Day 9: Pahala to Volcano Village

January 19, 2016

Last year when we made our "assault" on the Volcano, we started from Punaluu and got up at 4:00 a.m. to have enough time to make it to the top. This time, thanks to Kent, we had a place to stay in Pahala - already 800 feet up the 4400 foot climb. So we got up at a decadent 6 a.m. and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast with Kent. There was fresh squeezed orange juice, fresh papaya, omelette, and coffee. So nice!

It was 8 before we said our farewells, thanking Kent for his kindness, and headed off. The first half block - to the highway - is downhill. But from there it is pretty much all up. The first half of the ride features the steeper grades, which was good since of course we were fresher. But with the heavy load (for me) and weak knees (for Dodie) the total trip, if not exactly a challenge, was at least a very long grind.

The road did not really have a lot to distract us from the length of the ride, but there was at least the bulk of Mauna Loa to look at to our left, and to our right in the latter part we could strain to see the smoke and steam rising from the Halemaumau Crater.

Our last time doing this was in November, a time when things were fruiting and flowering. In particular, there were ripe lilikoi (passion fruit) all along the way, and we found these very sustaining. This time we only found a few lillikoi, and those were not ripe yet. So we had to rely on food we had with us. Fortunately we still have a ton of stuff, most of it dragged all the way from the Walmart in Kona.

Many long slopes like this lead from Pahala to the volcano

Mauna Loa. It's a shield volcano - very tall, but not pointy.

Lillikoi. Tangy and good when ripe, but these are not there yet.

Kent had spoken about the local company Backroads that organizes cycle tours of the Island. We ran into about a dozen of their cyclists, unloaded, coming down the hill, plus we saw one sag wagon. A quick check of their website did not tell us much about how the thing runs, but we did see some prices that looked like $3500 for four days. Maybe we have it wrong - that seems pretty steep. Speaking of steep, most of the riders seemed quite tentative coming down the mountain. It could be that even supported, a Hawaii tour is a bit much for some of the customers. Kent had already told us of how he had helped one who had a trip ending spill closer to Naalehu.

By contrast we also had a chat with a man who lives in Volcano and who had nipped down to Pahala. He caught us from behind, on his way back up. Of course, he too was unloaded, and with a carbon fiber bike.

From the point where we found this sign there is an extensive network of trails into the Kau Desert. Surprisingly, the desert receives a fair bit of rain, but the sulphuric gases turn it to acid rain that prevents plant growth.We actually found the desert suitably hot and dry and ran into a big big problem about lack of water while hiking there some years ago.

Just reaching the Park is not the same as reaching Volcano village. We were still only about 3/4 of the way at the time of this shot.

We are not sure if the danger of volcanic gases is overstated. Probably not.

We were interested on finally reaching the Namakani Paio campground at the National Park to see if it was really closed as we had seen on the website and been told over the phone, and then to assess whether anything was being done to reopen it. The story is that there are some trees that are a concern for dropping branches. We feel that closing a campground for over four months on such grounds is a bit excessive! When we passed the campground, the road was barred, with a simple "Road Closed" sign. No explanations about why, no phone number for further information, no suggestions about where people could find alternative accommodation. It sure is frustrating to run into such incompetence in an organization.

Hawaii is a place of many ecosystems, and frequently it changes from one to another in the space of a kilometer. We certainly saw that where the big trees replaced desert after South Point. Up here, right after the campground you enter the windward side of Kilauea and immediately have a forest of Ohia Lehua trees, with an understory of tree ferns. We also spotted one bamboo orchid, and noted that the rampant ginger plants have mostly finished their red flowers. The beautiful red (and white) ginger are a big attraction for us, though as an invasive species they drive the park staff crazy.

A bamboo orchid, the only one we have seen so far, though they should be fairly common.

Rather sad looking ginger. It's the wrong time of the year for them.

We had to continue 10 km past the closed campground to reach the place we had booked in Volcano Village. The company operates with a general name something like Kilauea Chalet Kilauea Collection.It actually comprises at least four properties. So we had to go to the main building and get the key and instructions about how to find our actual place. The whole thing is rather in the boonies back of Volcano, but it's ok, since we are here for a few days with the intention of cycling all over the place anyway.

Our place is fairly nice, with a shared common room, kitchen, and bathroom. There are a few inconveniences though. Four rooms are sharing the washroom, possible trouble at showering time. And perhaps another four have access to the kitchen. Again, crowded at meal times. Then there is a bizarre one. The beds are raised on pedestals under the feet, putting the mattress tops about 3 feet off the ground. This is too high for Dodie to easily climb up. The day's cycle really put a strain on her knees, and this hurdle was the last thing she needed. I am threatening to disassemble our bed and (non destructively) cut it down to size. Is there something stylish about a too tall bed that we are missing?

This is the third or fourth time that we are visiting the complex of volcanoes, craters, vents, rift zones,etc. that exist up here. We are certainly not volcanologists, but whatever we are going to learn we probably have already learned. Still, we will enjoy looking at and walking/cycling through this unique environment once again. We will begin straight off tomorrow, by entering the Park by a "secret" back way we found last year. We are crabby about their unfair price structure for cars vs bikes coming in, so we feel fine about bypassing the park gate entirely (hah, hah, score one for being on a bike, that can go where cars fear to tread).

The too high bed in the quite small room.

Today's ride: 44 km (27 miles)
Total: 273 km (170 miles)

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