A small boat leaves Kawaihae Small Boat Harbor early in the morning. It was likely headed out on a fishing expedition. I don’t know how they fared, but it was a fine start to the day regardless.
Off to the fishing grounds
Category Archives: Weather
Waterfalls on the North Kohala coast
The North Kohala coast is largely inaccessible except by water or by air. This view shows a few of the many waterfalls that plunge into the ocean along that stretch of coast.
The color of water
This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Everything Water.’ See more responses here.
I’m going with some abstract images from my archives. No text with these except for some brief captions.
Calm
An early morning scene at Spencer Beach Park near Kawaihae.
Windswept tree
This photo tells you all you need to know abut the winds up here in North Kohala. It also says a lot about the cattle pastures here. Many are currently overrun by weeds of one kind or another thanks to an ongoing cycle of droughts and rain.
View of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa
There’s still a bit of snow on top of both Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea. Every time it looks like it’s going to disappear, a new dusting bolsters the coverage.
This view is from Kohala Mountain Road. The dark strip snaking through the center of the photo is housing alongside Kawaihae Road, which goes down to the coast. These houses are part of the town of Waimea, which sits in the saddle between Mauna Kea and Kohala Mountain. This part of Waimea is known as the dryside because it receives significantly less rainfall than areas on the east side of the saddle, which is known, correctly, as the wetside.
Another invasive species
I went for a drive up Old Saddle Road yesterday and noticed this unusual tree. It is, of course, that now ubiquitous invasive species, the cell phone tower. At least this one had the good grace to try and blend into its surroundings, and does a decent job of it.
This ‘tree’ is located on the grounds of Camp Kilohana, the Girls Scouts Camp on the Big Island.
Posted for Bushboy’s Last on the Card photo challenge. See more responses here.
Road closed
This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Roads, Paths, and Streets.’ See more responses here.
After a recent hike off Saddle Road, I had time to take a drive up one of my favorite roads on the island, which leads to the Mauna Loa Observatory. Well, it used to; it doesn’t get there anymore. That’s because a flow from last fall’s eruption of Mauna Loa crossed the road a few miles short of its destination. I was curious to see what the scene looked like now.
The cloudy skies added some atmosphere to the drive which was, as always, a lot of fun. It’s a winding one lane road, so even though there’s little traffic, one has to pay attention. Any distraction could result in driving off the road into the inhospitable lava fields bordering it.
I confess, my secret hope was that, when I arrived at the flow, there would be a sign saying ‘Road Closed.’ Alas, that was not the case. Clearly, the Department of Transportation figured the seven foot high wall of lava conveyed the message well enough on its own. The only sign there warned against walking on the new flow. I didn’t need that warning. This is a’a lava which is really hard to walk on anyway, and in a new flow it could be quite unstable and even harbor pockets where one could fall through into still hot lava! Still, I’m sure some folks have clambered up there just because it’s there.
I took a few photos, then turned around and headed back down, not least because it was damp, windy and I was freezing, which is not why anyone comes to, or lives in, Hawaii.
On the drive down, I got a good view of the HI-SEAS (Hawai’i Space Exploration Analog and Simulation) dome. This is where teams of volunteers do research for what it would be like to be living on the Moon or Mars. I’m not sure if it’s in use since the COVID shutdown, but at least it survived the last eruption.
Farther down, the land seemed to be steaming, but in the saddle between Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, the weather often seems to be part of the landscape.
And the views, which change with every twist in the road, are strange and stunning and wonderful. It may not be possible currently to reach the end of the road, but it’s still a great drive.
Graham's Island 