Day 5

 Today started off as a leisurely day but ended up being a day packed with activity.

We drove north to Pololu Valley. On the way north, we drove along the western coast - Kohala coast - and saw a whale breaching by as we drove by. We stopped along the road and watch and saw it do a couple tail flips. It was super cool and unexpected. The view along the drive was beautiful. The visibility was so good we could see to Maui and the other islands.

The view at Pololu Valley was stunning! We hiked down to the beach and saw the mist/clouds rolling into the valley and walked along the river among the trees and also along the beach. We tried to climb up the other side but without a map to guide us we didn't known how long before we'd see a vista again so turned back. The climb back wasn't bad at all. Beautiful views at every turn.

Next we drove along the east side of the northern area which afforded a different beautiful view. 

We went to Akaka Falls which is in a state park. Not really worth it as it was less than a mile walk with a peak at the waterfall and lots of people also visiting. Plus they charge per car as well as per person. 

We stopped in Hilo for coffee and snacks but went to a place that was definitely on island time as it took over 30 minutes to get our coffee and bubble snack (like a large soft waffle cone with ice cream). 

We then drove to the Volcano National Park. We got there just at dusk. We started at the northern side. We drove by the Steaming vents and saw all the steam rising from the ground. The volcano has been active since September of 2021. Apparently, it flows a couple days and stops a couple days. We were in luck because it had just started erupting anew that day. We went to the Kilauea Overlook and saw this smoke cloud forming above the volcano with a bright red glow from the lava. You could see the volcano spewing the smoke intermittently.

We then drove around the chain of craters road to Devastation Trail and walked about 1.5 miles in the dark to the Pu'upua'i Overlook. There we could see the lava emanating from the cone and the lake of lava flowing out around the crater. It was awesome! Everything looked so bright. You could see the pattern of the flow changing with time and every once in a while the volcano will spew some chunks of red. It was mesmerizing.  

The drive back to the condo was a bit tedious as we didn't get back until 11pm but totally worth it!