Deserts are wonderful treacherous spaces

Last week, guess where Jack wanted to go?

The desert on a tropical and mostly lush island in Hawaii. We spent a wonderful 8 days on the big island in and around Kailua-Kona the beginning of March. The temps were like a hug at 80 F (27 C) during the day, and we only felt rain twice. What a way to close out February and welcome in March. I couldn’t get enough of the lush rain forests and rocky intertidal tide pools. Jack on the other hand, sought out to explore the island’s Kaʻū desert on the south side of Kailuea volcano. He set out on a 14 mile solo trek to cross this desert and climb to one of the caldera overlooks. I proudly dropped him off and took the kids to a black sands beach nearby before driving to the overlook.

lava and sandy landscape

In retrospect, traveling a landscape decimated by acid rain and lava would have been interesting.

The area receives on average 39” of rain (just 3 inches shy of Portland, OR’s average), but the volcano spews so much sulfur dioxide, that the rain acidifies as it drops here, poisoning the sands below. Jack navigated by rock cairns, startled a wild boar, admired the stars, made a wrong turn, and was picked up by adventurous and caring family members.

Get out and explore.

Let us know what you found. Be well.