Day 6 by Whitley

Today we went from once side of the island to the other. We started the day in Hilo and ended in Wiamea. Along the way we were able to stop at a lava tube. My favorite part of the day was exploring the lava tubes at Kaumana Caves.

Lava tubes are made by huge flows of lava that erupt from one of the five shield volcanoes on the island. Their extreme heats not only move the lava along the side of the volcanoes but melt down into the earth as well. This results in a complete tunnel that runs under the surface of the island. The way to get into these lava tubes is by a sky light, which were made when gases pushed up into the top and break open the lava tube. The amazing part of lava tubes is that there are hundreds under each Hawaiian Island. They are subtlety hidden away within the beauty of the island. 

Walking into these caves I looked around and breathed in the cool air. It was about 15 degrees cooler inside the tunnels. 

The ground was wet and slippery beneath my feet. As I climbed over small rocks and down into small tunnels I felt drips of fresh ground water falling on my head. The small flashlight I had in my hand didn't help much to see the path ahead. A few places along the way I had to crawl to make it through the tunnels which led me to look at the ceilings of the tubes. The top of the ceilings had small stalactites where the last flow of lava had dried. Every glance up from them on was a constant reminder that these tunnels were made by huge flows of lava. 

Heading back to the entrance of the tunnel I was cold from the cool atmosphere in the tube. The light at the end had a green glow showing how lush the plants outside were. This made me appreciate the islands of Hawaii and the fact that I am here. Roots hung down from the ceiling up to 15 feet long falling just above my head as I walked out. Ferns were growing all along the outer rim of the skylight. Once out it took the short walk to the cars in the sun for me to appreciate the AC again.