Tag Archives: Mauna Loa

Keawaiki to Kiholo and back

The Ala Kahakai Trail near Kiholo, Hawaii — The ramrod straight Ala Kahakai Trail.

A few weeks ago now, I hiked the Ala Kahakai Trail from Keawaiki to Kiholo returning along the coast. Back in the days of the Hawaiian Kingdom, the Ala Kahakai Trail ran from the northern tip of the island down the west coast and around to the southeastern tip, a distance of about 175 miles (282 kilometers). These days, the trail is broken into shorter lengths with private property in between, though more segments of trail are slowly being added. This section is about 4 miles long.

Goats on the Ala Kahakai Trail near Kiholo, Hawaii — Goats on the trail.

The trail starts out clearly marked and very straight, with goats your most likely companion. But after half a mile or so a tree marks the end of this stretch and the way forward is erratically marked by cairns. I did this hike several years ago without a problem, but this time I couldn’t remember which way to go. There was a cairn up to the left and another up to the right. The one on the right was the bigger one so I figured that was the one to go for. Size matters, right? But when I reached it, I couldn’t make out where the next one was. A smart person would have backtracked to the tree and followed the other option. I chose to carry on. It’s not like I was going to get lost. To my right was the coast and to the left the highway with little more than a mile between the two at the widest spot. However, hiking across lava fields is tricky. Lava tubes can be a matter of inches below the surface and collapsed tubes can have cliff-like walls. A wrong step could pose a challenge for search and rescue!

Lava fields near Kiholo, Hawaii — Cairn ahead.

The landscape is stark, crossing the 1859 lava flow from Mauna Loa, the most recent flow in this direction from the volcano. Eventually, I saw houses at Kiholo ahead and figured out I was too far makai (towards the ocean) so I cut inland and found the trail again, marked by lumps of white of bleached coral and a slightly worn look.

A view of the lagoon at Kiholo, Hawaii — Kiholo lagoon. The pale lump on shore is a turtle resting.

A Green Turtle in the lagoon at Kiholo, Hawaii — Kiholo lagoon. The pale lump on shore is a turtle resting.

There’s a park, with limited facilities, at Kiholo, but the trail I took turned back north near the mouth of Kiholo lagoon. The lagoon was once part of a huge fishpond built by King Kamehameha I in 1810, but the 1859 flow wiped it out. The lagoon has a wonderful color and is a great spot to see turtles both in and out of the water, but give them plenty of space. It’s also good place for a swim, but not for snorkeling because freshwater intrusion makes for poor visibility.

A trail along the coast near Kiholo, Hawaii — Heading north on the trail.

A monk seal on the shore near Kiholo, Hawaii — Heading north on the trail.

At the head of the lagoon, the trail mostly follows the coast north. It’s a bit easier to follow than the Ala Kahakai Trail, but one still has to pay attention. I came to one spot where the coast was lower with little rounds of pahoehoe lava surrounded by water. Out near the waves, I saw what I first thought was another lump of lava, but then wondered if it was perhaps a monk seal. I decided to walk down and sure enough it turned out to be a resting monk seal in what I thought was an excellent spot for it: Easy access and very little chance of being disturbed. After I got home, I reported the sighting and learned that the seal was likely RA20. She’s a monk seal that I’ve seen several times before, twice at Kekaha Kai Park with new pups, and also at Upolu. It was good to see that she was in great shape and looked like she had recently molted.

A tide pool near Kiholo, Hawaii — Tide pool colors.

Ruddy Turnstones on the shore near Kiholo, Hawaii — Tide pool colors.

A little farther north, the coast opens to some beaches and an array of tide pools that can be quite colorful. There’s more birds here, feeding or bathing in the pools, and I even saw a Humpback Cowrie getting washed by the waves.

A swing on the beach at Keawaiki, Hawaii — Swinging towards Keawaiki.

Finally, Keawaiki came into view. At the southern end, some scrubby trees provided shade and a swing, though I didn’t try it since it was only about six inches off the ground. Beyond that is the private Brown Estate, surrounded by palms and fencing, and then Keawaiki beach and a short walk back to the car.

Posted for Jo’s Monday Walk. See more responses here.

Early one morning

Sunrise in Hawaii — Sunrise over the saddle between Kohala Mountain and Mauna Kea.

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme, guest hosted by Susanne at Cats and Trails and Garden Tales, is ‘Early.’ See more responses here. I’ve gone with early mornings. Captions on the photos.

Early morning at Kawaihae harbor in Hawaii — The breakwater at Kawaihae around sunrise.

Early morning wavelets at Kawaihae in Hawaii — The breakwater at Kawaihae around sunrise.

The Numbers Game #112

A juvenile black-crowned night heron in flight. — A Black-crowned Night Heron flies over the water.

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 234. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.

Riding in a bus in Hawaii — A bee burrows into a Mamane flower

Red-masked parakeets at Kohanaiki Beach Park. — Red-masked parakeets.

The Numbers Game #103

A cloud forms over the site of the eruption on Mauna Loa , Hawaii — The 2022 eruption at Mauna Loa produced its own weather in the form of this cloud.

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 225. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.

A white water lily at Hawaii Tropical Bioreserve and Garden — Water Lillies at Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden.

Ants and ladybugs on a passion vine leaf — Water Lillies at Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden.

Blue lights illuminate a ceiling — Waiting room lighting!

An A’ama Crab at the aptly named Crab Cove at Hawaii Tropical Bioreserve & Garden. — Waiting room lighting!

Red birds in green foliage

An indigenous I'iwi honeycreeper in Hawaii

Sunday Stills Monthly Color Challenge is ‘Festive Colors of Red and Green.’ See more responses here.

A couple of weeks ago, I hiked a section of the Pu’u O’o Trail, off Saddle Road. It’s one of my favorites on the island. The trail mixes old lava flows from Mauna Loa eruptions with kipukas, areas of old growth trees bypassed by those flows. These kipukas are home to several native bird species.

On this day, approaching a kipuka, the bird calls got noticeably louder. Clearly a lot of birds were active. I chastised myself for, once again, not remembering to familiarize myself with the different calls so I could identify the birds I was hearing. But I needn’t have worried. They were visible too, if prone to move about a bit too rapidly for my convenience!

This bird is the I’iwi and I saw more of them on this day than any other time I’ve been up here. I’iwis feed on several kinds of native flowers, many of which are found in these kipukas. The tangle of branches and the flighty birds made for tricky photography, but I was happy to get a few good shots out of the many that I took.

I know these aren’t Christmassy photos, but I was feeling pretty festive by the end of the hike!

Sunrise on the Big Island

The sunrise from two mornings ago. This is a composite of four photos. The blending isn’t perfect, but I thought it worth doing for the scope of this dramatic sky.

The Numbers Game #79

An alien cloud over the saddle between Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa.

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 200. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.

A Hawaiian garden spider — Hawaiian Garden Spider

Ohelo 'ai growing in the lava on the Big Island, Hawaii — Vaccinium reticulatum.

The sun shines behind clouds and a palm tree — Vaccinium reticulatum.

Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park

A lava breakout from the Kilauea lava flow. — A lava breakout in a flow from Pu’u O’o covers the old coast road, which is now a trail (here).

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Parks.’ See more responses here.

Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park is the best known park on the island. It covers 354,461 acres, which includes, not just the Kilauea area, but up to the summit of Mauna Loa and down the southwest rift zone of that volcano. The park contains 106 miles of roads and 155 miles of marked trails, many of them well off the beaten track.

I’ve hiked a lot in the park, though I doubt I’ll ever cover all the trails, but these photos are from ones I’ve done with links to the original posts for those interested.