Kilauea Iki crater on the Big Island of Hawaii was the first leg of our Aloha Triangle. The other two legs involve runs through craters on Oahu and Maui. From Devastation Point, we gazed at a landscape shaded grey to black. Steam rose from fissures into which we might fall. If we escaped that fate, we still might trip on the crusted lava and ruin our chances of doing the many other runs I had planned for our tour group in Hawaii.
Some risks are worth it.
Waving goodbye to Cousin John, we followed a twisting downward path through the rain forest. Soon, the 40 in our group were strung out before and behind me. We jogged and walked, unable to move fast partly because of rough ground, but mostly because we wanted to stretch the experience. Passing steam vents, we could feel the wet heat on our faces. At one point, we stopped for photos beside a dark crater within the crater.