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Hawaii VOlccanoes - Hawaii
Descriptive:
Located on the island of Hawaii, the "Big Island", Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is almost 400 square miles, encompassing two active volcanoes and a lush rain forest. Located in the middle of the Pacific plate, the Hawaiian island chain is largely composed of layers upon layers of lava. In Hawaiian legend, Pele, the Polynesian goddess of fire and volcanoes, lives in one of these volcanoes.
Geography/terrain:
In some places, the terrain is seemingly lunar, with the stark ashen and lava landscape. 'Ohi'a lehua trees stand covered in lava as grim reminders that this is a land in change. Pahoehoe lava lays hardened in black ropy strands across the island.
Key locations:
Mauna Loa has the highest elevation of the two volcanoes at just under 14,000 feet. However, if measured from its true base, about 19,000 feet below sea level, Mauna Loa is taller than Mount Everest.
At the summit of Mauna Loa there is a great depression known as Mokuaweoweo Crater. It is in fact a caldera, approximately 3 miles long and 1 1/2 miles wide.
Kilauea, the second volcano, is much smaller at 4,000 feet above sea level. Since Kilauea is a young volcano, it is the most active. Halemaumau, the caldera at the summit of Kilauea, has become a great lake of molten lava during past eruptions.
Thurston Lava Tube is located in the rain forest so lush it could be considered a jungle. It is a tube of cooled lava, in which the interior was still molten and flowed out, after the outside had already hardened. The tube extends for about 500 feet.
Trails:
Halape Coastal Hike
Hilina Pali Trail
Kalapana Trail
Kau Desert Trail
Mauna Loa Trail
Puna Coast Trail
Summit Trail
