Crocodile Tears at Kilauea Iki Trail and Thurston Lava Tube

This day did not turn out as planned. It was the saddest day of our whole trip to Hawaii. I sobbed and heaved and blubbered. The day started so well.

We stayed on the Kona coast of the Big Island, known for it's crystal blue calm waters and coffee country. With Hubby's leg wound not healed (more to come later) we opted for a land day on the Hilo side of the island, two hours away. We traveled the drier south side to the Kona Mountain Coffee Company. They produce 100% Kona Coffee. This is a big deal, because some companies only serve 10% Kona coffee. I learn more about coffee all of the time. I am SO SAD that I am not a coffee drinker. I missed out on a whole lot of Kona coffee drinking when we lived in Hawaii. Our church served Kona coffee every Sunday and I may have indulged once, just to say I did.

At the store, Hubs purchased green unroasted Kona coffee beans. You roast them just before you brew coffee.This was news to me. I knew nothing about green coffee beans. In the Kona coffee grading system they are extra fancy, the largest and nearly perfect beans. And they are spendier! He also chose a coconut mocha Kona coffee which is 100% Kona coffee mixed with macadamia nut and coconut and a few others including a chocolate raspberry. And even though I am not a coffee drinker, Hubs monitors my caffeine intake lately. (READ: Almost eliminated it entirely regardless of my cravings.) So he sweetly surprised me with a bag of chocolate covered peaberries, high in caffeine! I ate a handful and all of a sudden my head relaxed with a familiar caffeine buzz. A Wal Mart stop and lunch drive through later, we were finally on the two lane highway to Hilo!

We arrived at the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park shortly after 4pm. This was one of the only things on Son1's TO DO list. He remembered his time at Thurston Lave Tube with our family and Gradma T., and was intent on walking through the cave. Just before the bend in the road to Thurston Lava Tube is the Kilauea Iki entrance. So we made an unexpected stop and jumped out. Our plan was just to take a picture from the rim of the collapsed crater. But as we peered over the edge we spied a handful of people walking across the crater. I was positive this was the four mile hike our friends Kevin and Sarah once made across the collapsed crater.
We checked the trail guide, and sure enough, this was it! So Hubs and I stood there and we pondered the hike. We knew Son1 could easily make the four mile hike. He had walked that far over the Coronado Bridge. But the trail was not stroller friendly, and this time our two year old was in tow. We had some bottles of water and some cashews and chocolates to hold the kids over until dinner. We hemmed and hawed long enough and finally called Kevin and Sarah on the east coast hoping not to wake them. Did they think our kids could make the trip? They don't have kids yet, but they do know and love our kids. We trusted their judgment, and they said to go for it. By the time we packed our stuff, and hit the trail it was nearly 5pm.The trail was dense and thick and jungly. The ground was moist and the mosquitoes were awake. Parts of the trail were steep downhills and some were steep uphills. The jungle canopy shaded the trail so well, and blocked out much sunlight. It was all beautiful, and I made many stops with Son1 to take pictures of all the beauty around us.The trail is a 450 foot drop from a rich sea of green rain forest into a dry and desolate volcanic crater. Hubs quickly decided to hoist Son2 on his shoulders while Son1 and I brought up the rear. Hubs and Son2 walked ahead and kept up with the momentum of a down hill trail. Son1 and I talked about the vegetation, the insects we heard, and the birds we saw. I took so many beautiful pictures of him, of all that we saw, and Hubs and Son2 along the trail. In so many ways I could not believe that we were back again, just six months after we had moved from Hawaii. All of the thick and tall trees, the smells of the rain forest, the sounds of the birds and insects, I took it all in. I loved it differently than I had loved it before, because this time, I knew I could only enjoy this beauty for a few days. Son1 and I talked about saving, and I reminded him that to come on special trips like this we needed to to save money. We talked about spending less money on McD0na1d*s, and what it means to save money.

My thoughts wandered to my three pregnancies. When I was pregnant with Son1 and living in VA Hubs spoke at a conference in Hawaii. I tagged along, and made the long 13 hour flight, pregnant with Son1. I had no inkling we would move to Hawaii just a year later. Then I thought about how my second child was born in Hawaii, and how our third child was just teeny tiny in my womb when we left. And so I had all of these mushy emotional pregnancy thoughts, how I have spent part of all three of my pregnancies here. I watched as my eldest flew down the trail so easily in front of me, in his laced up tennis shoes, how I never thought a day like this would come four years ago. I thought he would be in velcro shoes forever. I listened as he shouted, "C'mon Mommy; we have to catch up! I can't see Daddy and brother any more!! Stop taking pictures Mommy! We have to get to the crater!" Sometimes we stopped long enough to touch and talk about the plants, trees, and the exposed roots.

And I snuck more pictures.

We talked about the cooling lava, and the rich soil, and the new growth. We talked about God, and all that He created, and all that we delighted in seeing, hearing, and touching.

And I took more pictures.

I took some awesome pictures of my big boy's sweet smile, of his excitement, of his understanding of all that was around. I took pictures of my husband, and captured the moments of him loving the minutes with our little toddler, helping him climb over the carved out trail in a most protective way, sometimes with the little boy perched on his shoulders. They were pictures of the little boy who was turning into a little boy, and would soon not be the baby in the family. More pictures, and Hubs told me we just had to hurry. He was sure I had taken a whole mess of pictures already. He was right. I easily took close to 100 shots . The light was disappearing from the trail. Both of the kids had tripped. We realized that we would need to turn back at the crater floor, for a 2.5 mile round trip. We would not cross the crater.

Soon enough we reached the crater floor. A few people looked at my well formed belly, just 8 weeks from my due date, and cautioned me to be very careful. The lava rock was crumbly and loose and they were struggling to climb up the trail. I promised I would be super careful. Finally our feet hit the floor of the crater, and I asked Hubs to let me take a few pictures. The landscape was so different at the floor! The crater collapsed in 1959 after a red lava lake spewed and formed after 1,000 earthquakes. It took 36 years to cool. And it is still cooling. In the distance we could see steam vents from the ground. I zoomed in and took some beautiful shots. I must tell you that none of these shots in this post are mine. Not even this one, of the ohi' a lehua, one of the first plants to form in the rich lava soil after it cools.
This a view of the new rock that forms after lava cools.
In the distance you can spot some of the steam across the rest of the trail.At this point, we knew it was still over a mile back to the trail head. The sun was setting already, and the trail is not lit at all. We all agreed it was time to go. I handed Hubs my camera, and asked him to take a few shots of me and of the kids. He promised he took a handful of great shots, and we should start back. But I asked him to take one more with the timer, one more of our entire family. I explicitly made a point of telling him "of our family of five." I smoothed my kids' hair, wiped sweat beads from my forehead, and we positioned ourselves. We did not have a tripod. In the vast open space, Hubs found a little rock lava sculpture. He grabbed more lava rocks from the floor of the crater, and lodged the camera into a precarious position, guaranteeing me the camera would be fine. He set the timer, and we took a few pictures this way. But when the very last shot finished, he grabbed the camera, played back the digital image, and we all were absolutely amazed. There we were, dressed in bright blue against the dark black lava rock with the rain forest towering along the crater rim. The picture captured the landscape behind us so clearly, and our family so crisply, our family of FIVE. I praised him for such a great shot, and I told him I could not wait until Son3 could one day see this picture. I wore a smile all the way back up the trail, because that picture could not have been any better. The boys were smiling, and Son1 wore a sense of accomplishment. Hubs and I agreed that this hike was one of the highlights with our boys thus far in the life of our family. We enjoyed the hike all the way back. Finally, we arrived at the trail head, a little tired, 2.5 miles later. We were so proud of both boys, shocked that even our two year old hoofed the majority of the trail back to the parking lot on his own two feet.

Hubs loaded the kids back in the car, and I snapped a few more pictures of the early evening over Kilauea Iki. Hubs asked if we should still make the short jaunt through Thurston Lava Tube. The entrance was just across Crater Rim Drive. The sunlight was definitely escaping us. But the dusk was enough light to make the short hike. Yes, we all agreed we wanted to make the short beautiful hike. We even had a little family cheer. YAAAAYYYY!!!!!

We found parking. We crossed the street. We stood at the overlook at the entrance to the lava tube. I tried to get a good shot of the top of the canopy, but I thought Hubs could get a better shot leaning over the rail.

I asked him to take the picture.

I extended my arm to him with the camera.

I let go before the camera met his hand.

And it slipped over the rail and bounced off the top of the canopy of trees.

It tumbled.

We heard it go deep, deep, deep down.

And Hubs looked at me ready to say something.

And I burst into tears.

And he said nothing.

Very determined, he suggested we look for it. Quietly we descended into the tube. We rounded the bend closest to the probable landing spot, still no less than 30 feet from the trail. Below the canopies of the ferns and trees several stories in the air, the darkness started to settle in for the evening. A folding sign blocked an entrance to where we needed to cross. It warned not to enter, it warned of danger. Hubs picked the sign up and crossed into the slippery green floor. It was muddy from recent rain. I kept hushing an inquisitive Son1. He looked at me and said,

"Mommy, is Daddy doing a bad thing??"

And the words tumbled from my heart. I looked into his sincere eyes and said, "When a man loves a woman, he will do crazy things." He was strangely satisfied, and repeated that phrase all night, and through the week. In fact, he is still saying it in San Diego.

Hubs never found the camera. I cried the rest of the night. He bought me a steak dinner that could not fix my heart. He offered to buy me another camera that could not bring back my SD card. He listened to me cry for two hours back to Kona about that one picture, the picture of our family of five. I was not angry. I was feeling so sad. I heaved. I blubbered. I thanked him for showing me the picture on the screen, the one I would hold in my heart. That man has a heart of gold. He understood me even if he did not understand.

A pleading phone call from my emotional pregnant heart to the park ranger led to a rescue mission two days later. At that moment all I wanted was my SD card. I did not care if the camera was shattered. All I wanted was that one picture, the one I saw on the playback screen. The amazing folks from the park sent four workers deep into the bowels of the tube to look for my camera with no such luck. I was told that they searched for half a day. They found many other lost items, though. The emergency dispatcher said my camera probably slipped through a crevice and plummeted over a hundred feet below the ground.

So there is no picture of that day. That is OK. But if there is one thing I hope that the boys learned that day from their daddy, is that if a man loves a woman, he will do crazy things for her. I hope they learned from their daddy to be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry. Their wives will thank them one day.