The island of Hawaii, in the chain of the Hawaiian islands, is the eastern and southern most of all the islands. It is larger than all the other islands in the chain, with an area of 4028 square miles. It is the largest island in the United States. Hawaii was built by five shield volcanoes that erupted somewhat sequentially. Kilauea and Mauna Loa are the two volcanoes that are still active and are part of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
The capital city is Hilo..
Among the sites that we visited within the
eastern half of the island were Akaka Falls, Kilauea, and my favorite, The Black Sand Beach.
Akaka Falls was beautiful, if only viewed from a distance.....The trail was breathtaking and we all enjoyed the beautiful plant life, along the way........
Kilauea was magnificent! Kīlauea is the home of Pele, the Hawaiian volcano
goddess. Hawaiian chants and oral traditions tell in
veiled form of many eruptions fomented by an angry Pele
before the first European, the missionary Rev. William
Ellis, saw the summit in 1823. The caldera was the site
of nearly continuous activity during the 19th century
and the early part of this century. Since 1952 there
have been 34 eruptions, and since January 1983 eruptive
activity has been continuous along the east rift zone.
All told, Kīlauea ranks among the world's most active
volcanoes and may even top the list.
Nearby, there is a trail that begins as just an ordinary trail, with many black lava stones....This was the trail where the volcano erupted and destroyed the village of Kalapana, in 1990. Over 100 homes were destroyed. But, the black lava stones continued on for some time, as we walked through time. We began to see small, green plants.......These were palm trees, coming back to life.....and, at the end of the trail, was the Pacific Ocean. What a site!
This concludes the eastern side of Hawaii........Next up......Kona........
