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Kilauea Exposed (5 days)

Itinerary Ideas

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Tephra covers the ground around a lava-coated crack near Kilauea\'s east rift zone.Pahoehoe lava drips off Kilauea\'s coastal cliff where Pele meets the ocean.This itinerary idea explores the many facets of Kilauea over the course of 5 days, a journey from forest to lava to desert to ocean:

Day 1: Kilauea’s summit, from the native forests to the site of active eruption at Halema’uma’u crater atop the dynamic volcano.

Day 2: Kilauea’s coastal plain, with the objective of seeing active lava or the lava ocean entry at dusk, conditions permitting.

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Kilauea Volcano’s Summit and Active Eruption

Destinations

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The heart of Kilauea, where the rainforests of Puna meet the deserts of Ka’u.

The native rainforest jungle, consisting primarily of ohia trees and hapu'u tree ferns.Visitors hike through an underground canyon in Kazamura lava tube.Halema'uma'u crater emits a glowing plume of volcanic ash and gases at Kilauea's summit.Lehua blossoms adorn an ohia tree in Kilauea Iki crater below Pu'u Pua'i.Philip shares Kilauea summit with visitors under the backdrop of Mauna Loa.

Kilauea volcano's summit location on Hawai'i Island.Summary: Located within Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, the summit of Kilauea is a significant focus of Hawaiian culture and legend. The growth of Kilauea, directed by the volcano goddess Pele, is recorded as living history in the plethora of geological features around the highest point of the volcano: steam vents, fumaroles, faults, lava tubes, explosive debris, historic lava flows, and the current eruption of Kilauea within Halema’uma’u crater.

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Kilauea Volcano’s Southwest Rift and Ka’u

Destinations

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Kilauea’s untamed leeward side, where life emerges from the raw elements.

Wind ripples on volcanic fallout in the Ka\'u Desert.A fault scarp half-buried by volcanic fallout in the Ka\'u Desert.Mauna Loa sunset over Ka\'u.The Ka\'u Desert trail near Mauna Iki.A fern finds a foothold in a cracked \'a\'a flow in the Ka\'u Desert.

Location of Ka\'u disctrict on Hawai\'i Island.Summary: Located mostly within Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, historic lava flows and tephra fallout cover the volcanic Ka’u Desert on Kilauea’s west flank. Hiking in the company of nene and tropicbirds among the cinder cones, craters, faults and cracks of the less-traveled southwest rift zone is a raw and memorable experience of natural power, and the backcountry beaches are an effort divine.

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