December 30, 2000 - Saturday

Halape - Volcanoe National Park (Big Island), Hawaii

We got up early today to continue our hike to Halape. It was a nice sunrise even though it rained briefly last night. We hiked 3.1 miles (5 km) to a shack and rested there for lunch and filled our water supplies. Dave made chicken noodle soup. We continued to Halape, which was only 1.7 more miles (2.6 km) away and made it to the campground mid-afternoon.

Halape was similar to Apua, where swaying palm trees fringe a couple of coves and beaches with lava rock sand. Apparently, there are turtle nesting sites at both Apua and Halape, but chances of us seeing turtles were pretty slim because it's not turtle nesting season.

After setting up our tents, we swam and explored the grounds around the site. We watched the stars again after dinner and listened to the crashing of the waves nearby.