Lava Hike

February 8, 2017  – Volcano National Park

We left our hardy group on their way to the rental for the night.  The rental house is on the edge of the path to the lava flow.  As one approaches the path, it is a carnival like atmosphere.  There are tents renting bikes, selling water, walking tours, partial rides and food.

Jerry found out the secret code to drive past the guards and into the subdivision.  The house is in the middle of a lava field.  You can stand on the balcony and see the steam in the distant along with a stream of people heading for the viewing area.

Shockingly, the weather had cleared so the group decided to chance it.  (Seriously, you are going to chance a 9-mile hike in the rain?)  So, the four took off with their water, jackets, and snacks to walk, yes, walk down to the viewing area.  No stinking bikes for them.  No, they are going to walk the 9 to 10-mile round trip hike.  (Debbie having adopted the Hawaiian dress code, put on two shirts, a hat and a jacket.  Larry has destroyed any pictures of Debbie).   Joyce and Debbie were in the lead with Larry and Jerry hiking behind.  Perhaps to pick up Joyce or Debbie when they fell but a more likely  reason was not to hike with Debbie in her outfit.

The road is blocked to most cars.  A hiker walks down a black gravel road for about 4 miles while shuttles haul people part way up the road.   Bikers whiz by on their way.  Luckily, the wind is blowing behind the hikers helping them down the road.  Only 10% of the hoard is walking.   Joyce and Debbie have a lot of deep discussions about would they make it on a bike and how bad would it hurt if a biker fell in black gravel?  (Listen bike vendors, if you put a booth in about a mile down the road you would get a lot more customers.  Debbie does perk up when she sees some of the bikers pushing their bikes back to the beginning.)  They can see the steam vents as they walk and the explosion of steam as lava hits the water.  So, they walk…. and walk… and walk some more to finally reach the end of the road but not the viewing area.  They then start the half mile hike across the lava field to finally reach the viewing area. After an hour and a half of hiking, they arrive.   At this point, the four make a serious error which will be discussed later.

Once you get to the viewing area, people ohh and ahh each time the lave dumps into the sea.  There are thousands of pictures taken.  People also jockey for a prime viewing position.  Debbie and Joyce separate and both find viewing seats on the rocks.  Larry and Jerry stand behind a group of rocks shooting pictures.  As the sunsets, the flow glows red with yellow flames shooting out.  About 30 minutes after the sun set, Debbie see Jerry and Larry pointing to themselves and back to the road.  Debbie sits down to prepare for the return trip to find her flashlight and raincoat.  As she got up to leave, Joyce shouted to her to wait while she found her flashlight.  Joyce and Debbie somehow then got attached to a park ranger escorting an elderly couple who had a puny flashlight over the lava fields.  Somehow, it ended up that Debbie was escorting them across the lava.  The park ranger was very impressed with Debbie’s and Joyce’s flashlights.  After about 20 minutes, they made it to the road where the wind is blowing hard.
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Now, here is where we get to the serious error.  The four were not good scouts.  They did not have a meeting place nor a plan.  (Who are these people?).  Larry and Jerry were not at the road.  Debbie took off walking.  Joyce insisted that Larry and Jerry would never leave them.  Debbie said that she was pretty sure the pointing was “We are starting back”.   Joyce insisted so Debbie stopped walking and waited.  After about 5 minutes of cold wind, Debbie went and stood by the park service truck for a wind break.   So, they stood and talked to the ranger.  They created a “Widow’s Club” for those missing their hiking partners.  They recruited at least one other member.  After about 45 minutes of greeting people as they exited the lave fields, Joyce and Debbie went back down to the viewing field.  The ranger escorted Joyce and Debbie back down area as they had bonded with the ranger.  Once there, they yelled out “Larry!”  “Jerry!”  “Larry!” “Jerry!”  until the people in the viewing area yelled back “They are not Here!”  Debbie and Joyce also shined the super bright flashlights on the group endearing themselves to the crowd.  Joyce concedes that perhaps Larry and Jerry are about 45 minutes down the road.

Off Debbie and Joyce go back down the pitch black road with flashlights.  The first 30 minutes was spent discussing “How could this have happened?” with Debbie asking “How much further do you think it is?” or “Do you think that they will fix dinner for us”.  The walk back at night is different.  Not all hikers have flashlights so they walk in the dark.  Larry and Jerry said that they picked up a couple that tagged on their flashlights for an hour.  Debbie and Joyce were surprised sometimes by hikers suddenly appearing out of the dark.  The bicycle people were even worse.  Some had very dim lights as they rode by (no longer whizzed and some even walked their bikes.)  Debbie did start yelling at the shuttle people that they were wimps as they drove past.

After about an hour and half, they spotted house lights.   Spotted house lights and breezed right past their house and ended up in the parking lot.  They backtracked, found the house, Larry and Jerry.

Total walk for the day 12 miles.  Highest one day step number for Debbie ever.  Maybe Pacific Northwest Trail is next?