Hiking to the Waterfalls

Today we took a tour with Hawaii Nature and Trail company to hike up to some waterfalls at the north side of the island. After driving along dry lava fields along the airport, we passed areas where the lava fields were covered with grass and mesquite trees. Our guide Jeff was a wealth of information about the geology, astronomy, botany and history of Hawaii. Then, in the blink of an eye, we turned a corner and saw the wet Hawaiian forests around Hawi. At Hawi, we transferred from a very comfortable Mercedes van, to this much older and less luxurious military surplus vehicle so we could traverse the cattle fields on the way to waterfalls in the highlands. No one argued about wearing the mandatory seat belts in this open air transport!

The cows just stared blankly at us when we bounced around their pastures to reach the top of this privately owned ranch. This side of the island can have 100" of rain per year sometimes. The river is crossed by a series of tunnels and sluices to redirect some of the water to the dryer area for sugar cane plantations. Actually, all the sugar plantations closed in Hawaii about 1975, he said.

 We all know that Hawaii is overwhelmed with invasive plants and animals. Some arrived accidentally, and others were introduced. They fight an endless battle with guava (yes, like the juice). Large piles of wood in the pastures were evidence of the unsuccessful efforts to keep it under control. One hillside was absolutely covered in these trees. Jeff picked a few and cut them open for us to try. Not bad, but not something I'd choose for a fruit. It's easy to get in to the pulp, and the pulp is full of seeds. The birds love it, and spread the seeds so more trees sprout no matter how much they chop down the older ones. Scientists are working on a fungus to attack the trees. Oooh, be really careful with that.

Many of the beautiful plants that look like they should be native aren't, such as this African tulip tree, blazing in people's yards. It is very invasive but doesn't spread as much as the guava.

Pineapple plant

Along the river, we found a small field, farmed in the old manner. A pool of water hosted taro plants, while pineapples grew along the sides with ti plants. Jeff described ti leaves as Hawaiian saran wrap, used to carry just about anything.

The waterfalls, of course, were totally awesome, but, as always, the paths were steeper and the steps higher than I could easily manage.

Our reward for the morning's hike was our lunch spot! According to the map, the road ends, and there is only an overlook (not the spot were we were on the ranch). The cliffs are completely vertical, with caves dug out by the waves, and black sand beaches. Trees grow by leaning away from the never ceasing winds.

Islands near the cliffs are rocks left when the cliffs collapsed.

White-tailed Tropic Bird

I was very excited to see long tailed Tropic Birds soaring in the strong winds along the cliffs. 

Cattle Egrets picked bugs off the backs of cattle in the fields, and other invisible birds sang all morning, but I couldn't see any of them. At lunch, we were joined by another bold little Yellow-billed Cardinal, looking for a handout from our lunch.

Just listen to the roaring Ohana Waterfall!