Volcanoes National Park – Kilauea Iki Trail

Kilauea Iki is a collapse crater adjacent to the main summit caldera of the active volcano, Kilauea. Beginning in August of 1959, geologists at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory began detecting a swarm of deep earthquakes on seismographs located at the observatory. By early October, measurements indicated that the summit of Kilauea was beginning to inflate with new magma. By November 14… an eruptive fissure broke through the south wall of Kilauea Iki Crater. Continuous fountaining occurred from a solitary vent located on the crater wall about 20 m above the small west crater of Kilauea Iki.- NPS.gov

Kīlauea Iki Trail starts in the rain forest on the crater’s rim. The trail descends 400 feet through the rain forest, with native plants and birds in the canopy, to the crater floor.

The trail leads to the still-steaming crater floor and continues on to form a 4 mile loop, but my goal was simply to get inside my first volcano . Even after 50 years, the surface of the floor is still warm to the touch. Rainwater seeps into the cracks and makes contact with the extremely hot rock below and steam is emitted from various surface cracks.

One unanticipated effect, once down on the crater floor, was the sounds of thousands of birds surrounding me in all 360 degrees. It was as if I were in an amphitheater from another world with the bird-crowd mingling with each other before some avian-gladiator games.