Lava Trees State Park, Island of Hawaii

All of the Hawaiian Islands were forged millions of years ago by powerful volcanic eruptions from deep within the sea. The Island of Hawai'i was built from five separate shield volcanoes and today volcanic activity is still going strong with three volcanoes ( Hualalai, Mauna Loa, and Kilauea)still in the "active" category. The remaining two volcanoes are considered dormant (Mauna Kea) and extinct (Kohala). The Lava Trees State Park situated in the Nanawale Forest Reserve is a graphic depiction of the long-term effects of lava. Hundreds of years ago, a fast moving flow of hot lava hit this patch of wet Ohia trees, and the lava forever encased the structures leaving behind vertical, hollow, lava tubes where each tree once stood. These ghostly structures are now covered with moss and surrounded by lush tropical foliage and huge monkeypod trees covering most of the devastation from earlier volcanic flows. Below are some pictures of an outing we took to visit the Lava Trees State park.