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In the latter part of July '97, Bill Melemai, his 12-year-old son Willie, and I completed a two-night, three-day backpack along the Puna coast in the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island. For those unfamiliar with the Big Island, imagine it, roughly speaking, being a big clock with the Puna Coast situated between four and five o'clock, Hilo at three, and Kailua-Kona at nine. Our adventure began on Monday, July 28. After a quick and comfortable flight from Honolulu (mahalo to Bill's wife, Donna, for driving us to the airport and helping us board), we arrived at Hilo Airport around 8:30 a.m. and were picked up there by my buddy Tim Lino, who lives in Mountain View. After some stops to purchase propane, a couple other items and to eat lunch, we were bound for the National Park visitors' center to obtain our backcountry permit. Prior to the trip, Hawaiian Trail and Mountain club member Carole K. Moon, who had backpacked in the area several times, told me our pr...