Black

The sound of rain hitting the roof above my head lulled me to sleep last night. That's apparently normal rain forest behavior, quiet rain, every night. There was still wet in the air this morning, not fog, yet not quite rain either. I supposed I used that as an excuse to start wandering a bit later than usual. I finally took the time to watch the video shown in the park Visitor Center each hour.

I chose to ignore the heavy mist. Chain of Craters Road was calling to me.

As I got closer to the sea, the wind blew the gray away and the air grew warmer. By the time I finished the Pu'u Loa Petroglyph trail I shed my extra layers, back to hiking in shorts and a sleeveless shirt.

Next stop, the end of the road. It was time to wander across the very black rocks, paying attention to the general path I'd followed so that I could easily find my way back. Trail? What trail? I was picking my way across a very messy surface, smooth sections, ropey sections, broken sections, lava cooled to shades of black. There were sparkles coming from some of the rock, glittery blue against black.







I spent more time wandering there than I expected. Somehow I thought I'd do another hike in the afternoon. But a good six hours elapsed between when I left Crater Rim Drive (at 4000 feet of elevation) in the morning and when I returned from sea level late in the afternoon. I guess you could say that I lost track of time!