Hawaiian Volcano National Park

We made it to the National Park and saw several steam vents, which freaked me out when I got close. I wasn’t expecting the heat, truly!

 Susan looks like an apparition!

Up at the Jagger Museum to see the plum smoke from the crater of lava, we were told to come back after dark so we could see the glow of the lava against the back wall of the crater. The lava had been rising just prior to our visit and we were hoping we would actually get to SEE the lava lake but by the time we got to the park, the level had dropped quite a bit.

 Before getting back to the park, you could see the steam glowing orange from the road. On the approach, the site was pretty amazing! Steam pouring out and the entire place was orange. Our pictures look like we see the lava fire but we didn’t. We had to go inside to see a real time webcam picture of the lava lake, which was large enough to fit a football stadium and its bleachers inside. See my Uncle Dean’s blog post for an excellent view of the crater (http://theketelesens.blogspot.com)

 During daylight hours, we walked through a lava tube you could fit a train through.