On Monday it was off to Volcanoes National Park. This park is 333,000 acres and growing. The island of Hawaii is growing at an estimated rate of just under 17 acres a year due to the continuous volcanic eruption (since 1983).  After visiting the Visitors Center, we hiked the beautiful Kilauea Iki trail. It is a five mile trail down the side of the crater, across the crater bed and back up again. A great workout and well worth the effort with breathtaking – both figuratively and literally speaking – sights.

This is the view from the top of the trail.

One of the more level parts of the  the floor of the crater.

I find it amazing to find the delicate plants and trees taking root in the rock and thriving on the floor of the crater  

 and the incredible colors of the lava.   

more of the trail 

And up again

The guide book, Hawaii The Big Island Revealed, claims it as a must for hikers and we agree.

After lunch we took a short 2 mile hike down to and through the Thurston Lava Tube.

Another great day!