Exploring Kilauea Iki

Mike and I took some time for a little lunch and hike date today, just the two of us. We headed up to Volcanoes National Park, one of our favorite places to hike on the island. The sandwich place we like in Volcano Village is apparently closed on Sundays... and it was a little rainy for a picnic anyway... so we ate at Uncle George's at Volcano House, overlooking the big Kilauea Crater. Here's the view from our table by the window:

Studying the map I'd brought, we were able to find a trail that we had not hiked before: Kilauea Iki Trail. It starts at the Thurston Lava Tube parking area and heads down, down, down to the floor of the Iki crater. There was a lot of foot traffic on this trail, and so many of the people making their way uphill as we were descending were huffing and puffing.

I lost count of the switchbacks as the trail wound its way down the cliff.

 

It looks like a beautiful Japanese rock garden where the trail reaches the base of the cliff. There are the rockfalls, of course, and the hard lava floor broken into huge slabs as the lava cooled... and then there are scores of ahu (piles of rocks to mark a particular spot, or as in this case, a trail) dotting the area - pretty and interesting, as long as you can find the actual trail. Of course, we had no trouble finding our way to the crater floor.

Due to time constraints, we made it only about halfway across, to the first steaming crack. But that just means we get to return for further explorations!

 
We left ourselves an hour for the return (uphill) trip - but it took only half that time. It was quite a morale boost that I only needed to stop for a breather one time coming up that long steep trail!

We had a really fun day exploring this beautiful area.

Pig Roast Lu'au

 

We had a big party out on the ranch last Sunday. We were celebrating the fact that we had NOT been driven out by the recent lava flow (now ceased) and had included people from various circles of friends. It's always fun to see connections being made and find out who already knows who. The party was loads of fun! Of course it would be with so many good people gathered in one place!



But it was WAY too windy to be exactly comfortable... and later it turned quite chilly. We couldn't set up any pop-ups, and had to tie guy wires on the canopy. Still, there was no rain, so that was a blessing. And no mosquitoes either. 

Mike and Dave spent the entire day beforehand preparing one of our own pigs for the roasting spit. He weighed about 100 pounds before butchering and we probably got close to 80 pounds of meat from him. He was stuffed with lemongrass and rosemary from the ranch and chilled overnight. The next morning at 6:00 am, they brought him up to the awaiting roasting area and got the fire started. Once a good bed of coals was created, they were raked into four smaller fires, one in each corner of the roasting area. Then the spit motor was started and cooking proceeded. We figured it would take about 8 hours, but with the heavy winds blowing away the heat of the cooking fires, it actually took a bit longer to cook than planned.

But it was worth the wait!! The piggy was DELICIOUS!!! Bits of the crispiest skin to munch on were passed around to the eagerly waiting crowd. Lori even brought an apple for its mouth!

Everyone contributed something delicious to the feast, and with three tables full of scrumptious food, no one went away hungry. We have so many good cooks among our group of friends that potlucks are the favored way to entertain - which suits me just fine. I love potluck gatherings! (Sadly, I did not get any photos of the other dishes; I guess I was concentrating on the star of the show.)
 

Most left fairly soon after eating because the wind never did let up. Only our kids stayed for the campfire afterwards, but that was kind of nice actually. Gave us time to relax and wind down.

We spent yesterday cleaning up and breaking down the party site, and carving up the remains of the carcass. I lost track of how many bags of roast pork I put into the freezer for future meals. All the bones, skin, cartilage and 'mystery bits' are now in large stock-pot portioned freezer bags for future soup stock and gel broth. That little piggy was bigger than he looked!

All the borrowed tables, chairs, pop-ups, and tablecloths are now at our house, under cover. They will be returned soon, but not today. And of course, there are a few items that need to find their ways back to their proper homes (see Lost and Found, below).

Thanks to all who attended, helped out, or contributed in some way to our party! You all made it fun for us as well!




The Lost and Found Department:
* Several of those very handy tablecloth clips were still clipped on some of the tables. Not sure who brought them but they came in mighty handy what with all the wind!
* Someone left their bug spray, almost a full bottle, so you may want it back.
* There's a tall square plastic container with blue lid - it once had cookies in it, but of course, they didn't last long. Yum!

Oh, and we are missing our bottle opener.


Update: The table clips and bug spray have found their homes once again. Still have the plastic container... and still missing our bottle opener.