National Geographic Drives of a Lifetime....part two

So, after a good night's rest and waking up to a magnificent view of a rainforest, we packed up and ambled down this path to the car.......

 

marveled at the lushness and wondered, "Have we dreamed this or does this place really exist?" A short, very rural drive later we were back at the office/breakfast room, dutifully shedding our shoes, and climbing into the treetops (okay, okay....going up the stairs) to have our yummy pre-hike nourishment.......

Bidding a very fond farewell to the Volcano Inn (and promising to give them 'props' on TripAdvisor, for sure) we headed back to the Visitor's Center just in time for Ranger Dean Gallagher's guided 45 minute hike.  (Rachel G., you guys would be so proud to be related to this guy) He was the best combination of botanist, park ranger, and Steve Martin-style comedian (he even looked like Steve Martin)  Can you tell we appreciate a helping of good, stand-up comedy along with our park ranger talks?  Well, this guy was great...

 

 

So he took this group of about 50 of us along the beginning of the Kilaeua-Iki 6 mile hike, explaining a lot of things about the plants and animals of the area and then, at the last stop, told an enchanting story (very much part of the lore of the culture) and played a 'bamboo nose flute' (yep, that's not a typo) at the exact spot, on the edge of the volcano caldera, where it was to have been played in the story he told.  Then he offered to take anyone's pic, so we took him up on that......

 

Then Ranger Dean and most of the group headed back to the Visitor's Center and a few of us headed out on the 6 mile Kilaeua-Iki hike.  Now, those of you who know (and love) us know we love to hike, but this was not your typical 'six' miles.  The first part of the hike was deliciously cool and easy, through more lush rainforest on the Iki caldera rim.  The distance down into the caldera was 425 feet, equivalent to a 40 story building and the descent was comprised of a series of switchbacks....mostly shaded, some uneven terrain.  We descended these easily, but the looks on the faces of those we were encountering (they'd begun the hike on the other side).......well.......they weren't smiling and relaxed like we were.  We encountered one family (dad, mom and two 8-10 yr old girls) and the girls asked us, plaintively, "Are we almost THERE?"  It kind of reminded us of the Seven Hollows hike at Petit Jean State Park in Arkansas, so Laura, Allyson and Brian, you may have a faint memory of that 'hike' we took you on (I think we jokingly called it the 'death march' at the time).......anyway, getting to the Iki caldera floor was pretty easy......

 

The sign directed us to follow the 'ahu' or cairn (piles of lava rock) to get to the other side......for the most part, it was pretty smooth going, but there were places where you actually had to study the path for a moment and decide the safest route (least jagged, least extreme)....that is, of course, unless jagged, extreme and treacherous happens to be your 'cup 'o tea'.

 

And you can bet anyone who started on this walk without a head covering and plenty of water would be what you'd called 'unhappy campers' before they'd gotten too far.  So, yes, that water was sweet because that hardened black lava was reflecting the heat of the sun for all it was worth.  We marveled at the examples of succulents that had taken root and were thriving in this 'un-garden-like' environment.....lots of lessons could be learned from this, right?  We observed a couple of what appeared to be electronic sensors 'planted' into the hardened lava and surmised that those might be some kind of seismic detection devices to measure 'stirrings underneath'.  I'll have to admit, the thought of that caused my steps to quicken a bit.  As we approached the wall of the caldera (40 story building, remember?) we'd need to scale to get back to the trail and that rainforest environment, there were no gentle switchbacks like we'd enjoyed on the way down. Just stairs.  Lots of them.  Don't get me wrong......I have nothing but gratitude for the park service employees who constructed these staircases from lava rock (and yea for the occasional handrail, as well).  Some of the stairs were six inches thick, some were fifteen inches thick...kinda like those unique lava rocks, all shapes and sizes, y' know?  But, man, there were a LOT of them...  So climb we did...... and climb ......and climb......and climb.  And I purposed then and there to decrease my treadmill time at the gym and increase my elliptical time...

 

Soon the nearly vertical climb out of the caldera gave way to the easy, rolling mossy floor of the crater rim trail and within another mile the visitor's center was in sight.  We thanked Ranger Dean again for such a great start to a great day and headed on out for the return trip to Kona with our sights on a couple of Nat'l Geo.'s recommendations.  This will truly have been one of the most educational, glorious, awe-inspiring and unforgettable experiences of this trip, though.

 

Our two main stops on the way back were near Captain Cook.  One stop was at St. Benedict's Painted Church which was built by Father John Velghe from Belgium and the parishioners of the church in the early 1900's.  Father Velghe, a self-taught artist, painted the interior walls of the church. His three dimensional interior painting was inspired by the gothic cathedral of Burgos in Spain. His painting of scenes from the bible and the lives of the saints were very important teaching tools in a time when many people couldn't read and write. Throughout church history cathedrals and churches have been adorned with paintings, stained glass windows and statuary that told stories from the old and new testaments and about the lives of heroes from both Hebrew and Christian tradition.

 

St. Benedict's Church, with its unique art work, is listed in the Hawaii State Register of Historic places and the National Register of Historic Places.  It sits in what is known as the 'coffee belt'...perfect latitude and elevation for coffee berry production.  Brian, are you smiling yet?  Yessirree, we're gonna bring you some Kona coffee.  We know that you've sampled brews from the world over....we'll see how this compares...

Fr. Velghe's health deteriorated and he had to return to Belgium in 1904, he was never able to finish the church.  We spent a few quiet moments there and left, on some curvy steep roads, reminiscent of northwest Arkansas, for our next destination.

 

 

Just a bit down the road from this small community we found (down yet another steep and winding road.....we've learned there's always something to treasure at the ends of these roads) Kealakekau State Historical and Underwater Park......not a bad place to be in the late afternoon, or any other time for that matter......well, maybe at high tide wouldn't be a good idea, come to think of it.

 

 

This is the historical landing point of Captain James Cook, after whom a town at the top of the hilll is named....the first European to land here and the first one to conduct a Christian service on the islands.

It seems the native residents thought he was some kind of god when he landed, gave him all sorts of homage, but then when  his ship had trouble leaving during a storm they figured they must have gotten it wrong (the 'some kind of god' thing) and then he and his men got crosswise with the native residents about a matter that couldn't be settled amicably.....so it didn't end up well for Captain Cook, if you know what I mean.

 

Contrary to his fate, the day ended up real well for us.  We got back to the condo in time to fix a yummy, easy dinner (at sunset, no less) and soak our tired, happy-with-our-caldera-hiking bodies in the hot tub.

gratitude......gratitude......gratitude for all this beauty and these experiences.........