Lava Trip

One of the most memorable trips was venturing down to the lava beds in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.  Along with being the hostel's handyman, Shawn, was also the tour guide for the volcanoes and trips to Mauna Kea (that's another story in itself).  He was also my personal tour guide, as he would take me along with him when he had to take groups of people anywhere.  I loved spending time with him and it was so much fun exploring the island.  That was the case when we went to see the active lava.  We took several vans of people there and walked around.  It was a beautiful day, sunny and about 75 degrees.  Although standing amidst the lava, it was obviously a lot warmer!  The picture above is of Shawn and I standing next to a pool of Pahoehoe lava, and it was so hot that we could barely stand next to it long enough to take the picture. 
(Me next to the very hot Pahoehoe Lava)
We had hiked with the group for around an hour or so and then we took a little time to venture out on our own (since there was another guide, we were able to explore some).  We hiked up this cliff to get a better view of the A'a Lava (pronounced Ah, Ah Lava).  There are 2 distinct forms of Lava:  Common lava you would see flowing down the side of the hill is Pahoehoe Lava, it flows smoothly like molasses and appears bright red, orange and black.  A'a Lava is different in that it is small rocks clumped together and tumbles down the hill.  It has very Jagged, sharp edges and is also very hot though it usually only appears black and there's red in spots of it. 

(Shawn standing next to the A'a Lava)

So we are climbing up this cliff to get a better look at the A'a Lava, when we notice that there are small grass fires starting up here and there below us.  We could see our path we had come up on as our only way out, so the fires, as little as they may be, had us a little concerned.  We thought we better get back down the hill and as we did, more fires were igniting themselves.  We were moving just about as fast as we could, since we could see our pathway narrowing from the fires on either side.  Once we made it down the hill and past the fires, we were relieved to say the least!  We stopped to look back and could see the A'a Lava rolling down the hill where we had been standing and the little fires across the pathway.  That was enough excitement for one day for us!  We headed back to the vans and back home to Hilo.  On the way back, we stopped to pick some wild ginger flowers.  They are extremely fragrant-sweet smelling.  We took them back to the hostel and hung them up in front of the air conditioner and they made the room smell great!                                                                                      

That was a fun trip, not soon forgotten!

 A look at the tumbling A'a Lava