By Ema ~ I am off on an adventure to Volcano National Park with my goddaughters mother, Victoria. We started our trek over the mountain and stopped through to see their horse Wiapio. He was found wild, but abandoned in the Wiapio Valley. They raised him since he was just a babe. He still thinks he is and is very feisty for attention. He even has a little pacifier that he insists you get for him each time he drops it. I got to meet several of the other horses that live there also and even took a selfie with one.
Victoria rounded up Wiapio and we brought him up to the stables to be groomed.
There was a beautiful pup there with blues eyes. He unfortunately ate my new sandles while we were in the house, so I had to resort to flip-flops and Victoria and I were now on a mission to get some proper hiking shoes for our adventure. We stopped off at the TjMaxx in Hilo and found what we needed plus many more gifts for our loved ones. We kind of got lost in there a moment. Victoria and I got the same hiking sandles, but mine were green and grey and hers are brown and orange. We were set for our adventure!
When we arrived the national park we decided to start with a hike of Crater Rim. I have never been here before and Victoria has not been here since before the eruption just a year ago. Much has changed. Once upon a time you could see the red glow from the ridge, but now it is a far distance away to the new ledge and the lava is not in sight. You can still feel the warmth coming up from the earth and waves of it upon the wind.
It was a very foggy day, but that blessed us with rainbows along the way. The mist kissed us as we hiked along the ledge.
There are so many unique flowers that grow on the island. The Big Island is actually known as Orchid Island and there are numerable varieties to find all over the island.
We were also delighted to find the Ohi’a lehua in blossom. It is only found here in the Hawaiian Islands.
There were also many ferns growing, which means spirals. Some of my earliest fascinations that I captured through my photography was spirals growing in nature. The size of some of these was like from a dream. They were giant!
It was difficult to see the new rim of the volcano, as we hiked along the old ledge, but the winds moved the clouds to give us a peek. It was amazing to see how much the land had changed and how far we were from the new rim. Can you imagine from here, before the eruption a year ago, you could see the light of the lava, which is now a canyon and no sight of the red glow. I imagine it would be like hiking across another planet to reach it. Indeed a harsh hot environment.
It is so peaceful here and it must be off season. as there is no one else really around. Maybe the recent eruption has scared people away. There are signs asking for quiet, to respect the space and for personal reflection. I love finding this, as nature is indeed my temple.
We stopped in at the Volcano House restaurant, but it was empty. They said that since the lava was no longer seen from there, the spot was losing business. Once upon a time it was quite the place to be at night perched upon the ledge over looking the lava. We had a nice dinner before making the drive through the night to Coco’s where we would be glamping. Somehow our order got lost and our wait took quite awhile longer than expected for our meal t come, but they gifted us a drink to make up for it. Thankfully Victoria checked in with them and they discovered that the slip had got caught in the machine and never reached the chef.
Everything from there forward that night seemed to take longer than expected. On the drive to Coco’s were were were glamping and where I care took many years ago had been cut off by the recent lava flow and we were unable to reach the place the route I knew from before. Thankfully google helped us reroute and we found the place. It was raining by the time we arrived and late so our host just left some small lights on and instructions for us to find our spot. It took me a minute to find my way around again in the dark, but we lugged our bags through the wet night and soon found our tent. I gave Victoria the big bed as she was ready for sleep and I took the little one by the door. I was excited to sit out in the night and listen to the sounds of the jungle. It is like a symphony of life. I soon found a cat cuddled upon my lap. I was happy to be here again and for the new experience of meeting Pele in her homeland.
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