Summer Camping Trip

I had a few days of vacation time from work that had to be used so I took last week off. Besides lots of chores and working around the house, Chris and I camped on the beach one night, and another night my dad and I camped at Volcano. We cooked brats on his grill and right around sunset 12 endangered nene geese flew overhead. After that, we stayed to watch the steam plume from Halemaumau crater glow red from the lava lake below.
The next day we decided we had explored the park many times, but one place my dad had never been was to Lake Waiau on Mauna Kea so we drove through Hilo and headed up the mountain.

I thought there was a bear at our campsite but it turned out to be my dad hiding behind a chair.

Halemaumau at night. It's a spectacular sight, but living downwind from an active volcano has its drawbacks, the pollution has taken away Kona's bright blue skies and it's probably not healthy to breathe.

A view of Mauna Loa from the 13,000 foot elevation of Mauna Kea.



Sunlight streams through the forest and shines on this Ohia branch.

My dad and I at Lake Waiau on Mauna Kea.