People who visit Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, as we did on Sunday, witness the creation and destruction of earth. We hiked from the Kiluea visitor center through sulpur springs and steam vents to an overlook, spying apapane, white-tailed tropic birds, and ferns of many varieties along the way. After a packed lunch we cooled off at Thurston's Lava Tube and viewed the tree molds, lava molds of tree trunks set deep in the ground. Later we walked a pleasant 1.5 miles through a fern and koa tree forest at Kipukapuaulu Bird Park.
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, with its vast environs and odd creatures, is difficult to comprehend or describe for a simple minded person like myself. The wild, rough, young, epic land reforms itself, offering a rare glimpse of active modern geology. It is unlike anywhere else.