The Big Island

After a brief couple days in Seattle and Odessa relaxing and visiting Carissa’s families, we headed further west (and south) to Hawaii. It was a chilly 34 degrees out when we boarded our first of 3 planes en route to the Big Island of Hawaii – a mere 50 degrees cooler than it was when we landed in Hilo later that afternoon.

We spent a day bumming around Hilo eating very delicious spicy Thai food and relishing in the exotic fruits at the Hilo Farmer’s Market before heading up to the hill to Volcanoes National Park. Our first night camping we nearly drown – there was a tsunami watch in effect, but our problem was the tropical rain on our sand-box style camping pad.

After wringing ourselves out the next morning, we began our hike across the lava down 2,600 feet to the backcountry beach Halape (holla – pay).

 View of the beach far below us about midway through the hike.

Though this hike and the humidity kicked our butts a bit, the landscape we walked through was awesome – from barren pa’hoehoe (smooth) and a’a (sharp) lava fields to steep pali (hillsides) covered in grasses and dappled with lava, flowers, and spindly trees. The gorgeous secluded beach at the end was more than ample reward.

Halape Beach.

 

Rich happily making breakfast at Halape beach.

Beautiful purple flowers on vines covered some of the beach.

Another rainy evening was followed by a beautiful sunny morning. After a swim and breakfast we reversed our track and headed back up the hill much more slowly than we had descended the day before.

Carissa dwarfed by a tree fern at Volcanoes National Park.

 That afternoon we left the park and headed to Kona on the west (allegedly dry) side of the island for some Ironman World Championship Triathlon spectating and more easily accessible beach bumming.

Sea Turtle