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| Kilauea Iki Crater |
Date: January 22, 2020
Place: Hawai'i Volcano National Park, Hawai'i
Coordinates: 19.416857, -155.242891
Length: 3.75 miles
Level: moderate
One of the places we were sure to visit while in the Big Island was Hawaii Volcanos National Park. Pappa Quail and I have been there before on our first visit to Hawaii, and we got to see the lave flow from the Puʻu ʻŌʻō crater of Kilauea Volcano. That lava flow has been going for decades, but is it happened, the volcano went on sabbatical on 2019, a break from eruption that lasted a few good months, including the time of my recent visit there.
On January 2020, a month BC (Before Covid) I had my second chance to visit Hawaii Volcanos National Park, this time with my friends. There was no live lava flow to see. What else, then? After consulting the rangers at the visitor center we decided to hike the Kilauea Iki trail. That too I've done with Pappa Quail 18 years ago but I remembered very little of it.
Kilauea Iki is one of the small craters of the Kilauea Volcano, located next to the main Kilauea crater which was the primary lava vent until the late fifties.
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| Kilauea and Kilauea Iki craters as viewed from the Mauna Loa View Road |
The trail is a loop trail that goes around one side of the rim, and crosses back on the crater's floor. It is a very popular trail and our first challenge was to find a parking place. I knew right then that we won't have the volcano all to ourselves.
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| Our hike as captured by my GPS |
Lush patches of green moss matted large exposed areas of rocks and fallen logs. I couldn't resist the urge to stroke them, they felt very velvety.
There are vista points along the rim with nice view of the crater below. I forgot how impressive that view was. I could imagine the time when this crater was flowing with molten lava. That must have been quite a sight! Far on the horizon loomed Mauna Loa, the second largest volcano in Hawaii. Mauna Loa's last eruption was in 1984, and the lava flow had reached the outskirts of the town on Hilo, miraculously stopping just before the houses. Mauna Loa, like Kilauea, is a shield volcano, and has a round shape, not the classical cone that is common for stratovolcanos like mount Shasta. It looks quite harmless from a distance.
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| Kilauea Iki Crater |
Shortly we started descending into the Kilauea Iki crater. All along the side of the trail downward grew a plant that I later identified as Himalayan ginger. It added a very nice color to the hike and I photographed it many times.
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| Himalayan Ginger, Hedychium gardnerianum, Invasive |
We were too late for its bloom season. The pretty color came from its fruit. Later I also found out that the Himalayan ginger is not an Hawaiian-native plant. It has established itself in the wild there as many ther introduced species did.
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| Himalayan Ginger, Hedychium gardnerianum, Invasive |
The giant Hapu'u ferns however, are native to Hawaii, an are a strong contributor to the air of a tropical jungle that we were walking through.
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| Hapu'u, Cibotium sp. |
The young buds of the giant fern look strange and beautiful, like eggs in a nest.
The trail down to the crater is short and drops quickly in a few switch-backs. Despite the jam-packed parking lot, there weren't too many people on the trail leading down to the crater floor. I assumed most of the other visitors were satisfied with the view from above.
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| Kilauea-Iki Trail |
I had my first deja-vu feeling when I stood at the bottom of the trail looking across the crater floor. I knew I was here before, in this very spot. I didn't remember being there until I set foot at the bottom of the crater. Even now, my memory was only feelings and fleeting images in my mind. I was glad to be there again and I promised to myself that this time I will not forget this hike. That's one reason why I write about it here.
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| Kilauea Iki Crater |
One of the things I did remember was the Ohi'a lehua trees growing on the crater floor. There were many of them around the park's visitor center but it was an altogether experience to see them inside the the volcanic crater, growing on hard, exposed pahoehoe lava, like plants on one of those alien planets depicted in sci-fi shows.
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| Ōhi‘a lehua, Metrosideros polymorpha |
I was altogether amazed at these volcanic plants growing, even thriving, in a place so harsh. There's hardly any soil there. nearly all hard rocks. And it's hot and exposed, with no surface water at all. There has to be regular rainfall there for these plants to do well there.
The little Ōhelo shrubs seemed to be hanging on cracks of the lava rocks, their pomegranate-shaped flowers drooping downward. I wondered what pollinates them, I didn't see any insects there.
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| Ōhelo, Vaccinium reticulatum |
After a few long minutes in which me and my friends explored that corner of the crated and posed for selfies to send our spouses at home we started crossing the crater. The trail was a faint light line marked by the passing feet of numerous humans. It was also marked by large cone-shaped cairns. There were a few people ahead of us but all and all, we were nearly alone inside the crater for most of the time.
I don't recall seeing any warning about straying off the trail inside the crater. There must be one, I think. I could see many holes in the lava crust and I suspected there might be places in which the crust would be thin enough to collapse underfoot.
The crater wall looked much smaller from below. It is sheer and crumbling, certainly not climbing material. Nonetheless, it was very impressive.I couldn't get over the fact that we were walking inside a volcanic crater. It was similar to the filling I had when I went down the crater of the Cinder Cone of Lassen Volcanic National Park.
About a third of the way across the crater I noticed a wisp of steam emanating from the crater floor near the rim wall on our left. I pointed it out to my friend and watched with astonishment as one of them immediately started walking in that direction. My and my other friend exchanged looks and started right ofter her. I shouted a warning about the nature of that steam and about the risk of a collapsing crust, but my friend merely shrugged and continued on to the fumarole.
I slowed down, careful to test the ground with each step. Meanwhile I could see that the lava cracks were actually inhabited - little plants were growing inside them.Once again I was impressed with the resilience of the volcano's plant life.
My friend had reached the fumarole and posed. I cooperated with her and took the photos while horrifying images of the earth opening up and swallowing her had crossed my mind. My other friend and me kept our distance. I said nothing when my risk-taking friend returned. I knew she would have dismissed my concerns altogether.
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| Fumarole |
The way back to the trail provided some nice sights too. We didn't backtrack, but moved in the direction of the other end of the crater, aiming to join with the trail before it slips between the rock mounds on that end. One of he things we saw was the Ōhelo plants again, and on this side of the crate they were already fruiting. I later read that their berries are edible but even in we did know it at the time, I don't think we'd have tried them.
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| Ōhelo, Vaccinium reticulatum |
We crossed areas where the pahoehoe lava was replaced with the porous tuff rock. The tuff was also very colorful, ranging from white to rusty red and black.
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| Tuff |
We run across a few other fumaroles on our way. We didn't know they were there because they were much weaker and their steam barely noticeable until close proximity. They smelled of sulfur, as expected. When I bent down to take a closer look I saw that the sides of the fumarole crack were covered with green algae, and some white deposit that I couldn't tell of it was minerals of bacteria, or perhaps both.
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| Fumarole |
There were numerous tiny plants growing out of what looked to me like hard rock. Given enough time with no eruption, perhaps these plants will grow and crack the rock enough to create their own moisture-retaining plant bed.
Some of the plants we've seen appeared to be full grown. At least grown enough to bloom. The pinkhead smartweed had red foliage too: it's an adaptation to high radiation. The presence of the fern indicated that the crevice these were growing in was good in retaining moisture. Perhaps there was real soil trapped under the surface.
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| Pinkhead Smartweed, Polygonum capitatum (front) and ferns (back) |
Where we finally picked up the main trail again were some round items bolted to the ground. I wondered if these were the remains of a structure of a sort, or perhaps there were covers for measurement instruments. We were getting hungry but it was hot and exposed. I suggested having a break at he rocky area near the end of the crater where I hoped we might find some shade.
We did find a tiny bit of shade and sat down to eat and relax. I didn't stay in the shade very long - after bolting down my snack I wondered off to check out some more of the local flora.
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| Lilac Tasselflower, Emilia sonchifolia |
Little composite wildflowers, very similar to some that I know from California dotted the area were we sat for a break. Similar, but I knew they were different. I don't recall having seen any of these on my first visit to Kilauea Iki. Perhaps they are seasonal. Perhaps I simply don't remember.
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| Rough Dubautia, Dubautia scabra |
The west side of the crater isn't flat but very bumpy with piles of broken lava crust. It appears that this was the last part of the crater to have solidified after the last eruption. It was easy enough to tell where the last flow of molten lava moved through at the time.
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We took our time going through that area. For one, there were more people there and trying to take human-free photos became a bit more challenging. On the other hand, my friends were thrilled with this place and wanted to pose for photos themselves and also to explore some of the cracks of the old lava stream. I, as always, was fascinated with the vegetation, such as this very exposed, and likely very dryness- and radiation- resistant fern.
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| Amaʻu, Sadleria cyatheoides |
When we started ascending the western wall of the crater rim we got a better view of a big chasm on the left side. It seemed much more lush there, in that shadier area and probably more moist as well. There were a few people down there and for a moment I regretted not going down there myself.
I got quite excited when I saw an orchid blooming a bit off the trail. I went there to get a close up of the flower, which was already past its peak. Later I found that this orchid wasn't a Hawaii native but an introduced species that established itself in the wild there.
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| Bamboo Orchid, Arundina graminifolia, Non-native |
Soon after we begun ascending the crater wall we plunged once again into the tropical forest, surrounding ourselves with dense greenery. Much of these plants I later learned, were invasive species that found a good home in Hawaii.
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| Yellow Himalayan Raspberry, Rubus ellipticus |
All these plants however, both native and introduced, were new to me. I enjoyed much the discovery of wildflowers and the variety of shapes and colors. Again, I was surprised at not seen very many pollinators. Non at all on the crater floor and very few insects above, at the rim.
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| Greenleaf Ticktrefoil, Desmodium intortum |
It was a short way up. Within a few switchbacks we were at the top once again, and started our way back along the north side of the crater rim. There were less flowers there at the top, and many more ferns. I really like the coiled spiral of the young fern buds.
The north rim trail wasn't level but undulated up and down. At one of the higher spots we got a glimpse of the larger Kilauea Crater, the same one that Mark Twain had seen when it was full of molten, boiling lava. The crater was completely solid now, of course, but numerous fumaroles were sending up their steam in white tufts of vapor. On my pervious visit there with Pappa Quail he had spotted some white-tailed tropic birds flying above that crater. I remembered it and I looked for them now, but didn't see any. Perhaps their presence there is seasonal. Perhaps they were simply avoiding me.
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| Kilauea |
A strange looking plant caught my attention. I've never seen anything like this, a clubmoss, before. I hovered over it for some time until I had to run off and catch up with my friends.
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| Wāwaeʻiole (Staghorn Clubmoss), Lycopodiella cernua |
The tropical feeling conferred by the ferns was much less intense when I looked u at the forest canopy. The trees looked like oaks but looking back now, I cannot remember if these actually were oaks. It reminded me some of the oak forests in the East Bay, though.
At a vista point on the rim we got to see the crater from above once again, this time looking southeast. I could see the trail crossing the crater and the tiny people on it, like colorful beads on a string. There was alight brown spot at the bottom, closer to our side. I didn't see it from inside the crater and I wondered what that was.
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| Kilauea Iki Crater |
I took a close up photo of that light brown spot and it looks to me like another spot where the lava remained molten until the very end when the flow just crusted all around it.
Moving on along the north rim trail we once again were surrounded by the tropical forest, and yet another species of ferns.
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| Uluhe, Dicranopteris linearis |
The last bit of trail leading to the parking area was uphill. I welcomed the sight f the giant ferns as I run up the wooden stairs, catching up to my friends
After finishing the hike we decided to drive up to the Mauna Loa area of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. There was a view point on the mountain there, and a trailhead where backpackers go up Mauna Loa begin their trip. The road was very narrow and winding and we had to take it slow also because there were numerous pheasants and other chicken-like fowl roaming near or on the road. Every time I tried to photograph any though, they would scatter away. I ended up with very few photos that were in focus.
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| Erckel's Francolin |
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| Koa, Acacia koa |
Another nice find was the Māmane, another endemic Big Island wildflower.
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| Māmane, Sophora chrysophylla, endemic |
Mauna Loa, a shield volcano, has a very mild slope. From where we stood we could not see its summit. There was no telling that there was any end to this mountain at all, it seemed to be going on forever. Looking down though, we could see the Kilauea Crater, with the Kilauea-Iki next to it, where we hiked earlier. That's the second photo in this post, just above the hike map.
We made our way back to the car, said hello to the couple of hippies that were car-camping at the trailhead, and started back down the road. It was dark by the time we exited the park, and quite late when we finally arrived at our lodge. It was a full day of great Hawaiian nature, and a beautiful, memorable hike.
very impressive and interesting place!
ReplyDeleteIt sure is!
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