December 29, 2000 - Friday

We got up early today and went to Dave's place to gather. Soon, we were with our backpacks and off to the airport. The Hawaiian Airlines planes were surprisingly large. I thought they were going to be puddle jumpers but they turned out to be DC-9's. The plane was fairly full and we took off to the east and flew by Southeastern Oahu.

We passed by some of the islands on the way like Maui and Molokai. There was a large observatory on top of a barren mountain on Maui - I guess that's where my friend Todd used to work. He told me it took him about 4 hours to drive up to the observatory and it sometimes snow and sleet up there.

Puna Coast Trailhead - Volcanoes National Park (Big Island), Hawaii, USA

The plane passed the Northern end of the Big Island and landed without any incidents. Bob's friend, a beautiful Hawaiian named Lei Lana picked us up at the airport and drove us to a shopping plaza to get some last minute things. Even in a small shopping mall on the less populated island like this had a slew of fast food places and even a Vietnamese restaurant. Two Indonesian friends of theirs - Hassan and Pakate eventually showed up and we were off to Volcano National Park.

Puna Coast Trail Marker - Volcanoes National Park (Big Island), Hawaii, USA

We drove by the visitor area to fill up on water and then down to the trail. The landscape was barren and stark, almost like we landed on another planet. The old lava flow looked like large crusty brownies and the more recent ones were still shiny and pitch black. This landscape, framed by the ocean to the south, stretched for the entire 6.6-mile hike. The trail has been marked by a small black volcanic stone piles, often topped with sun bleached gleaming white coral, which made it fairly easy to follow.

Old Lava Flow - Volcanoes National Park (Big Island), Hawaii, USA

The sun beat down on us hard and the bleak landscape just seemed endless. It was a grueling hike and I didn't think I would make it at the end. Dave hiked ahead while I helped out with the Indonesians so I lost Dave from my sight. I was about to give up, plopped my super heavy pack down by a trail marker and started preparing myself mentally to crash there that night but Dave suddenly appeared walking toward me from the beach. It's a good thing I stopped or else I would've hiked past him.

Camping at Apua Point - Volcanoes National Park (Big Island), Hawaii, USA (From left to right: Pakate, Jeff, Maria, Dave)

It was dusk by the time I got to our Apua Point campsite and there were 2 other groups of people there already. We camped and Dave made dinner. Everyone's mood brightened as Dave served us a delicious Japanese curry stew just like how my mom made hers. We sat around and drank hot chocolate and coffee afterward and watched thousands of stars in the night skies. There's no light pollution out here so we were able to see the stars clearly. I saw 3 shooting starts that night. After a while, we all turned in for bed. It gets cold here at night in the Hawaiian winter and I was comfortable with my 3 season sleeping bag.