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Ka’u Desert Trail

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A view of the Kamakai'a Hills on the Ka'u Desert Trail, Hawaii
My lunch spot with a view of the Kamakai’a Hills and various kinds and colors of lava.

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘I’d Rather Be…’ See more responses here.

It had been a while since I went hiking, for various reasons, and it’s something I was missing, something I’d rather be doing. So last week, I headed down to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park to try the Ka’u Desert Trail. This backcountry trail has been on my list for a long time, but I had never done it before. For one thing, it’s about as far from my house as one can get on the island. For another, it’s directly downwind from Kilauea Volcano, so when the volcano is active and the trade winds are blowing, gasses blow across the length of the trail.

The latest eruption of Kilauea is currently either paused or over, so gas emissions are much reduced, and last week, the trade winds had given way to winds from the southwest. So off I went.

A sign on the Ka'u Desert Trail, Hawaii
Signs explain the rich history and geology of the area.
An ohia the Ka'u Desert Trail, Hawaii
Tenacious Ohia trees grow in the lava.
Ohia flowers and a bee the Ka'u Desert Trail, Hawaii
Ohia flowers are a magnet for bees…
Ukei flowers and a bee on the Ka'u Desert Trail, Hawaii
…as are the native Ulei flowers.

The trailhead is several miles west of the main entrance to the park, with a strip of parking along the highway. The first mile of the hike is also known at the Footprints Trail. It’s a sort of paved path that threads through ohias to a small building that houses footprints left by early Hawaiians in volcanic mud and ash. Alas, I couldn’t identify any footprints in the display. Shortly after the footprints, the path breaks out of the vegetation into open lava fields. This isn’t a tropical Hawaii walk, this a bleak hellscape Hawaii walk. Or is it?

The Ka'u Desert Trail, Hawaii
A view of the Kamakai’a Hills from the trail junction.
The Ka'u Desert Trail, Hawaii
The trail was rerouted here, from its previous path, for reasons unknown.
A cairn on the Ka'u Desert Trail, Hawaii
Cairns mark the trail, some bigger than others.
The Ka'u Desert Trail, Hawaii
Walking on the trail removes the top, crumbly layer of pahoehoe lava.

The trail ascends gently to the only junction for miles around, at Mauna Iki. To the left is a trail back towards the heart of the park. The Ka’u Desert Trail heads to the right and into backcountry wilderness. Mauna Iki was the site of an eruption in 1919 and the trail traverses the lava fields from this eruption.

The Ka'u Desert Trail, Hawaii
A’a and pahoehoe lava flows can be seen side by side.
Ropey pahoehoe lava on the Ka'u Desert Trail, Hawaii
Gold colored ropey pahoehoe lava makes it look even more like ropes!
Folded lava on the Ka'u Desert Trail, Hawaii
The lava has many weird and wonderful folds and shapes.

Much of the trail is over pahoehoe lava, which is rounded and much easier to walk on than jagged a’a lava. The trail is marked by cairns and single rocks placed alongside it. It’s pretty easy to follow with just one or two parts where attention has to be paid to make sure one doesn’t stray.

Bronze pahoehoe lava on the Ka'u Desert Trail, Hawaii
Bronze colored lava.
Colored lava on the Ka'u Desert Trail, Hawaii
Bands of red in the lava.
Colored lava on the Ka'u Desert Trail, Hawaii
A crack in the trail…
Colored lava on the Ka'u Desert Trail, Hawaii
…revels shades of orange within.
Colored lava on the Ka'u Desert Trail, Hawaii
Blue and gold lava flow.
Colored lava on the Ka'u Desert Trail, Hawaii
Colorful and dramatic, but slowly nature returns.
Colored lava on the Ka'u Desert Trail, Hawaii
Colorful ropey pahoehoe lava next to smooth.
Colored lava on the Ka'u Desert Trail, Hawaii
Blue lava!
Colored lava on the Ka'u Desert Trail, Hawaii
The patterns and colors reminded me of Roman mosaic floors.
Colored lava on the Ka'u Desert Trail, Hawaii
Bold color and markings.
Colored lava on the Ka'u Desert Trail, Hawaii
Plants gain a toehold in the cracks and provide a splash of different colors.
Colored lava on the Ka'u Desert Trail, Hawaii
Don’t stray off the trail. There are holes and thin spots everywhere.
Colored lava on the Ka'u Desert Trail, Hawaii
Bright colors and bold shapes can be seen along a lot of the trail.

It wasn’t far along this part of the trail that I first encountered blue lava. That’s right, blue lava. Who knew? But not just blue. There’s bronze, pink, red, orange, gold, and who knows what. I’ve seen colorful lava on the Puna Coast Trail, but this was more varied and quite wonderful. In places the trail crossed this colorful lava and I felt bad for walking on it, though as I hiked I could see many more patches of color out in the lava fields. It’s not wise to leave the trail since there are many lava tubes, some with very thin ceilings.

This is an out and back trail and I turned around once I reached the Kamakai’a Hills, after about 5 miles. It’s another 2 or 3 miles to the next junction where there is a small cabin.

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

Colored lava on the Ka'u Desert Trail, Hawaii
The trail crosses one of the fields of colorful lava.

Signs: Heineken Sailboat

A neon sign advertising Heineken Beer

Back in the day, I used to make home brewed beer. I needed bottles to put the beer in and that required emptying bottles that formerly held beer. Heineken was one of the many brands that were pressed into service. But there was one problem. Those green bottles were made with thinner glass and had a tendency to blow up under the pressure of my home brew.

I kept my beer brewing bottles in my wardrobe and the Heineken bottles’ volatility meant that my clothes acquired a certain aroma. It’s probably why I wasn’t more successful in the job I had at that time!

None of this has anything to do with the sign of course, but any time I see the Heineken name I immediately associate it with those days.

Better Days: Dead bull

A dead bull is visited by cattle egrets

I came across this bull a while back on one of my walks. At that time, the area had not had rain for ages and the fields were dry and barren. I don’t know whether that was the cause for its demise or whether something else was happened. Either way, the cattle egrets weren’t too bothered, checking out the corpse for insects. The bull was gone the next day, and not because it got better.