Roots, Hawaii

Vegetation

Out the Bedroom Window

 

Except for the Orchid all these photos were within a few feet of the condo. A few miles from the condo was a place were they raised Orchids and had over 20,000 Orchids.  http://www.akatsukaorchid.com

Lava

 Lava comes in many varieties from the very rough and sharp which you couldn't walk on to the very smooth with many textures.

Chain of Craters Road

The Top of Chain of Craters Road

Lava Flows Along the Road

One of Several Craters Along the Road

Sunrise at the Bottom on the Road

Some of the Steam Vents Along the Road

Looking Back from Bottom of the Road

The Chain of Craters Road starts at the park entrance an winds past numerous craters and lava flows for 22 miles before it ends where a large lava flow closed it. There was no lava flowing along the road or into the sea. It was the first time I have been to the Big Island without lava flowing. Apparently there was one place where lava was flowing but is was on private land and inaccessible.

To get to the bottom of the road for sunrise even though only 22 miles took about an hour in the dark as it is almost always raining with some fog an the numerous birds including the Nene birds crossing the road.

Big Island Hawaii

Glow from the lava lake

Lava lake about 2 miles from Volcano, Hawaii

 It's 57 degrees F (26C) in Hawaii as I leave the condo on an early morning photo trip. The Big Island is my favorite of the Hawaiian  Islands and I'm back for the first time in years on a two week photo trip. This time I'm staying in Volcano on the south east side. Yes, there is a town called Volcano, just outside the Volcano National Park and at 4000 feet elevation it is cooler than most places on the island.  If you drove down the highway you would not know there is a town here at all as you would only see the jungle. On the old road through town you would see only  a few buildings in this town with a  population of 2213. On the 4 blocks from the Inn's office to the condo only one building is visible before you turn off the road and drive through a tunnel of trees for a hundred feet to the condo in a clearing just big enough for a couple parking spaces and a building which is surrounded buy ferns that are 2 story tall.