December 30, 2000 - Saturday

Me hiking between Keauhou and Halape - Volcanoes National Park (Big Island), Hawaii, USA

We got up early today to continue our hike to Halape. It was a nice sunrise even though it rained briefly last night. There's an outhouse here in Apua and it uses just biomicrobes to break down the waste. The outhouse did not smell at all. We hiked 3.1 miles to a shack at Keauhou 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 away and made it to the campground mid-afternoon.

Halape - Volcanoes National Park (Big Island), Hawaii, USA

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. There were 2 tents set up on 2 separate campgrounds by the time we got there and we set up our tents at the far end of Halape close to the foot of the mountain.

Halape - Volcanoes National Park (Big Island), Hawaii, USA

After setting up our tents, Maria and Jeff took a swim while I watched because the water was much too cold for me. The water was crystal clear and even from above I could see a small domino damsel fish guarding a coral patch.

Halape - Volcanoes National Park (Big Island), Hawaii, USA

I went for a water run with Dave and Jeff at the water-catch hut at the main campground. I met another hiker in the hut named Chris. He was a big-barreled body guy with a military haircut. He was there on his own, spending New Years in the quiet outdoors. We loaded up with water and went back to our campground.

Picture 1 (from left to right): Pakate, Maria, Jeff; Picture 2: Jeff, Hassan, Lisa (Jeff is asking Hassan and Lisa if he could join in for a threesome in this picture... I think... - Volcanoes National Park (Big Island), Hawaii, USA

Dinner consisted of Macaroni and Cheese plus some chicken breasts. All in all, it was a nice end to the day and we just sat around the camp, lit by a single little lantern. I slowly drifted to sleep while watching the thousands of stars above and listening to the crashing of the waves nearby.