Category: National Parks

Hiking Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller

Date: March 6, 2025

One of our favorite and prettiest hikes of the trip. Lots of photos because this trail was so beautiful and the ecology so diverse. The trail was two miles up and two miles back. The trail began near the visitor center and climbed 800 feet past guava, avocado and mango trees (I put several mangos and avocados in my backpack to eat later), lots of greenery and parallel to a stream.  The trail was rocky, with some stone steps or tree roots to trip over. We came to an enormous banyan tree whose long arms spread across the entire trail. After half a mile there was an opening and overlook in the trees to see a gorge and the 200-foot Makahiki Falls. One problem – the falls were almost bone dry. Just a trickle spilling down. It made me think, will Waimoku Falls at the end of the trail be dry?  

As we ascended the trail, occasionally a mongoose would dart across the path (Photo#11 is a mongoose – they were so fast that I could never snap their photo). We eventually came to a bridge over Paikea Stream with a small waterfall and fast flowing water. Clinging to the bridge was a beautiful colorful gecko. At the end of the bridge began the incredible bamboo forest (Photo#6,7 & 8). The mostly boardwalk trail through this area wound through these hard, vigorous trees for quite a while. The trail ended at the base of a ridge and ahead was the beautiful 400-foot Waimoku Falls which was fed by Pipiwai Stream, a spring and by rainfall. We rested and admired the view as temperatures had risen to 83 degrees.  

Expedition Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller

Date: March 3-11, 2025

Rosie loves sunrises and sunsets and captured many beautiful photos while at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park or Haleakala National Park (or near their entrance).

Hiking Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller

Date: March 8 & 9, 2025

Two consecutive nights we drove through the national park, parked and hiked this short trail using flashlights. The overlook was the closest spot to see the crater which by day was hot, boiling and steaming. By night you can see the boiling fires of lava, fire glow and red flares. Overhead, you could see hundreds of stars and on the first night, a ring around the moon!  The last photo is the volcano erupting two weeks before we arrived.

Hiking Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller

Date: March 3, 2025

Our sixth and final trail on the east and high-altitude side of this national park was short – only .2 miles. It led us past dozens of silversword plants and took us to the summit at 10,023 feet. We had great vista views in all directions, and it was cool being high above the clouds. Off to the south a quarter mile away was the private Haleakala Observatories which are closed to the public.

Hiking Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller

Date: March 10, 2025

A light rain fell as we hiked this one-mile trail through a green rain forest to the five-hundred-year-old Thurston Lava Tube. The tube was created by a river of 2,000-degree lava. The Hawaiian name, Nahuku, possibly refers to the lava drippings that once hung from the ceiling. The lava tube was 600 feet long and we used flashlights although some lighting was erected in the tube. After exiting the lava tube, we continued on the trail through the rain forest and back to the parking lot. I saw this colorful gecko (Photo#5) on a footbridge along the trail.

Hiking Team: Dave Miller

Date: March 10, 2025

After finishing the Pu’u Loa Petroglyphs Trail, I crossed the road and hiked just a mile on this 11.3-mile trail that ran parallel to the Pacific Ocean. The trail passed over dry windswept lava fields and scattered grasslands. I passed stone walls, remnants of very old fishing villages and early 1900 goat ranches. As I kept my eyes open for deep earth cracks and thin lava crust areas, I enjoyed the beautiful coastal views of the ocean.

Hiking Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller

Date: March 10, 2025

We drove 3,000 down the southeast side of the park past 1974 lava flow sites to the Pacific Ocean. We hiked the one-mile Holei Sea Arch Trail along the coast to view this large sea arch made from a previous lava flow. We enjoyed many flower and plant interpretive signs along the trail.

Hiking Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller

Date: March 8 & 9, 2025

This 2.6-mile trail began just south of the Volcano House and continued west across the Kilauea Caldera and crater. Near the Volcano house, the trail was thick with trees, plants, beautiful flowers and shade. Occasional openings gave us views of the distant steaming volcano crater. A mile into the hike we began passing many steam vents, first small ones and then large ones. The trail opened up a bit and we had better and closer views of the steaming, boiling crater. We still had to be alert for earth cracks and the cliffs, but it still was an enjoyable hike. Little did we know that in two days the volcano would erupt and shoot lava 400 to 500 feet into the air for about 12 hours (Photo#6).

Hiking Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller

Date: March 6, 2025

This one mile out and back trail took us from Kuloa Point Loop Trail southwest along the coast. At Kuloa Point Overlook we had an excellent view of the point, the waves and the ocean. The trail was rocky with some hard black lava and dangerous due to big drop-offs, but it gave us beautiful coastal views.

After the hike, I went off my vegetarian grid and enjoyed the famous Hana eatery, Uncle Russell’s Legendary Koki Huli Huli Chicken. It was literally a tent on the beach, but you could smell it half a mile away. My dinner consisted of chicken, ribs, macaroni, rice and potato salad and a great ocean view from the picnic table. Rosie grabbed something at the local food truck court since there was only one restaurant in Hana.

Hiking Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller

Date: March 6, 2025

A short but exciting .7-mile loop trail that first took us by ruins of a small Hale Noa, a traditional thatched roof Hawaiian house. Next information signs explained how the nearby Hala Forest was restored as now there are dozens of hala trees bearing fruit (Photo#2). A unique Banyan Tree (Photo#3) was along this section of the trail. The most beautiful part of the trail was the black sand beach (Photo#4) and the Pools of ‘Ohe’o. As Pipiwai Stream drops down the mountain, under the road to Hana and through ‘Ohe’o Gulch (also called the Seven Sacred Pools), it creates a beautiful waterfall and seven pools of water. (Photo’s 5, 6, 7) show the waterfalls, pools and where it empties onto the black sand beach and into the ocean.