Photo Album 2

  We concentrated on the ones we can easily access. The first stop looked like freshly tilled ground. But it stretched all the way to the coast. We didn't know until later that this was another kind of lava flow called aa (pronounced 'ah-ah').

  It was a really nice drive along winding roads that went up and down in elevation (at one point we were at over 4000ft elevation). Wonderful weather all along the way. Robt and I had gotten sunburnt in the desert, so we stopped at BigK and Macy's to get hats. I should have just gotten one like Robt's. :)

  Even with all the stops we made and eating lunch at the Harbor, we still got to the Hawaii Forest & Trail headquarters with an hour and a half to spare. Debbie, the one who gave us directions, teased us about the water (we didn't bring any swim gear as we didn't plan on snorkeling or wading or whatnot) and suggested we explore the Honokohau Harbor for some birding to kill time.

  We went to the harbor, but instead of birding, we found ourselves walking along the shoreline of broken-up lava. And we also found that our waterproof walking boots were no good on slimy rocks! Robt slipped as we maneuvered on one particular lump and almost dove head first into some sharp-edged lava in a tidepool inhabited by a dozen or so sea-urchins. I was barefoot but had firm footing when he stumbled past me with the cameras, camera bag and my boots hanging about his shoulders. I made a blind grab for him behind my back and got a fistful of the butt of his jeans. I braced for the tug of his weight and it was enough to stabilize him. Whew!

  We learned from our tour guide and driver, Taro Watanabe, about the two kinds of lava flow and how there's always someone falling through pahoehoe every year. Robt and I gave each other meaningful looks. The group had 9 people; folks from Ohio and Oregon and Massachusetts. We stopped half an hour north of Kailua at a really beautiful resort to pick up our food. And it was clear enough that we could see Maui as we drove along the shore. At the beginning of Saddle Road, we picked up the Greenbergs (from Boston, Massachusetts) and headed on up.

  We passed through the Pohakuoa military training grounds (with warning signs about live rounds here or there) and saw two Sikorsky transport helicopters flying overhead. We stopped at an abandoned sheep ranch at around 7,000ft elevation to get acclimated a bit and eat our lunch. There was a misty rain and fog had rolled up -- actually, it was the lower part of the clouds hovering around Mauna Kea! And it was awfully eerie to hear the low booming sounds of cannon-fire coming through that white, fuzzy curtain....

  At around 10,000 feet, Taro stopped the 4wd van so we could take some pictures. Then it was up and up and up. We donned the parkas they provided over our jackets and slipped the rainpants over our slacks and jeans. The air was cold, dry and very thin at 13,700 feet. Needless to say, the views were spectacular....