Day Two at Volcano National Park

On our way back to the Volcano National Park, on December 28th, we stopped at the Black Sands beach.  There was a big sea turtle having a nap on the beach when we got there.  At first, we thought it might be dead, but then it's eyes blinked and gave us a look as though to say, "take a hike, eh".

I like this shot because there's a kid surfing in the background

In the afternoon, we hiked the Kilauea Iki Crater Trail.  This trail takes you down the steep cliffs of an old volcanic crater, via a series of switch backs until you reach the cooled and hardened lava bed of the crater.  We hiked across the lava bed and then up the other side of the crater.

This crater erupted in 1959

Hiking down to the crater floor

Standing in the middle of the crater

Steam vents where you could see and feel the hot steam

Posing next to a large steaming opening

On the way back up with a view of the trail in the lava lake in the distance

On the way up, we can see the steam rising from the Halemaumau Crater in the distance

Lava that partially covered a road on the chain of craters road