Caves, Rainforest, Water Systems and Cattle Country

Yes, fearless readers, this blog will cover all these topics!

This morning we chose to take a hike in the Kohala Forest Reserve.  The hike was notable for several reasons. 

Kohala was the first volcano to breach the surface in Hawaii, and hence is the oldest volcano on the big Island.  In the area, there are many caves formed by old lava tubes, and we had occasion to visit Cave #3.  You must understand that this was noted in our guide book, had driving directions to it, but was unmarked in any way whatsoever.  It took keen eyes and a quick pullover on the road to find the entrance.  The entrance dripped with ferns and moss.

The cave was huge—you could easily stand inside it.

Although we had flashlights, the light didn’t penetrate far.  The pictures required a better camera than mine, but you can see the barrenness of the floor and the walls.  I’m sure you could explore for miles, but a few hundred feet were enough for us.

Because this area was a site of very old volcanic activity, and is in the rainy area of Hawaii, we were essentially hiking through rainforest.  And of course, it was raining today.  The range of vegetation was amazing, and in the mist became surreal.

One member of the rainforest is a fern tree.

Because we were in rainforest, there was actually soil on the trail, but volcanic rock protruded everywhere.

Bamboo is commonly seen here, and we passed by a stand of bamboo babies just starting to grow.

At the top of the trail, there was a spectacular lookout.  Right.

Theoretically, the trail was closed, for good reasons.  At least it seems to me that potential earthquakes are good reasons. 

That didn’t prevent us or a number of other hikers from setting out.  Remember I mentioned a couple of days ago about flip-flops?  This is the Hawaiian shoe of choice.  There were more hikers on the trail wearing flip-flops (or bare feet) than there were those of us wearing hiking boots.  My mind boggles.

Another interesting aspect of this walk was an insight into part of Hawaii’s water system.  When we asked at the beginning, we were told that Hawaiians used wells or catchment systems from the hills.  We obviously saw part of the catchment system today.  There were concrete channels gathering water from the surroundings and funnelling it downhill.

At one point, the water had to transfer over a valley, and a short but impressive set of piping accommodated that.

For any engineers viewing this blog, let the pipe connections give you thrills.

Ultimately, the water was funneled into a very large reservoir (today looming in the mist……).

For a couple of side notes, we saw paths through the bamboo that suggested trails for feral pigs.  We came upon some ground that was obviously of interest to them:  apparently they can dig up a storm.

On a second note, part of our trip was through Hawaiian cattle country.  The old volcanic areas are well-grassed, although very hilly due to lava tubes.  There are some large ranches here.  When I asked Brian to pull off so I could take a picture, we chanced upon a side road where a loose cow was trying to become feral herself!  She took one look at me, and galloped off as fast as she could!