Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

Before I start getting too deep into our travel details I wanted to give you some tips on the Hawaiian language since some of the names of places I'll be describing are a mouthful. The Hawaiian alphabet only contains 12 letters - A, E, I, O, U, H, K, L, M, N, P and W. Sounding out the vowels with the list below will help with the pronunciation of most words (at least in your head).

a – ah, as in father: aloha
e – a, as in may: nene

i – ee, as in bee: honi
o – oh, as in so: mahalo

u – oo, as in spoon: kapu

Brian and I had flew out of the San Francisco Airport early on the morning of January 5th. We flew Hawaiian Airlines for the first time and I will honestly say it is the nicest airline we have flown with. They are the last in the fleet to still serve you a free meal. We received one on both flights to and from the mainland, they also served us a complimentary alcholic beverage along with snacks and other drinks. It was very comfortable for a 6 hour flight. We read, played cribbage and Brian (of course) napped. The man can nap anywhere. We had a quick layover in Honolulu and then jetted over to The Big Island. Immediately upon landing in Hilo, we picked up our luggage and our rental Jeep and headed to the grocery store and a number of other places to collect all our items for our camping adventure. It was the evening by the time we finished our errands so we checked into the Shaka Shak, which was more like an Air B&B, where we rented a room in a woman's private home. It was really comfy and we had a well rested night before setting off to see the volcanoes in the morning.

Hilo was crazy busy and rich with shops and restaurants but the terrain became rural quickly as we drove out of town and up to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. The camping is a first come, first serve and there was only one campground in the park open. Luckily there were plenty of sites available and we set up in a open space with a picnic table and great view of the night sky and the glow from the volcano. Our next stop was the Back Country Office to pick up a permit to enter the wilderness for the next two nights. For the rest of the day we drove around, stopping at all the touristy pull-offs and vista sites and visited the museums, art gallery and the visitor's center. We also found a bowling alley within the park and the best local bar around in an old military base camp. We chatted with the locals about fishing and our travels while munching on Hawaiian chips and cold Volcano Red Ales. As much as we could have hung out all evening, we headed back to the tent to cook up a camp dinner and get ready for the big hike in the morning. 

It took a while to get everything organized but we were on the Keauhou Trail by 10:00 and climbed down with our packs loaded with the tent, sleeping gear, food and other necessities for the two days. It was all downhill but the hike was still strenuous in the sun. We walked over lava beds and through tall grasses and finally over sand that lead us to a to a private paradise on the beach called Halapē. We staked out our spot under the shade and on the beach. I had to lay down for a bit after we set up the tent to recuperate and hydrate. A drum of collected rainwater was available at the shelter at Halapē but we had to treat it with iodine tablets. We practically had the place to ourselves other than the little mouse that inhabited the camp site, we nicknamed him Bojangles and he sure had a nose for peanut butter. We also met two young lads from Toronto. Joel and Kyle, 23 and 21, came here on a family vacation but extended their stay by about 3 months and were backpacking around and visiting The Big Island and Kauai. Brian and the boys had fun foraging for food by climbing the Palm trees for coconuts. We thoroughly enjoyed the refreshing milk and meat of the fruit. I packed in a canteen of wine (necessity) and we shared that along with hitchhiking and and other stories of travel with the guys. Brian and I also packed in some cheep snorkel gear that we found at the general store and enjoyed our day in utopia exploring the underwater world. We cooked tortellini for dinner both nights and snacked on clementines and granola bars during the day. 

One of my favorite things about camping is that you go to bed when the sun goes down and get up as it rises again. Once we were wrapped up in our sleeping bags, we talked about taking a different trail out. The option was to taking the same 9.2 miler we walked in but uphill this time, or the longer but much more flat 11.3 Puna Coast Trail. We opted for the coast. Everything was packed up before dawn and we were hauling down the path just as the clouds started to glow pink. The sun didn't stay hidden long though and walking over the lava beds was hot. We moved quickly though and stopped for quick breaks when we found shade. The lava beds were beautiful. One section was broken up like patchwork in that way that reminded me of the belly of sun turtle, marbled orange, yellow and black. After a while the lava started to look like turtles and lizards. Another section was the jagged type of lava called a'a and looks like it exploded and then froze in mid-air. The terrain was tough in these sections because the pumice was loose gravel and you slid often. We made it to the road just after 11:00. Another couple was on our heels for the last stretch and had the same idea about taking a different trail out then they did in, thus leaving them car-less as well. Together (the girls) hitched a ride up to the pull off where we both had parked our rental cars. The guys stayed with our packs. We rode with a nice couple who winters in Hawaii and summers in Alaska. We told stories about our experiences we each had in the Grand Canyon and of collective ties we all had to Boston, Oregon, Alaska and now Hawaii. 

We had such a great time pushing ourselves physically and mentally with this hike to Halapē. But as Brian likes to say 'the best places are the hardest to get to'. It was a great way to start our vacation and to truly experience the Park. We can't wait for more. 

 Thurston Lava Tube

 Halema'uma'u Crater

 Stream Vents

 The glow of the volcano

 Brian woke me up in the middle of the night and we took these photos

 Early morning

 Kulanaokuaiki Campground

 The two types of Hawaiian lava differ in appearance but are chemically alike. Pahoehoe has a smoother and ropey surface where a`a is jagged and clinkery.

 Halapē

Next Stop: Not entirely sure, but we are off to explore the rest of this Big Island. 

San Fran - Round 2

We entered the ring again for round 2 with the Golden Gate City. We stayed at the same RV park just south of town and did a little more exploring and touring around this time. We met up with our once east coast now San Fran friends, Brett and Michelle, to cheer on the Pats over brunch and beers at the Golden Gate Taproom. We also took over the shuffleboard table, which somehow took over the afternoon.

On Monday we towed the Hideout over to the storage/RV repair shop for housing and a couple slight improvements during our Hawaii trip. The first was the oven, the pilot would light but not kick over when you turned the knob. The second was the thermostat which was not sensing to turn on regularly. We dropped it off early and then caught the train downtown to hop aboard the ferry to Alcatraz Island.

Alcatraz is located right in the middle of the Bay and seems obscurely close to shore. It was decommissioned 53 years ago due to high operating costs and deteriorating buildings and is now apart of the National Park Service. Known as "The Rock", Alcatraz held many notorious, gangsters, murderers and criminals including, Al Capone, Robert "The Birdman" Stroud and James "Whitey" Bulger. We listened to former inmates, correctional officers and residents of the island via the audio tour that guided us around the premises. We learned that in the 29 years of operation, 36 inmates tried to escape and 5 are still unaccounted for today. While we were there, we also got to meet one of the last living inmates of Alcatraz. William G. Baker wrote a memoir of his account as an inmate titled Alcatraz #1259. We bought his book and waited in line for him to autograph it for us. He asked where we were from and after replying Boston, he asked if we knew Whitey Bulger. It hadn't occurred to us at the time but they may have been on Alcatraz at the same time. Brian is currently in the middle of reading Baker's book and says it is like your sitting next to him while is tells you his story. I can't wait to read it.

After our ferry ride back to the mainland, we walked over to the Fisherman's Wharf for a late lunch and a stroll down the docks. But with an early morning flight and still some packing to do, we booked a hotel near the airport and jumped on the train out of town.

Bay Bridge

 San Francisco

 Alcatraz Island

 Graffiti on the water tower from the Occupation of Alcatraz by 89 Native Americans

Next Stop: Hawaii - The Big Island

Lake Tahoe, NV/CA

Lake Tahoe is located amidst the Sierra Nevada range in both California and Nevada, the state line running almost exactly down the middle of the body of water. It is the second deepest lake in the U.S., the first being Crater Lake in Oregon. The name Tahoe comes from a mispronunciation of the Washoe Native American name for Lake Tahoe, da ow a ga, which means, “edge of the lake.” The surface of the Lake is at an elevation of 6,225 feet and the surrounding mountain peaks vary from 9,000 to nearly 11,000 feet. The Lake never freezes, though certain inlets will ice over. To sum it up, the Lake is 22 miles in length, 12 miles wide, there are 72 miles of shoreline and 1,645 feet is its greatest depth. One inch of water is about 3.33 billion gallons and to fill the Lake, it would take 39 trillion gallons of water. 

We stayed in Zephyr Cove which is on the Nevada side in South Lake Tahoe. Brian and I had a really great holiday season together. One, it is something we rarely get to do and two, we were in the perfect place for it. We skied Mt. Heavenly on Christmas day, which was great because it snowed all day on Christmas Eve so there was powder galore. Like the Lake, the mountain is split between the two states. So you can spend the morning skiing in Nevada and shoot over to California for the afternoon. I put a roast and veggies in the crockpot so we came home to a hot Christmas dinner. I love using the crockpot while we're skiing or doing anything that requires us to be out all day. There is nothing better than coming home to dinner being ready for you. On the other days of skiing I made a chicken enchilada soup and my mother's infamous Galumpkis. If you don't know what a Galumpki is, you must learn that it is a cabbage roll stuffed with ground beef and/or pork with rice and onion and simmered in tomato sauce. Not my number one dinner choice (no offense, mom!) but Briguy requested it.

Skiing in the west is great, but we still love our mountains back in New England. In my opinion, just because they're bigger, doesn't mean they're better. Skiing is also $$$ around here. We spaced out our days and bought lift tickets off of liftopia to save a little. In our ten day stay we hit 5 mountains. After Heavenly we skied Homewood, Alpine Meadows, Squaw Valley and Sierra. Alpine Meadows and Squaw Valley are under the same ownership and right next to each other so we split our day and skied both mountains. Though Alpine was less crowded and more intermediate friendly, we wanted to ski Squaw because of its Olympic notoriety. It was much busier, skied off and pretty challenging. I got so mad at Brian for taking up a lift that was all double black steep mogul trails. But now we can say we skied like Olympians!

On New Year's Eve we took a Lake cruise aboard the M.S. Dixie II. The sky was clear and sunny and the air was sharp and cold. We cruised west toward the other side of the Lake to Emerald Bay, the "crown jewel" of South Lake Tahoe. Really gorgeous.

We loved our stay here but it was a little too cold for the camper. We mostly used the RV park facilities because the water hose and sewer were freezing. We also invested in a space heater since we were going through propane so quickly. Regardless, Brian is claiming this to be his favorite stop yet! We are so ready to thaw out in Hawaii!

 Zephyr Cove

 Lake Tahoe has crawfish! 

M.S. Dixie II

 Emerald Bay

Next Stop: San Francisco, CA