Walk There With Friends

There are places in this world that speak to us, as long as we take the time to listen.  Some of these places draw us back, over and over again.  And, over time, we develop a desire to share that space with people who are closest to us - in the hope that they can also hear what we hear and see what we see.

Or perhaps that they will hear something slightly different and allow us to expand our own understanding in the process by witnessing their conversation.

We had that opportunity during our visit to Kauai in December.  Our friends, Sue and Steve, accepted our invitation and braved snowstorms that made plane departures uncertain and travel the wrong kind of interesting.  But, they arrived and we had that special opportunity to introduce people we care about to a place we care about.

It's a good thing.

Tammy and I are often astounded by how little time many visitors seem to take just staring in awe of what they are seeing.  It's enough to make me consider the possibility that either they have blinders on or their sight is not working somehow.  Or, maybe we're the ones with the problem.  Well, if we are, I think both of us are okay with that.

The good news is that we found out that Sue and Steve could also see what we were seeing.  Perhaps, they were seeing things a bit differently than we did - and that's fine.  The point was, they were seeing.  And they were content to let Kauai, the Pacific Ocean, and this grand Earth tell them about itself.

It even got "Little Steve" to come out and play.  It was a chance to explore and experience.  And it was an opportunity that was not squandered, like so many such opportunities seem to be in our lives as we attempt to be "responsible adults."

We got to play with perspectives.  Different points of view.  Angles we usually didn't consider.

We were allowed the opportunity to watch the different shapes and colors of the water.  We could touch and observe the rock formations and take a moment to consider different plants and the pollinators that were visiting them.

And each of us got to experience things in the ways that suited us best - just as we also had the opportunity to see the world and all it had to offer in this special place as a team.

We got to do this because we worked to give ourselves the time.

This particular walk was on the Mahaulepu Heritage Trail.  A tough enough walk to provide some exercise and a little challenge, but not so much that Tammy couldn't navigate the trail and find ways to keep moving (or find a place to sit) so the Achilles didn't tighten up when Sue, Steve... or Rob... wandered off to check out some odd thing or another.

 

There were little fish and critters with shells in tidal pools to discover and wonder at.  

 
There were flowering plants with bees collecting pollen.

There were interesting patterns carved into the rock.

The clouds painted the ocean by choosing where and how much light touched the surface.

Birds soared over head - and sometimes, when we were on a high piece of land, they would soar at a level that was even with us.

Some rocks were pock-marked, showing how they erode over time with the application of salt water droplets.

It was a worthwhile and rewarding effort to take this walk with friends.  Maybe we'll get to walk there again some day.

Short Walks

Not all of our outdoor time spent on the island of Kauai was during the longer walks, like those we've shared in prior weeks.  Some of our excursions were, admittedly, trips by car to visit locations followed by some, but not much, walking.

A good example would be the time we spent at the Waimea Canyon.  This is one of our favorite places on this beautiful earth, but it does require a fair amount of effort to hike on the trails there.  Yes, we did enjoy the Iliau Nature Loop, but that barely qualifies as much of a walk, from our perspective.  To be perfectly clear, the nature loop was worth every moment we spent there, it just wasn't a big hike.  It wasn't until we pushed the boundaries on Tammy's rehab that we got a real walk in when we took the Canyon Trail to the Waipo'o Falls.

There are also many places to stop on the way up to Koke'e State Park that are quite enjoyable but were not exactly hikes.  One of our stops was the Pu'u Ka Pele picnic area.  And while other folks were trotting across the road to take pictures of the canyon, I was enjoying talking to the trees a bit.

A line of trees block the line of sight from the road to the picnic area and the area under the canopy of these tall trees was quite dark - especially on a day that featured clouds and rain.  Of course, I didn't play with the camera settings enough to reflect what it was actually like, but I still like how this photo came out.  It's almost as if the trees are marching in a line either towards us.  

I am guessing that these are Monterey Cyprus (if someone knows better - please tell me) and this first tree in the picture was the largest in the group.  I suspect if Tammy and I stood on either side and tried to touch hands we would not manage doing so.

When the sun would peak though a bit, the droplets of water would shine on the needles of the trees.  If I had been a bit more patient, I suspect I would have gotten many interesting pictures.  But, this is one of those moments in our trip where we had to watch the time AND the weather.  So, I snapped the shots I could and we moved on.  (Most of the pictures were deleted because they didn't really do anything for me - alas!)

Most people stop at this picnic area so they can cross the road and view the Waimea Canyon and Waipo'o Falls.  Which, of course, we always do when we are near any overlook for the canyon.  But, I still think people miss so many good things when they rush to get to the "grand spectacle."  

Let me put it this way.  I got a feel for how small I was compared to these trees.  Then I walked to the canyon and realized that the trees on the OTHER side of the canyon in the next picture could easily be just as big as these trees are!

The weather had been fairly wet in the days prior, so the waterfall was nice and full.  There are certainly times when there isn't much more than a trickle dropping over the edge to the canyon below.  But that was not this day. THIS day was one where there was plenty of water and we could (and did) spend lots of time at the various overlooks just enjoying what we were seeing.

And no, it didn't really matter all that much when the misty rain got us a little damp in the process.

We drove down the highway from Waimea to Hanapepe and Kalaheho numerous times, but we had not stopped at the overlook for the Hanapepe Valley.  There are good reasons for this - among them is the reality that the road can be busy.  Then there is the practicality that we were often going by when there was another goal in mind.

Get to the farmers market.  Go to the canyon.  etc etc.

It was simply too easy to just say we would do it next time.  Well, the next time finally happened on a day when the sky was beautiful and the sun was not directly overhead.  It was nice to see the Hanapepe Valley with the depth that shadows can provide.

As we often do, we stayed at the overlook long enough to see many other people come and go.  We watched, amused, while one young woman handed her phone to her boyfriend(?), quickly struck a pose, and then grabbed the phone back to inspect the photo.  Satisfied, she hopped into the vehicle so she could post the picture on social media (I am guessing) and they drove away.

I'm not sure either really looked at the valley. 

Opaeka'a Falls is an easy stop that we usually make when we are on our way back from the Kuilau Ridge Trail.  There is a well-kept parking area with restrooms and plenty of room for the tour buses to stop as well.  We like to pull in when the parking area looks pretty calm so we can hang around for a while and not be overwhelmed by a throng.

Opae are freshwater shrimp and the name Opaeka'a can be translated to something like tumbling or rolling shrimp.  I suppose if I were a freshwater shrimp and I went over these falls, there would be a fair amount of tumbling and rolling going on. 

From a picture-taking perspective, the overlook is nice, but it can often be hard to get the framing, lighting and background to all work together.  But, I keep trying!  And before you think all I do is look at this falls through a camera lens, that would be incorrect.  I stare happily at the falls for a while and then look around at the beauty that surrounds it.  After awhile, I decide I should try taking pictures again.

I point and shoot hoping that maybe the lighting is better this time or perhaps the clouds will clear a bit in the background so you can see those mountains too.  Whatever.  It makes me happy and keeps me paying attention to what the world is saying to me.

There is a lookout point just outside of Lihue that overlooks the Hule'ia (river) and the Great Fishpond of Alakoko.  Many simply refer to it as the Menehune Fishponds.  The work to restore and maintain this area is ongoing and it has been interesting to see some of the changes over time.

Hāʻupu was overlooking this river valley, standing on the far end.  This time around, there was no rain hat, so we weren't terribly concerned about rain.

There really isn't much walking to be done at this location.  The overlook is essentially where you park.  I suppose you could walk down the side of the road for a bit, but that's not as attractive as just standing and appreciating the valley below. 

Maybe someday we'll find the right person(s) to get permission to visit that valley? 

I could say some of the same things for the Hanalei Wetlands.  There is a pull-off from the road and you can get out and enjoy the view of the taro (kalo) fields.  We were able to take note of the large number of water birds that coexisted with this food growing system.  

I am not certain how much I would enjoy growing a crop that loves these kinds of conditions.  My initial reaction is negative, considering how grumpy I get when things are really wet at the Genuine Faux Farm.  On the other hand, this is what kalo (taro) wants.  Often the crops we grow do NOT want this, which explains at least part of my attitude.

We finally stopped at a location we kept telling ourselves we would visit, but never seemed to find the time to do so.  Our first exposure to it years ago was prior to the site undergoing some significant changes.  Pa'ula'ula (also known as the Russian Fort Elizabeth) has undergone both physical and cultural rehabilitation - if I may use that word.  The Hawaiian name and the accompanying story has been placed into a prominent place, just as it should be.  Perhaps I'll spend a future blog on that topic and explain further.

I took a walk into the fort, following the indicated path.  This led to a stairway where I could stand at the highest point looking out to the water.  It was readily apparent why this would be a strategic location.  But my mind didn't rest on that thought as my attention was grabbed by the sunset. 

And there you are, our offerings for a "walk there again" this Wednesday.  I hope you enjoyed it.

Land of the Living

I knew something was there because my eyes were reporting movement in my peripheral vision.  But, by the time I focused on the spot, I saw nothing but a sandy beach.  Happily, I have learned over time that when this occurs I should stop moving and just watch because there was probably something to see.  I just needed to wait a bit.

There were several small holes just above the water line on Pakala Beach, which told me we might have some creatures using them for shelter.  So, I watched for a while and saw these little crabs slowly climbing back out of the holes they had scurried into as I walked by.  And, at about that moment, someone else walked by - and they dived back into their respective holes.

The crab shown above shall heretofore be known as Claude (or Clawed).  Claude was a crab that decided it was okay to go about business even though a human was insisting on pointing a camera in its direction.  Claude is a Pallid Ghost Crab or ohiki (Hawaiian) and its body was just around one inch in diameter - not a very big critter at all!

The eye stalks were actually fun to watch.  Claude would sometimes turn them sideways, and they did NOT have to go in the same direction.  The crab's coloration was very close to the color of the golden colored sand on this beach and I read somewhere that these crabs may have different coloring depending on the color of the sand on which they live.  It's also interesting to note that one claw is significantly bigger than the other.  This appeared to be true for all of the other Ghost Crabs we watched over a period of a few days, though I admit that I did not check to see if the larger claw was always on the same side (right or left).

That sounds like a worthwhile project some day.  Go sit on a beach and make detailed observations about ghost crabs....  Why?  Well, why not?!? 

Claude was not the only critter we found on, or near, Pakala Beach.  We found ourselves a beautiful looking "Shelob" in the bushes not far from the beach.  And for those of you who do not know, we often call orb-weaver or other showy spiders "Shelobs" in reference to Tolkien's great spider in Lord of the Rings. 

This particular Shelob is known as a Hawaiian Garden Spider and she does not look terribly different from some of the orb weavers or garden spiders we have in Iowa.  Perhaps it is a bit more colorful, but the shape and size are quite similar.  The web has a similar stitch mark towards the center and they seem to like the same sorts of locations to set up a web for the day.

In the process of looking up information, I found this great science packet for elementary school aged kids (though I thought it was fun myself).  This particular resource focuses on Nananana (spiders) and it includes some identification information for spiders in Hawaii.

As for the Hawaiian name for spider - once again it is nananana - I really can't think of a better name.  When a spider walks you can almost hear "nananana" in your head.

Not everything we found on Pakala Beach was a happy, and living, organism.  We took note of a very colorful lobster carcass and determined it must have been a type of Spiny Lobster or ula (in Hawaiian).  The exoskeleton was rather colorful, even though the animal was no longer living.  This particular specimen was about a foot long because...

Well, it was about as long as my foot.  There you have it. 

Now for those of you who think I'm being facetious, we have long known that my foot is actually, and in fact, one foot - as in the English unit - long.  So there.

On one of our Mahaulepu walks, we noticed a bunch of little lizards on the rocks and they were kind enough to pose for a photo or two.  They were clearly sunning themselves happily during the early to mid-morning hours - a point in time when the sun was warm, but not too warm.  

After doing some searching, we discovered that these were PROBABLY Mottled Snake-eyed Skinks.   We do have to admit our shortcomings when it comes to determine fine differences.  It turns out there are a whole bunch of snake-eyed skinks in the world.  However, we are saved some of the struggle since that list is smaller for the island of Kauai.

While these critters didn't seem too concerned with us, it was clear they could really get moving if they wanted to.  But, since they were camped next to a popular hiking trail, I suspect they were pretty secure with the fact that the klutzy humans were an unlikely threat on the uneven rocks they preferred to sit on.

We were even able to discover some "wildlife" in human habitat.  The Gold-dust Geckos were loving an orchid shop in Kapa'a town.   These little critters are fairly common on the island and are diurnal in nature. They are not native to Kauai, but there are numerous ways they could have infiltrated the island - including the fact that people like to keep them as pets. 

Clearly, they are not terribly worried about humans either.  They are frequently found in houses and will periodically make little chirping noises to let you know they are around.  One restaurant we visited even left a treat out for a Gold-dust Gecko friend and they would go out of their way to ask patrons if they were okay with sharing a table with a gecko.

We did enjoy watching it eat a cherry, but it did not have an Australian accent, nor did it try to sell us insurance.  I only say that because I know a couple of you were just desperate to ask, and I wanted to help you to have an even better day than you are already having!

There you are!  A chance to learn a few new things and an opportunity for me to share some of the neat critters we met on our excursions on the island of Kauai.

Have a great day everyone - even if you weren't one of the one's curious about the gecko's professional exploits and global accent!

Finding Falls

Tammy and I enjoy the outdoors.  Now, we may not be as "outdoorsy" as many people because we're not fond of roughing it as many people are.  I suspect part of it is because we have had many years on the farm where getting muddy, dirty, sweaty and rain-soaked is/was part of the job description.  You see, we like to take our walks or hikes and then be able to clean up and sleep somewhere a bit less challenging because we don't necessarily want our recreational time to be too similar to work time

And, let's face it, after two major surgeries over the past two years (one each), we weren't going to do a super-challenging hike. Remember,this was supposed to be a positive experience, not an event where we might need emergency services to get out of it.

We do love the beautiful things we can see and observe in the natural world and one of our favorite natural phenomena are waterfalls.  In fact, there is one right in the middle of the picture shown above.

And this is more what you would see with the naked eye, rather than a telephoto lens on a camera.  There had been a fair amount of rainfall in the days just prior to our walk on the Iliau Nature Loop, so this waterfall was even more visible than it might be at drier times of the year.  That means it is entirely possible for people to view this overlook of the Waimea Canyon and fail to see this particular feature.  This is especially true for the vast majority of people who are intent on getting their quick "selfie in front of the spectacular view" and then move on.

Tammy and I do like to take our time and absorb what we are seeing - so of course, we picked out the water fall fairly quickly.

And then fixated on it.  We were both so enamored with the idea that we had found a new (to us) waterfall that we had to learn what we could about it.

Oddly enough, it was actually more difficult than I thought it should have been to identify this particular waterfall.  It's big enough and prominent enough that I figured I shouldn't have had to spend much time looking.  Of course, now that I know what it is, finding more information has become simpler.

The Wai'alae Canyon and Stream joins the Waimea Canyon and Stream and this overlook lines up so you can see deeply into the Wai'alae Canyon and Wai'alae Falls.  I was unable to find an estimate for the drop of the main falls, but based on topographic maps, it looks like about 600, maybe 700, feet.  It's only a guess - but it is a sizable falls.  And it can be pretty amazing, even from a distance when it is full.

For those who would like to see a video of the falls from a helicopter, you can go here for some stock video footage.  

As we stood, admiring the world around us, we actually identified two more waterfalls in the landscape across from us.  Out came the telephoto as I tried to capture "good enough" images that I might be able to blow up and explore further.  Can you see them?

Both falls were to the right (south) of Wai`alae Falls.  One of them is located in the left half of the picture above and is probably more of a cascading series of falls.  The second is on the right half of the screen and is partly obscured by a ridge that stood between us and our vantage point.

Here's the one at the left.  It is, as I said, more of a series of waterfalls.  Or just a river that has vertical challenges it must conquer.  We did some looking at various topographical maps and came up with the Loli River, which has several unnamed waterfalls - at least according to those maps.

I think Tammy and I both saw this one at about the same time.  From a distance, I have to admit that they do not look like much to the naked eye.  It takes a little eye training to recognize the tell-tale silvery-white that indicates to us that there is falling water at that location.  It sure didn't hurt to have some sunshine during this particular waterfall hunt.

The one on the right is a bit harder to see unless you are looking for it.  It is in the middle of the photo shown above.  You can see a cut in the canyon wall that is behind a ridge that obscures much of a our view of the Hihinui Falls.  

While hiking to these locations is unlikely for us at any point in our future, we were still able to explore them by combining our own walk on the Iliau Nature Loop, our willingness to be still and observe, our pictures and the interest in seeking out knowledge about the things we observed.  

In the process of our hunt for information, we located this panoramic photo by someone named Mike.  The same person also shares a photo of Hihinui Falls.   

In any event, Kaua`i provides people like us multiple opportunities to view waterfalls.  Some are made easy to view because overlooks have been constructed to facilitate their viewing.  Others, can only be viewed from a distance unless you are willing to pay to get in a helicopter or perhaps go on a tougher backpacking trip.  The two of us have been fortunate to view several of Kaua`i's waterfalls and to photograph them.  And now, we get to share some of what we learned.

More waterfalls in upcoming weeks on the blog!