Hawaii (The Big Island): March 6-16
Day 8, Driving the Island

The jungle around Akaka Falls

I’d planned to go horseback riding Friday morning, having been awed by the immense pasture land during our drive home from Pololu, but it had been canceled the day before when the other riders canceled for an illness. So with the day free and after two early mornings, Chris and I spent a leisurely morning enjoying the lanai. Having no other plans, we decided it would be a good day to explore more of the island and visit the east side. Late in the morning we took off, with me in the driver’s seat, and soon left Highway 11 for 180, which veers off along the mountainside to meet the saddle road before continuing to Waimea. It turned out to be a beautiful drive, much more scenic and interesting than Highway 19 that it doesn’t quite parallel at sea level. The saddle road was practically brand new, a smooth, clean highway all the way across. I think we passed a wild boar road kill (at least it looked more like a boar than any domestic animal around) which I would have stopped or turned around for if I hadn’t been going quite so fast.

The road steadily gained elevation until the vegetation became sparse and we passed between Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea. There was little to break up the scrubby, scarce vegetation except for a small military base. The descent on the other side was fast and it was fun watching the vegetation change so dramatically. The road narrowed as it passed through the lush jungle outside Hilo and, before I knew it, I was in Hilo itself and had no idea where to go. I went through some very normal looking residential areas on a final descent to the ocean, then took a right where I should have taken a left and drove by a promising looking restaurant on the edge of a pond. Famished, we pulled over at a small waterfront park to turn around, but not before wandering around. Located on one side of the bay, we could look across at the other end of Hilo and what appeared to be single large hotel. Grass grew to the edge of a shoreline of rock broken by many small fingery channels through which the water coursing in and out was mesmerizing. An enormous banyan tree grew nearby. That part of the park was narrow, but lovely. However, we soon retreated down the road to the Ponds Hilo restaurant for boat drinks and lunch. I had the best vegetarian reuben sandwich I’ve ever been served.

From there we drove north following Highway 19 along the coast. We soon began driving through steep sided gorges tangled up with dense, misty vegetation—miniature versions of Pololu, each of them more dramatic than the next. Our first stop was Akaka Falls, located in one of these wild gorges but some drive inland from the coast. We parked on the road outside the park (reducing our fee from $5 to $1 each) and saw a glimpse of the falls over the jungle before we descended the foot path from the parking lot. The trail is a loop, and we opted for the longer route, taking a right as the path sloped down to the bottom of a little gully. A pretty, clear creek flowed over glossy rocks in the shade of what is probably the biggest tree I’ve ever seen. Banyan trees sprout mini banyans all over themselves, which root and grow together in a massive tree system, the trunks of which you can sometimes walk through. As we climbed up the other side of the gully, we had a nice view of a slightly less spectacular waterfall before turning left and climbing a ridge toward Akaka Falls. The sides of the path were ridiculous with growth, a dense maze of roots and ferns and bromeliads and any number of unknown plants. Within this enclosure, a bird taunted me mercilessly with its distinctive calls, sometimes sounding only a few feet away in the impenetrable vegetation. I memorized the call in the hopes of looking it up later, or asking someone, but I couldn’t find bird songs on the only bird app I have that covers Hawai’i, and I never found a naturalist. So, that bird remains a mystery, but whatever it was, it was very abundant in that valley!

A few minutes’ walk up the ridge and the view broke out over Akaka Falls and its gorge. Just as impressive as the waterfall was a huge tree growing from far below that stretched above our heads over the side of the valley, its limbs housing flowering vines (the picture really doesn’t do it justice). As we walked the last stretch of path back to the parking lot, it started to sprinkle. We had a good look at a mongoose crossing the path and making its way up the little creek, and the mystery bird continued to taunt me.

Chris and a gecko	View off our lanai	Driving Highway 11
Highway 180 (the saddle road)	Highway 180 near the saddle	Park in Hilo
Park in Hilo	Creek near Akaka Falls	Gecko on a flower
A waterfall	Me and a banyan tree	I'm sure all this lushness is invasive
Akaka Falls	A tall tree full of vines	I promise there is a mongoos in there somewhere

From there we continued north on Highway 19 until near where the road turns inland toward Waimea. There we followed a myriad of turns winding our way farther and farther up the mountainside toward a stand of native jungle—Napolo Forest. Here, as well as on the shorter route to Akaka, we saw the first agricultural land on the island. Small fields of crops with very ordinary looking homes were populated with sporadic heads of cattle and other livestock. Compared to the pleasant, open farmland, the native jungle was, admittedly, quite dark and gloomy! The trail we were looking for had been created in 1970s to highlight native plant life in one of the few undisturbed forests on the island. It was surprisingly difficult to find, but thankfully my cheat sheet pointed the way through the forest, past some quiet, pretty looking campsites, and to a parking area next to an information kiosk, cabins, and a mess room. Apparently the cabins can be rented and would certainly be a lovely, quiet retreat for a different kind of vacation. We picked up a guide for the nature trail and tentatively made our way across the lawn and into the jungle. Surprisingly, there is no trail across the grass, but it’s easy enough to find once in the woods!

I have to confess that, in terms of interest and beauty, the native forest didn’t compare to the riot of jungle at Akaka. Was this just a different environment, or was much of Akaka’s plant life in fact exotic? It didn’t help that the sky was dumping rain on us the entire time! The guide was quite detailed, with a few paragraphs on several dozen stops that I didn’t absorb much of. I would have benefited from a better understanding of local trees; as it was, we didn’t have enough time allotted to stand in the rain and puzzle out each stop, so I picked up what I could. Whoever wrote that detailed booklet, though, was right up my alley. Sadly, in the decades since it was originally written, invasive plants have significantly gained a foothold in the forest.

At one point we approached the edge of the forest and stepped out into devastation. The adjoining land had apparently been logged and the result was sickening. We’d seen a photo at the kiosk of the forest earlier when the land around it had first been cleared. It was a lonely rectangle of green in swath of destruction in the interest of sugar cane fields. Those pretty farms we’d driven through then took on a more sinister face. We’d driven past other forests that day that I suspected were second growth at the time based on the way the identical trees were growing close together with very little undergrowth; more of what appeared to be second growth trees were on the other side of this area, perhaps also slated for (at least) a second cut. Discouraged, we returned to the wet jungle and more birds that never showed themselves, and finished the loop. I did catch glimpses of one flock of birds, but it was hopeless to find any others in the foliage without a great deal more time and patience. We had the trail to ourselves the entire time, which was a pleasure. The information I’d found online suggested that this forest was a good place for solitude, and they weren’t wrong.

Thoroughly wet and a little muddy, we drove down off the mountainside and back to the highway to curve west, though Waimea, and down Highway 180 back to Kailua. Chris drove this portion and I napped a little. We stopped by the grocery store where Chris picked up a chicken for dinner and another bottle of wine.

Napolo Forest	Napolo Forest	Napolo Forest
Napolo Forest	Napolo Forest	Devastation around Napolo Forest

Parked at Napolo Forest

On to Days 9-10