Big Island Hawaii Adventures

Finally got mostly caught up with all the stuff that needs doing after three weeks of vacation, so I thought I would share my experiences of some of what the Big Island has to offer. Nothing hardcore here, just scenic stuff mostly, but what makes it somewhat of an adventure is that, rather than your own familiar and well-equipped XJ, these trails need to be done in a rental, preferably a 2-door wrangler. Other jeeps should work, but will make things more challenging.

The first one we did was the Mauna Kea Access road. Some basic info here http://hawaiitrails.ehawaii.gov/trail.php?TrailID=HA+46+006

We first did this in '08, so I may post a few pics from that also. Seemed like it was in much better shape then...

It basically goes around Mauna Kea, ranging in altitude from 7000' to 9000', and goes through forests, alpine meadows, tortuous lava flows, black sand dunes, and barren cinder cones.

This probably stops most rental cars. I have seen rental cars in places I've had to carefully drive a jeep...



This map wasn't there this time



The best bet is to start out early, as it tends to get more cloudy as the day goes on. At this height, you are above almost everything else on the island except Mauna Loa, so the views can be incredible.

This time the sand dune area was in fog





Rough lava area...

Smooth cinder area...







Lunch, steamed clams with a little butter and garlic...



Heading into a less arid area



The endangered silversword plant, grows only here and on Haleakala on Maui

Here's a few more pics from the '08 trip. Yes that is snow up there...



Except for the blue sky, this could be Mars





That time, the final portion was foggy

awesome pics. a bunch of them weren't working for me. some did though.

thanks for sharing!

Hmmm, I'm not seeing any problems with webshots. Anybody else having problems?

Our next adventure was Road to the Sea. Near the south end of the island, it accesses some black and green sand beaches. More info here http://www.to-hawaii.com/big-island/beaches/roadtotheseablacksandbeach.php

The main road is not too bad, the one heading to the west has a couple tricky spots, and the one heading east gets really tough. We wound up walking a good portion of that one.

The main road comes in at the other side of this beach, the route over the hill on the right is rather scary and I would recommend the route that goes along the north edge of the hill...



We had seen this oasis on a previous trip, but didn't have the time to check it out. This is the one we had to hike to. Nothing but lava and cinders all around...



A sure sign that some of the locals were here. We did not leave so much as a bottle cap or a burnt match behind anywhere, but saw this kind of crap, or large amounts of broken glass in many of these beautiful remote areas...



Getting closer



The bushes were swarming with butterflies



Heading back towards the main road..



This would be much cooler if it were looking over an XJ fender...

Some green sand on this beach, to the west of the main road. The road to this one had a couple spots that were challenging in a stock wrangler. One of these times I'll bring the tools to disconnect the sway bar. It's tough to get used to picking lines that don't involve axle articulation...

As always great shots!

If you get a chance and have them, would love to see more!

Real awesome pics.

P.S. For some reason all the pics are working for me today. Must have been my internet.

Looks like a great time

Letterman said:

As always great shots!

If you get a chance and have them, would love to see more!

Click to expand...

Thanks!

And I do have more. I took almost 1400 pics, and the wife over 300. Only put about 450 on webshots. I tend to get carried away with sunset pics, as that is something we can't really see at home, even if we get on the rooftop. And I have taken a few really good ones over the years.

Our next little adventure didn't include much wheeling, but it did involve spending the night in the jeep.

After a stop here for some fresh baked goodies,



we stopped at the Punalu'u Black Sand Beach, which is a popular spot for turtles. We only saw one on the beach this time...



Then we headed to Volcanoes National Park. Since no lava was flowing and we had seen almost everything there previously, we didn't spend too much time there.
View of Kilauea from the Jaggar Museum



We drove the Hiilina Pali road, about 11 miles to the overlook, and had lunch



Looking over the overlook, in my new favorite t-shirt.



On the way out, we stopped at another overlook. The Kilauea Iki trail http://www.nps.gov/havo/planyourvisit/upload/kilauea_iki_trail_guide_web.pdf is one we've enjoyed on previous visits



Those tiny specks are people...

Here are a few pics from previous visits to Volcanoes.

In '08 the lava was flowing on the Hilo side of the park, so they made a huge deal of it and had the police, fire dept., and every other agency out there directing traffic and keeping people far away. This was the best shot I could get, with a 6x zoom. If you look closely, you can just see the line of fire across the road...



And where it entered the ocean...



Got a good pic of the fire dept XJ, though



In '07 it was flowing in the park. I found it interesting that, after a brief safety talk, the NPS would allow you to walk right to the lava...

From the park, we went to the Puna area south of Hilo. After visiting Kapoho Bay



we found our campsite...



with some nice views







After a light dinner while watching the sunset, we attempted to sleep. Next time, we will bring a tent and air mattress.

Watched the sun rise while having our coffee and leftover baked goodies...



Fishing spot...

Then we headed to Ahalanui Park for a soak in the volcanically heated pool

http://www.hawaiiweb.com/hawaii/html/beaches/ahalanui_park.html

Did some more scenic driving



Visited Lili'uokalani Gardens in Hilo







More scenic driving on sections of the old highway north of Hilo





I thought a plastic bag had gotten stuck on the windshield wiper. The 18x optical zoom let me see that it was a chicken



I guess it was looking for a ride...

Wooden bridge on another section of the old highway...





Found a place we remembered having a great dinner at 6 years ago. Still there, still good...

http://www.cafeilmondo.com/



We had reservations to camp a 2nd night, but wanted to actually sleep so we went back to the condo, in time for the sunset

Looks like a good 3 week wind down after getting hammered at WF, John! Great shots! :cheers:

We needed this vacation for a lot of reasons, but mostly for some quality time together. When I am busy, I only see Cindy on her one or two nights off a week, and half of those there are things that need to be done.

And our last three vacations have all been with other people, so we didn't get to just do stuff we liked. Costa Rica was an organized tour with a bunch of random strangers, and the last Hawaii trip and the Korea trip were with the daughter and son-in-law, and Cindy's sister and her husband.

On many days when we didn't do these longer trips, we would have a light breakfast and coffee, go snorkeling for a couple hours, maybe check out a farmers market and pick up some fresh fruit, have an early lunch, then do a short hike or explore tidepools along a secluded beach somewhere, perhaps cooking dinner on the beach then watching the sunset.

I'll post a few pics of some of that stuff after I'm done with the adventure type stuff.

Our next wheeling trip was Mana Road, which goes partly around Mauna Kea, at lower altitude than the Access Road, mostly through privately owned ranch land. http://www.pacpics.com/MAUNAKEABACKROAD.html



Much of this trip was foggy and rainy, so I'm sure we missed some great views





Monument to Dr Douglas

Thanks to the rain and fog, I didn't get many pics, but here are a few more...

And Cindy did get some pictures of cows...

Our final wheeling adventure was to South Point, which is the southernmost point of the USA. And is believed to be the point where the first Hawaiians made landfall. The water depth drops off quickly here, and the waves can be huge...







Following the 4wd road 2.25 miles along the coast to the northeast takes you to the famous Green Sand Beach. This time we went another 3.5 miles to Ka'aluala Bay

No waves here...



More strange looking plants...





Walls of an abandoned fishing village