HAWAI’I ISN’T ALL SURF AND SAND—AT LEAST not for us. Connie isn’t all that keen for the beach and I rode my last wave decades ago. There are many wonderful hiking trails on the Island, crossing rugged lava fields and winding through open meadows and mossy forests. It would be easy to lose your way in the lava fields if it weren’t for the well placed ahu, stone cairns that mark the trail.
Connie follows the "ahu" markers
A tangled tree along the Pu’u Ō’ō Trail
It’s often raining when we leave our place near the coast around 6:30 but it brightens as we ascended Saddle Road. The temperature can plummet more than 20° and as the rising sun bathes much colder 13,800 foot Mauna Kea in a reddish glow we can see a twin “soul patch” of snow near the Observatory, remnants of a late January storm. Our “go-to” spot for birds is the Kaulana Manu Nature Trail, a mile-long loop trail through forests and dense ferns where we’ve seen several new species and John has managed some decent photos.
Hawaiian Amakihi
Omao singing for his supper
A bit farther along Saddle Road is 7½ mile Pu’u Ō’ō Trail, part of Hawaii’s Nā Ala Hele “trails to go” system and one of our favorites. The trail begins in a daunting field of a’ā, rough blocks of volcanic rock and golfball-size “clinkers” that make for poor footing. Most of the trail, however, is pāhoehoe, smooth or sometimes ropey flows that can sometimes get slippery. I didn’t realize how cold it can get in Hawaii—there was frost on the grassy areas this morning.
A touch of frost in Hawaii?
Aha! It's Pāhoehoe, not "A ā"
The trail meanders in and out of several kipuka, older, forested pockets randomly spared from lava flows filled with ancient trees and flocks of native honeycreepers which, of course, are our targets.
I'i'wi (it's Hawaiian, dontcha know)
We have hiked only the first two miles. From there on it’s just more of the same gray a’ā as far as the eye can see. As we turn back, though, we can imagine the forest breathing a sigh of relief that the lava flow stopped where it did.
Kipuka—where the lava flow spared the old growth forest
