Tag Archives: Hamakua

Over the lava and through the woods

The Pu'u O'o Trail on the Big Island of Hawaii
Trails come in all shapes and sizes. Some meander through the woods.

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Paths and Trails.’ See more responses here.

A Trail along the coast on the Big Island of Hawaii
Some follow the coast.
A Trail over Pahoehoe lava on the Big Island of Hawaii
Some wind through barren lava fields.
A path across Nanue bridge on the Big Island of Hawaii
Some pass next to busy roads. Don’t look down!
The trail to Akaka Falls on the Big Island of Hawaii
Some are paved and have rails for safety.
A sign marks the trail at Weliweli Point on the Big Island of Hawaii
Some have handy signs.
A Walkway over lava on the Big Island of Hawaii
Some are built to carry you above ancient petroglyphs.
The Ka'awaloa Trail on the Big Island of Hawaii
Some trails are mysterious.
The Powerline Trail on the Big Island of Hawaii
Some are clear and easy to follow.
The Hilina Pali Trail on the Big Island of Hawaii
And with some, it’s a long way down, and twice as long coming back up!

Going green

The view from Waipio Valley overlook offers many shades of green and a good deal of blue.

This week’s Sunday Stills color challenge theme is ‘Shades of Green.’ Captions are on the photos. See more responses here.

Two horse in a pasture near Pololu.
A Northern Cardinal against a green background.
Lush vegetation in one of the many gullies along the Hamakua Coast.
Found this on the shore one early morning. A fisherman’s lure perhaps.
A green crab on the beach.
You know the U.S. has guns, but we have tanks too!

Kolekole Gulch Park and bridge

The bridge passing above Kolekole beach park in Hawaii

The main road on the island’s Hāmākua Coast traverses land corrugated by river gullies. For the wider gullies, the road winds down one side and up the other. But gullies that are narrower and steep sided are spanned by bridges. Several of these bridges started life supporting the railroad that ran along this coast. When that closed, they were repurposed as highway bridges. This was back in 1953, which means they’re old and suffering under the demands of modern traffic.

The bridge over Kolekole Gulch has been getting some renovations that were recently completed. Below the bridge is Kolekole Gulch Park, which has also been recently renovated, except for one small detail. One issue at the park has yet to be dealt with, and that’s lead contamination in the soil. The lead comes from the bridge, the result of 50 years of lead paint being applied, and then flaking off it.

The bridge passing above Kolekole beach park in Hawaii

It’s been more than 7 years since the problem was identified, but not much has been done, except for fencing off some of the worst areas and not allowing camping at the park. In the meantime, you can walk on the grass, but don’t eat the soil!