Big Island: Day 3 (part 2)

We had so many pictures from our volcano adventure that I decided to break it up into two parts, so here are the photos from the second half of our volcano tour :-)

Holei Sea Arch 

The arch and the rest of the coast are formed by different lava flows running into the ocean and meeting the waves. Unfortunately, there were no active lava flows while we were there (the last active flow was in August of last year).

Lucas during our lunch break. He's decided to start taking matters into his own hands when it comes to food :-)

This photo is for Papa:

Noah staring down a pheasant (I don't remember what kind of pheasant our guide said it was, though)

Our next stop was Devastation Trail, a path that goes through the cinder outfall of the 1959 eruption of Kilauea Iki.

Noah insisted on pushing Lucas

Noah standing next to a lava tree hole. We saw several of these during our tour. They are formed when trees get surrounded by molten lava. The lava gets cooled by the tree but the tree is burned to ash and leaves these perfect imprints of the trees.

One of our last stops was at the steam vents. Ground water seeps down to the hot volcanic rocks in this area and returns to the surface as steam.

Our last stop was at the Jaggar Museum and overlook where we finally got to see the Halema'uma'u Crater during the day. The gas eruption from this crater started on March 19, 2008. The vent diameter is currently about 525 feet.

What we saw from this spot at night: