Hiking a Volcano

Yesterday was quite fun. We hiked up a non-active volcano. We rode in a rental car to get to the hiking sight. In the car we listened to music while Porter and I stuck our hands out the windows and pretended they were airplanes. When we got to the place where we were to start hiking, we began to chatter. "Wow that’s a long ways" I said. "It looks harder than it is" Daddy replied. Finally, we began walking on the trail. The terrain was rocky and hard.

The volcano erupted in the late 1700's, killing all the plants and leaving only lava rock. The only plant to be seen in this rocky landscape now is lichen, which is pretty in its own way. Porter and I examined every single stick in the area. It didn't take long because there were very few. When we found the stick we liked we pretended we were warriors with great weapons.

The volcano loomed over us, growing bigger as we drew nearer. It stood there daring us to climb it. And we did. The side of the mountain looked like loose dirt but when we started up it, we realized it was cool looking rock. We talked all the way up the unclear trail. The mountain was steep and if you looked down your heart would leap a little. We went higher and higher.

As we grew nearer to the crater rim, the wind picked up. I looked around but the strong breeze blurred my eyes and my vision was unclear. At last, we reached the volcano crater rim! The sight became clear. I could see for miles around and the view made me think of two things. First, the lava rocks were like an ebony ocean. The jagged stones looked like the waves and the lichen looked like the white tips. Also, the contrast between the black lava and the light brown mountains made the mountains look like islands in the sea. Second, the part of the island I could see was like a map all laid out for us. It looked like a map of a bunch of mountains. This made me think of Leadville because there were a lot of peaks in the rock. This beautiful sight warmed my heart.

Daddy took a few pictures then we moved on. The highest part of the volcano was on the other side of the crater. Our goal was the summit. 

After some hard hiking, we reached the top. There, we looked across some other mountains and roads while having lunch. Lunch was a delicious sandwich and carrots with cookies to top it off. From where we were sitting, there was a stone fence that looked like a rat scampering around.

After lunch, we started down the other side of the rim. It was not quite as hard as coming up! On the way down, I pretended that I was a demi-god in a mythology that I made up. When we got to the side of the volcano, I was paying more attention to recognizing what we had already seen than my game. As we set back out across the ocean of lava rocks, I found a stick that looked like a pretty good sword. So I pretended it was the weapon that I used in my demi-god world.

When we reached the parking lot, we took a picture with the volcano behind us and then got in the hot car to drive home. I enjoyed this hike a lot because it gave me a fun experience and I got to spend active time with my family. –Jack Rabbit