to the ocean.

Kahana Bay after going through the tunnel.

Tons of crabs hanging out on the rocks.

Chicken Katsu

The Big Island: Trip 2 – Day 1

Posted on March 24, 2013 by sandersnm

Josh and I headed back to the Big Island this weekend with two purposes: to see lava (since we got rained out a few weeks ago) and to see Belinda and Ted (two people who have known me most of my life and were visiting Hawaii for vacation). I am so very happy to say it was a HUGE success!

We landed late Friday evening and headed to Ken’s House of Pancakes for dinner since it was the only place open past 9 p.m. in Hilo. I had a fantastic curry chicken salad sandwich and Josh had a conglomeration of things (pictured below). After that, we checked in to our hotel which was on Hilo Bay and crashed in preparation for our big weekend ahead.

My curry chicken salad sandwich…so good!

Josh’s dinner of everything.

We got up on Saturday, grabbed a small to-go breakfast and coffee and headed to Honoli’i Beach Park. It is a black sand beach full of surfers. It is just north of downtown Hilo and is on a beautiful, scenic road.

Honoli’i Beach Park

Stairs to Honoli’i Beach Park

The black sand at Honoli’i Beach Park.

The surfers at Honoli’i Beach Park.

A huge bridge on the way back to the highway.

Another cool bridge along the same road.

View from the car on our way back to the highway.

After our slight detour, we headed north to the small town of Honokaa to meet Belinda and Ted for lunch. Honokaa was about halfway between where we were staying and where they were staying. We had a wonderful lunch at an Italian Pizzeria called Café Il Mondo. We then headed to Tex Drive In to introduce them to malasadas. They were pretty amazing!

Ted’s Spinach Ravioli

Belinda and I shared this amazing pizza!

Josh’s Chicken Sandwich

The famous drive in.

Ted: Raspberry, Belinda: Apple, Josh: Plain, Nicole: Bavarian Creme.

Ted, Belinda and I!

We then drove down to where our hike was starting in Kalapana (fingers crossed the entire time that the weather would stay nice). We arrived around 3:00 p.m. and took off around 3:30 p.m. with our guide. Our group had nine people in it, which was a great size to be hiking with. We started off heading towards where a surface flow might be. From what our guide said, it didn’t sound like we would get to see one but he wanted to try anyways to see if there was any action. The terrain was definitely rough on the ankles and feet. It was amazing to hike on the different types of lava from over the years. You could tell a huge difference between ten year old lava, three year old lava and month old lava. The newer stuff was much looser and easier to slip on (luckily, neither of us fell). The lava is super sharp (kind of like glass) and can cut you if you fall on it. We could see the different areas where the steam was rising from the lava tubes on the hillside. It appeared that there would be lava to see there, but it was all underneath the top layer flowing in the tubes to the ocean. After about three miles, we reached a surface flow and it was amazing! At first, there wasn’t much action and we spotted just a faint glow. But once we got there, there were a few different areas opening up and flowing. I have never seen or experienced anything like it in my life….the sound alone of it hissing was just insane! The lava was 3,000 degrees and if you got close enough, it felt like your face was melting. The closest I got was about two feet and I couldn’t stand it after that. It was incredible. Pictures and videos below describe it much better than I ever could.

Lava Surface Flow Video 1
Lava Surface Flow Video 2
Lava Surface Flow Video 3
Lava Surface Flow Video 4
Lava Surface Flow Video 5

The moon! Viewed from right before our hike standing in the lava field.

Steam rising from the lava tubes.

Hardened lava. I thought this was a really cool picture.

More hardened lava.

Josh and I with the lava.

Probably my favorite.

There were other groups of hikers that ended up where we were that had sticks to poke the lava. Sticking a stick in the lava is disrespectful to the Hawaiian culture and Pele (Goddess of Fire). However, it’s still amazing to see it catch on fire.

Me with the lava.

After spending about 45 minutes at the surface flow, we headed to the ocean entry area to see the lava flowing there. On our way there, we stepped over a crack that was glowing orange…amazing and scary at the same time to think about what you are walking on! There was tons of lava pouring into the ocean! There were about four different areas…it was so hard to see because of all the steam, but you could see the glow through the steam.

Lava Ocean Entry Video

Glowing crack on our walk to the ocean entry area.

Ocean Entry!

Me, viewing the lava flowing into the ocean.

Ready for the hike back! Headlamp and all!

After about a half hour, we headed back toward where our shuttle would come to pick us up. Walking back on the lava at night was pretty rough and I was so thankful for my headlamp. The lava was so incredibly beautiful under the light…super shiny and sparkly. We finally made it back after about an hour and a half hike from the ocean entry point. In total, our hike was 5.6 miles. Our hike was through Kalapana Cultural Tours and they were AWESOME.

After profusely thanking our tour guide, we headed back to Hilo for a quick dinner before crashing. We decided to try a new place instead of going to Ken’s, since it was Saturday night and places were open past 9:00 p.m.! We ended up at a restaurant called Ponds close to our hotel. We had a corner table that was surrounded by water on both sides. It was very nice and relaxing. I had a pasta dish and Josh had fish. After dinner, we headed back to the hotel to go to bed. We had to get up at 3:15 a.m. for our lava boat tour the next day!

Pesto Chicken Pasta

Crab Crusted Opakapaka

Lava!

Image

Being Touristy with Emel – Day 4

Posted on March 13, 2013 by sandersnm

Emel and I started our day with a quick hike to Manoa Falls. It was a great day and not too muddy (much better than the last time I hiked it). After that, we headed to Josh’s base so Emel could see what a military base looks like. We met Josh for lunch and had some pretty fantastic sushi and treated ourselves to Starbucks before our base tour (efficiently led by Josh). Then she headed to the beach and I headed to work.

After work, we attempted to have a healthy dinner (after all of the food we had been consuming) of Asian chicken salads…we then ruined them by finishing off the malasadas (still just as good the next day). Tomorrow is her last day…I will MISS her!

Emel in the tree arch on the way to the waterfall.

Manoa Falls!

Emel and I at Manoa Falls.

I have missed this!

A delicious Asian Chicken Salad (and healthy)!

Being Touristy with Emel – Day 3

Posted on March 12, 2013 by sandersnm

Today, Emel and I headed to the East side of the island in the morning to hike the Makapu’u Point Lighthouse Trail. It was a gorgeous day and a great day to see some whales! We saw tons just hanging out swimming along. Incredible. After we finished there, we headed to Spitting Caves and it was the calmest I have ever seen it. We again saw more whales, one which jumped completely out of the water so very close to the rocks! I’m so glad the whales have decided to show off for Emel while she has been here! After that, we headed back so I could go to work and she ventured to Leonard’s Bakery and brought back some of the most delicious things I have ever had in my life (see pictures below). Malasadas..aka Portuguese donuts (unfortunately for Josh and I) have now been introduced to our lives. To end the day, we went to Chinatown to the Little Village Noodle House for some delicious Chinese food. I love having visitors!

Emel and I at the top of the lighthouse hike.

It was so calm at spitting caves today!

Pan Friend Beef and Grilled Chicken Wings

The amazingness from Leonard’s Bakery.

SO GOOD.

The delicious malasada.

Being Touristy with Emel – Day 1

Posted on March 10, 2013 by sandersnm

For our first day of Emel‘s vacation we planned an incredibly full day of fun! We started with the Kuli’ou’ou Ridge Trail hike. It was raining for a bit but turned out to be a pretty day, so the view at the top was definitely worth the hike up there. After that, we headed around the east side of the island where we saw TONS of whales. We captured a few pictures of the baby whales jumping out of the water (so incredibly cute as they didn’t make it very far out). There were also two swimming SO close to the shore…I was super happy she got to see them! We stopped and had the best fish tacos on the island and some veggie nachos at Surg’s and then headed to Bellows for some beach time. It was a beautiful day to hang out and relax after our hike! After that, we wandered around Kailua and got some frozen yogurt and toured the beautiful Lanikai houses and stopped at the famous beach, then headed back to Honolulu to get ready for a fun night out. We decided to head into Waikiki (so she could see all of the tourists) and had dinner with a few friends. Then we ventured to Duke’s for some of their famous Mai Tais. It was a jam-packed day and I’m SO excited she came to visit!!

Emel and I at the top of Kuli`ou`ou trail.

Josh and I at the top of Kuli`ou`ou trail.

Emel taking pictures of the beautiful windward coast.

All of us at the top of the trail.

The baby whale! It was so small (only a few tons). There were tons of them.

The two whales close to the shore. SO close!

Fish tacos and nachos. SO good!

Emel in the ocean at Bellows beach.

Mai Tais at Duke’s!

Emel and I at Duke’s enjoying our drinks.

All of us at Duke’s!

Old Pali Road to Likeke Falls Hike

Posted on February 27, 2013 by sandersnm

This past Saturday, Josh and I hiked the old Pali road to the Likeke waterfall. We started at the Pali Lookout and headed down the old Pali road (the Pali is now a major highway that takes you from Honolulu to Kaneohe). The hike was a little over three miles roundtrip…it was incredibly windy at the Pali lookout, so we jogged the first part down the road. We then came to a point in the trail where you can continue on to the Maunawili Trail or go left and climb under the current Pali Highway. To get to the waterfall we climbed down and under the highway and continued on through the woods. It was a super fun trail and a great workout as the entire way back up is uphill. The waterfall, while one of the smaller ones I have seen, was beautiful. There were also some great views along the way and at the falls. Great way to spend a Saturday afternoon!

A sign warning us of bees during high winds. It was incredibly windy…no bees though.

The view looking back towards the lookout.

A slightly different view than the Pali lookout.

Looking back up the road after we came down from the lookout.

Beware of falling rocks.

Start of the trail after the road closed sign

Where we had to crawl under the current highway.

Graffiti under the highway. Pretty cool.

Under the highway.

More graffiti.

Panoramic of under the highway.

Walking down the path on the other side fo the highway. Pretty flowers.

Steps..the start to the next part of the trail to the falls.

Pretty view looking out towards Kaneohe from the falls.

Waterfall.

Once again me forcing Josh to take his picture.

A teeny, tiny frog was hanging out in the pond below the falls.

Me under the road.

Coming back up the old road.

It was my turn to be forced into a picture.

The Big Island: Trip 1 – Day 2

Posted on February 20, 2013 by sandersnm

Our second day started out with a delicious breakfast of french toast, tons of fruit, toast, juice and coffee. The breakfast set up at our B&B was fantastic. Our B&B also had three cats..which I loved of course. I forced them to be my friends :).

Breakfast Bar of fruit and cereal..just the beginning!

Our cute little table set up for breakfast.

Juice, coffee, fruit, toast, french toast. So good!

Pretty flowers on our table.

Josh having his picture taken against his will.

My buddy at breakfast. One of the cats! 🙂

After breakfast we headed to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park for the first of many trips. It was about an hour away from our B&B and yes it rained almost the entire drive to the park. We arrived and started with the steam vents. These were incredible…especially since they were super warm and it was cold and raining. I would have stood there all day if Josh would have let me. The steam vents are created when rain seeps into the ground and is then heated by the Kilauea volcano, thus creating steam coming out of the earth. It pretty incredible to see. This was a positive to the massive amount of rain they were receiving. More rain = more steam.

Information about the steam vents.

Steam Vent in the sidewalk that they had cut out.

The numerous steam vents. Too many to count.

Josh warming up with the steam.

A small steam vent. The colors were so interesting.

A picture of the steam coming right at us. Foggy.

A larger steam vent. Again love the colors of the earth.

From here we went to visit the sulphur banks…along the path were some of the steam vents, which did not smell, but the closer we got to the sulphur banks the stronger the unpleasant smell. Sulphur banks are created when hydrogen sulphide gas and steam form deposits of sulphur, gypsum and hematite on the ground. It was pretty, but not the best smelling thing. A highlight of our walk is that we passed a guy with a Purdue hat. Boiler up!

Me at the start of the trail to the sulphur banks.

Sulphur Banks

After the sulphur banks we headed to the Kilauea Overlook to get a good view of Kilauea Crater and the Halema`uma`u Crater. Halema`uma`u is said to be the home of Madame Pele, the Hawaiian volcano goddess.

The edge of Kilauea Crater.

Halema`uma`u Crater

The bottom of Kilauea Crater.

Halema`uma`u Crater and the steam rising from it.

A closer view of Halema`uma`u Crater.

After viewing the crater at a few locations, the road was closed so we had to turn around and head back the other way. There is a road (Crater Rim Dr.) that goes around the entire crater. It changes on what and when parts of it are closed, depending on the volcanic activity. We definitely learned that information you read in a book or looked up online literally changed on a daily basis. It was very hard to find information on certain hikes, etc. because of the always changing landscape. It definitely made it more of an adventure!

Our next stop was Thurston Lava Tube. Unfortunately only the lighted portion was open to the public. There is a darker section that is usually open, but has been closed due to recent volcanic activity causing rocks to fall in the tube. We were ready to explore the darker side, but the lit area was still very cool to see.

The entrance to Thurston Lava Tube from the inside of the tube.

Inside Thurston Lava Tube.

Leaving the Thurston Lava Tube. It was super short.

The outside of the Thurston Lava Tube.

Josh in the pretty wild life posing for a picture.

I thought this looked like an elephant.

Next, we headed down Chain of Craters road for a bit to Mauna Ulu, the source of the second longest eruption (1969 – 1974). Along the way we stopped at Lua Manu Crater which is 109 yards in diameter and last had lava flow into it during the 1974 eruption. After Lua Manu we stopped at Puhimau Crater, which still has magma activity flowing beneath it.

Lua Manu Crater

Josh taking a picture of Puhimau Crater.

Puhimau Crater

After these two stops we made it to Mauna Ulu for a short hike up to Pu`u Huluhulu. The hike consisted of different markers pointing out types of lava, trees, regrowth, devastation, etc. It was an interesting hike with some cool views. It was also neat to walk across so many different types of lava that had hardened.

The beginning of the Pu’u Huluhulu hike.

Lava Field

1974 Lava Flow

Lava. Love the way it forms. Pretty cool to look at.

The beginning of the path in the lava field. Not the easiest trail to follow.

Lava

Lava. Love this picture.

Clearly we had been rained on in this picture.

An area where lava had broken off and formed a small inlet/cave.

Josh walked through the lava field.

Lava Field

Mauna Ulu

Cool dial at the top that pointed in the directions of all the different craters/lava flows.

View of the forest in one direction.

Another view from the top.

Yet another view from the top.

I don’t remember which crater this was :).

Mauna Ulu again

Forest down below.

Lehua Blossom. The start of an ‘Ohi’a tree.

Huge area where lava broke off. Careful walking!

After finishing our hike, we headed out of the park back towards our B&B. The current lava flow is sometimes visible at the end of Highway 130. So at the recommendation from our B&B owner, we headed over there around 5:00 p.m. to see what was going on. We got there and were told that the only things visible at this time were steam from the lava hitting the ocean and steam rising from up on the hill where the lava flow was. The lava had reached a point in this flow where it was mostly flowing in lava tubes to the ocean. Which made for great ocean viewing. Luckily, we had scheduled a boat tour for Monday morning to see this in action! This most recent lava flow had completely wiped out the historic fishing town of Kalapana. A few people have rebuilt their homes on top of the lava (picture below). It was very interesting to see. The road to the viewing point is public property, but the lava field on either side of it is private property and you are not allowed to walk on it. There is a guard at the end of the path who gave us the tip to head back to the park to view Kilauea Caldera at night as they would have the best “show” for the evening. The absolute BEST thing about this walk out to the viewing area was that there was a giant double rainbow over the lava field. It is the must stunning rainbow I have seen to this date since my time living in Hawaii. Of course, shortly after viewing this it started to pour rain again. However, getting soaked again was worth seeing something so incredible.

Houses rebuilt on the lava field

New lava from the last couple years.

More of the newer lava.

Beautiful rainbow over the lava field and houses.

Josh and I with the rainbow.

After stopping at the viewing point we headed to the end of Highway 137, only about five minutes away. At the end of this highway is a little cafe and the start of the new Kaimu Black Sand Beach. What was previously Kaimu beach was a beautiful black sand beach with many gorgeous palm trees lining the shore. It was eventually, completely covered in 1990 by the Kilauea eruption. Today, new palm trees have been planted on this brand new shoreline land in an effort to restore Kaimu beach.

The rainbow on the way to Kaimu Beach. Incredible.

The new palm trees planted in an effort to restore Kaimu beach.

More palm trees. There were rows and rows of them!

Kaimu beach. It was beautiful!

More of Kaimu beach. You can see how small it is, signifying how new it is.

The black sand. It really was something else!

Kaimu beach shoreline.

The rocks here were still pretty intense.

Josh and I at Kaimu beach.

Next, we headed back to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park to check out Halema`uma`u Crater at night. We had no idea what to expect…well we expected it to be raining…but we didn’t know what to expect besides that. It looked like a fireball had lit up the sky. We drove in and could see the clouds above the crater illuminated well before we got close to it. The clouds were a light orange from afar. We got to the Volcano Observatory and couldn’t believe what we saw. I would try to describe it, but the pictures will do a MUCH better job of it!

Halema`uma`u Crater at night.

After many pictures, rain drops and getting very cold, we got back in the car and decided to drive Chain of Craters Road all the way to see if we could see anything. The road was pitch black and it was raining, so it made it interesting for Josh to drive. We saw two things on this trip down the road: 1. We saw a red glow in the distance of the current vent and 2. Stars were super bright out here because it was so dark. The pictures does not do them justice!

We finally headed back to the B&B after a ridiculous amount of driving for the day!

Kuli’ou’ou Ridge Trail

Posted on February 2, 2013 by sandersnm

Today Josh and I hiked the Kuli’ou’ou Ridge Trail. The trail has about a 1,700 foot elevation over the course of a little of two miles and it took us about two and a half hours. The trail was pretty easy for the first mile and a half…then it got pretty steep and was definitely a calorie burn for the last half mile or so. This is Josh’s favorite hike and absolutely one I want to go on again..the terrain changed frequently throughout the trail and we were constantly surrounded by different, beautiful landscapes. The reward at the end was a ridiculous 360 degree view which included the windward coast, Hawaii Kai, Koko Head and Diamond Head.