May 29BIG ISLAND TRIP!
Unless Barry wants to get on here and type up his experiences I will have to give the very abbreviated version of his day, since I wasn’t around for any of it. Between the elevation and the dangerous vapors coming out of the volcanoes, we decided that most of the activities that he and Jared wanted to participate in on the Big Island of Hawaii, were things that a pregnant woman, could not, or should not do. Jared had taken my in-laws there in April and the whole time they were all thinking of Barry and his love of things geological. It was proposed that the boys make a day trip to the island to show Barry the highlights. He had a great day!
They first went to Volcanoes National Park where Kilewea is currently erupting. The things they saw there include:
Steam vents
Calderas
Great rift
Lava tubes
Lava flows that have blocked traffic completely
The other big adventure was to the top of Mauna Kea, which is (at least arguably) the world’s tallest mountain. It is not the highest in elevation but since the base of the mountain sits far below sea level, the total height is believed to be the greatest. The elevation up there is about 13,800 ft. above sea level. You can drive nearly to the top, but all visitors are advised to stop at the Visitors Center at 9000 ft. above sea level for at least an hour to try and adjust to the elevation (pregnant women are advised to go no further). When they made it to the top, they took a short hike to the highest point where the benchmark of the mountain lies. Barry loved this! You can see in the pictures that there are several observatories up here and that this point is high above the clouds. Barry thought it was crazy that you could see clouds and planes passing below, but that you could also see the ocean, right there.
They got back to Oahu late that night and tired, but very excited about the experiences of the day.
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