Category Archives: Plants

The Numbers Game #24

The lava lake in Halema’uma’u Crater in April 2018. Two weeks later the lake had dropped 1,000 feet. Yesterday, Kilauea erupted again, but for just 12 hours before it was declared paused!

The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 145. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.

Two orange feral cats.
A gnat cloud at Upolu.
A grasshopper on a kiawe branch in Hawaii
A grasshopper on a Kiawe branch. Watch out for those thorns!
Mushrooms make a shady rest area for bugs!
A leaf cutter bee on Aptenia cordifolia.
An Hawaii ‘elepaio (Chasiempis sandwichensis sandwichensis).

The trail to Pepeiao Cabin

View from Hilina Pali Shelter on the Kau Desert Trail in Hawaii
View from the shelter at the trailhead.

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Great Outdoors Month.’ See more responses here.

I did this hike, at Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, quite a while ago, but for one reason or another the post never came together and then went missing in my files! This hike started from the lookout at the end of Hilina Pali Road. A few years back, I did a different hike from this starting point that almost did me in (here). This time, having learned from that experience, I stayed on top of the pali (Hawaiian for cliff). My destination was Pepeiao Cabin (pronounced ‘pay-pay-ow’), about five miles away, though the trail is the Ka’u Desert Trail, part of which I’ve hiked from the other end (here).

Ohia trees on the Kau Desert Trail in Hawaii
Ohia trees on the trail.
A spider wrapped in a leaf on the Kau Desert Trail in Hawaii
A spider sheltering in a leaf.
The Kau Desert Trail in Hawaii
The Ka’u Desert Trail.
A cairn on the Kau Desert Trail in Hawaii
The Ka’u Desert Trail marked by cairns.
A view from the Kau Desert Trail in Hawaii
View from The Ka’u Desert Trail.

The day was sunny, but not too hot, and with a nice breeze for the most part. The elevation drop (and gain on the return) is only around 500 feet so it wasn’t too strenuous, and the trail was fairly easy to follow. It passes through grassy areas and across lava flows, and is well-marked with cairns. Ohia trees dot the landscape, along with a variety of shrubs and other flowers. I didn’t see too many birds, but there was a decent show of butterflies and bugs. The views were splendid, down to the coast or upslope towards Mauna Loa.

Balloon plants on the Kau Desert Trail in Hawaii
A Balloon plant on the Ka’u Desert Trail.
Balloon plant flowers on the Kau Desert Trail in Hawaii
Balloon plant flowers on the Ka’u Desert Trail.
Common Guava on the Kau Desert Trail in Hawaii
Common Guava on the Ka’u Desert Trail.
Grass borders the Kau Desert Trail in Hawaii
Grasses alongside the Ka’u Desert Trail.
Grass borders the Kau Desert Trail in Hawaii
Grasses alongside the Ka’u Desert Trail.

All the backcountry trails I’ve hiked in the park have featured something particularly unusual and interesting. On this hike, I was amazed by the substantial areas of sand on the trail or alongside it. This certainly didn’t get there from the beach, since the elevation is around 2,000 feet. My assumption is that it’s just volcanic rock broken down by rainfall, but just not washed down to the coast. Some of the sand was grassed over and it was like walking through dunes on the coast!

Sand and a pool of water on the Kau Desert Trail in Hawaii
Sand on the Ka’u Desert Trail.
Footprints in the sand on the Kau Desert Trail in Hawaii
Footprints in the sand on the Ka’u Desert Trail.
Tracks in the sand on the Kau Desert Trail in Hawaii
Tracks in the sand on the Ka’u Desert Trail.
Sand on the Kau Desert Trail in Hawaii
Sand on the Ka’u Desert Trail.
Sand in the lava on the Kau Desert Trail in Hawaii
Sand in the lava on the Ka’u Desert Trail.

Eventually, I reached Pepeiao Cabin. There are several of these backcountry cabins in the park, and they require a permit to stay at them. This one was typically rustic, with a catchment water tank that may or may not contain water, depending on the weather and use. There’s also an outhouse with a splendid view. Inside, the cabin was basic, but the kind of place I’d be happy to stay in if it was raining outside.

Pepeiao Cabin on the Ka’u Desert Trail.
The Pepeiao Cabin on the Kau Desert Trail in Hawaii
Pepeiao Cabin on the Ka’u Desert Trail.
The interior of the Pepeiao Cabin on the Kau Desert Trail in Hawaii
The interior of Pepeiao Cabin on the Ka’u Desert Trail.
The outhouse near the Pepeiao Cabin on the Kau Desert Trail in Hawaii
The outhouse by Pepeiao Cabin on the Ka’u Desert Trail.

After I got back, I saw that the park website says “Pepeiao is in the southwestern reaches of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park backcountry. The cabin is no longer safe for use and visitors should plan on tent camping.” I was a bit surprised because I’ve certainly stayed in plenty of less salubrious accommodations in my day!

Also posted for Jo’s Monday Walk. See more responses here.

Mauna Kea Silverswords

A Mauna Kea Silversword plsnt growing near the visitor center

Next door the Mauna Kea Visitor Center is an enclosed area where Mauna Kea Silverswords (Argyroxiphium sandwicense subsp. sandwicense) grow. These silverswords are closely related to species found on Mauna Loa and Haleakala on Maui. All silverswords are at risk of extinction. The reasons are the usual suspects: humans, feral sheep and goats, climate change. They also suffer from a lack of genetic diversity. The current burgeoning population of more than 8,000 has been produced from only six wild plants.

Silverswords can grow for 30 years or more, but once they bloom, they die. I haven’t seen a Mauna Kea Silversword blooming, but I was lucky enough to see Mauna Loa Silverswords blooming not long after I moved to the island (here). The second photo shows one of those plants in bloom. It was over six feet tall!

A silversword blooms on Mauna Loa.

Posted for Becky’s Squares: Move Forward, Reconstruct, Renew, and/or are Burgeoning. See more responses here.

The Numbers Game #23

A Giant African Land Snail on the move in Hawaii
A Giant African Land Snail moves forward with purpose, if not speed.

The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 144. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.

Also posted for Becky’s Squares: Move Forward, Reconstruct, Renew, and/or are Burgeoning. See more responses here.

A Hawaiian Monk Seal and pup at Kekaha Kai Beach Park, Hawaii
A monk seal and her pup at feeding time.
A Japan Airlines plane taxiing at Kailua Kona, Hawaii
A Japan Airlines plane taxis before takeoff at Kona Airport.
Spear fishermen and their catch on the Kohala Coast, Hawaii
A couple of spear fishermen exit the water, with their catch, in North Kohala.
A Monarch Butterfly on a Tasselflower.
A Black-crowned Night Heron having a bad hair day.
A Lesser Grass Blue Butterfly opens its wings.

After the flood

A flooded area in Kawaihae, Hawaii

After the flash floods around Kawaihae, a couple of weeks ago, I noticed this area where sizable boulders had been washed up against the highway guard rail. A week later, the area had been cleaned up and the drainage channels reconstructed.

A flooded area is cleaned up in Kawaihae, Hawaii

I thought the contrasting views were interesting, but what really caught my eye, was the land beyond the drainage channel. Dusty brown in the top photo, it turned a bright shade of green, thanks to the deluge of rain. The top photo is quite representative of the area around Kawaihae, which is the driest part of the island, but the bottom one is how most of it looks currently, at least for a short while.

Posted for Becky’s Squares: Move Forward, Reconstruct, Renew, and/or are Burgeoning. See more responses here.