Napau - amazing Hawaiian hike!

[bgl]

Kim and her husband Steve are visiting the Big Island, enjoying the rain here. More rain in the last week than during January and February combined! We decided some time ago that a good way to spend the Sunday (yesterday) would be to do the Napau Crater hike up in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park HVNP). The hike is an out-and-back hike, 7 miles in each direction, total 14 miles across very varied terrain, which at times is very rough. Upon arrival at HVNP we registered at the Visitors' Center. This is a requirement for this hike. Apparently, they will send out a Search and Rescue team if you don't pick up your car at the Mauna Ulu parking lot by sunset! We then drove the 5 miles from the Visitors' Center to the Mauna Ulu parking lot. This is at an elevation of about 3500 ft. It was about 57F with a strong wind with heavy drizzle. Heatstroke didn't seem to be one our immediate concerns! Still, we put on sunscreen, just in case!

#1: Kim and Steve in the Mauna Ulu parking lot just before we're heading out. During one of the few brief moments when the sun looked out.

#2: Our first stop is Pu'u Huluhulu, 1.3 miles away. It's a 400 year old cinder cone. You don't need a permit to hike out to this little hill, and we did see a few people on this trail. After we passed Huluhulu, we didn't see a single person on that entire 11.4 mile hike. We were the ONLY ones out there! Incidentally, "Pu'u" means hill. "Huluhulu" has many meanings, but the one that probably fits the best here is "rough, not smooth". In other words, basically "the hill that's not smooth".

#3 after climbing Huluhulu, we were definitely on our own, hiking through a very barren and uneven, and seemingly endless, lava field. We followed the cairns (rocks stacked on top of each other). In this photo, Steve is just barely visible a bit right of center.

#4: Fortunately, we found this guy who pointed us in the right direction. Otherwise we would have gotten totally lost. Actually, looks like Steve!

[bgl]

#1: Kim and Steve by one of the many cairns. Mauna Ulu in the background. Mauna Ulu had a major reuption in 1974. ("Mauna" means mountain and "Ulu" to grow or spread, so "Mauna Ulu" = "the spreading mountain" basically).

#2: me and Kim by one of the cairns.

#3: Kim living dangerously. She is about 3 ft away from very steep, and possibly unstable craterwall that's at least 60-70 ft deep.

#4: Kim and Steve with Mauna Ulu in the background.

[bgl]

After several miles of hiking over a very uneven lava field we arrive at Makaopuhi Crater. This is a 500 year old double pit crater and it is the largest on Kilauea's east rift zone. It's a very impressive sight. Eruptions occurred most recently in 1922 and 1965.

#1: Kim at one of the more elaborate cairns.

#2: Kim looking out over Makaopuhi Crater.

#3: Steve checking out Makaopuhi.

#4: and this view a little bit further down the trail

[bgl]

#1: after several miles across very open lava fields we're now hiking through a thick forest full of smaller Ohi'a trees, big tree ferns (Hapu'u) and the ever present Uluhe fern.

#2: We've covered 4.3 miles from the Mauna Ulu parking lot, and we still have 1.9 mile to go in order to reach our final destination: the Napau Crater lookout.

#3: Steve is deliriously happy about being out in the middle of nowhere, with not a single person within a five mile radius!

#4: Making our way through the Uluhe Fern forest.

#5: We have arrived at the Old Pulu Factory, which operated out here in the middle of nowhere between 1851 and 1884.

#6: In case you didn't know what the Old Pulu Factory was producing!

#7: The factory looks a bit derelict, but in all fairness, it's not beeing operating for the last 126 years!

[bgl]

#1 and 2: We have arrived at the Napau Crater lookout, after the 7 mile hike. And in the distance, 2.3 miles away, is the site of current eruption: Pu'u O'o. This is one of the most active volcanoes in the world, and it has been erupting more or less continuously since January 1983. It's erupting as we're watching it, but because of all the steam and smoke, it's impossible to see any red lava from this far away. This is as close as you can legally get to Pu'u O'o. Photos taken with a 70mm zoom.

#3, 4 and 5: Enjoying the scenery and a well deserved snack. The Napau Crater floor was completely covered by fresh lava from Pu'u O'o in 1983, and in 1997 a fissure opened up on the crater floor, creating lava fountains up to over 150 ft in height.

[bgl]

On our way back now, hiking through large fields of the Uluhe fern, which sometimes gets very tall creating real tunnels on the trail, as well as the open, seemingly endless, lavafield close to the end of our six hour hike. Definitely an unforgettable day with great company!

[www.dadluvsu.com]

Graet hike guys and gals! We attacked the Pu'u O'o from a different direction.. I like the vantage point ya'll are viewing it from!

I miss seeing those Arundina graminifolia on the side of every road...

Kim, I can't wait till you post the pics from your trip!

[BS Man about Palms]

Steve was super happy to be there I see!

[Urban Rainforest]

Bo, What an awesome hike! It's amazing how you can go from a desolate lava flow to an Ohia and Hapu'u forest on one hike. Looks like a good time was had by all. I'm so glad to here it's raining there again.

Stevo

[paulgila]

nice to see kim there,too!

nice variation on PRA,by the way!

[Kim]

The Napau hike was one of those things you maybe read about, and would like to do when you visit Hawaii, but can't seem to fit it into your tight vacation schedule. We've found a solution -- visit more often.

Bo gave such a detailed narration, I won't need to add much information...

Early in the hike:

[Kim]

Middle...

Our destination, the Pu'u O'o viewpoint and a lunch break

[Kim]

Toward the end...

Collapsed lava tube

The tenacious Ohi'a lehua flower

Thanks to our expedition leader, Bo, for a great day on the volcano!

[realarch]

Kim & Steve, nice to see you out and about. HVNP is a great place to hike, and with Bo it's like having a forest ranger escort complete

with detailed explanations. Glad you had a great time.

Tim