It's World Turtle Day! Honu, the Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle

It's World Turtle Day! That's nice because last May I paid a visit to the Hawaiian Islands and got these pictures and I've been looking for an excuse to post them somewhere. We saw the Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles (Chelonia mydas) while we toured the North Shore near Waimea. There's a fairly quiet stretch of beach where they like to pull up and rest. They spend the rest of their time feeding on sea grass and algae.

The Hawaiians called the turtle Honu, and it is held in high regard by the islanders. They were important animal spirits but also provided food and tools made from their shells. Their harvesting was carefully controlled by the local chiefs and the kapu system. The collision of Hawaiian culture with Europeans was a disaster in many, many ways, but it was especially bad for the turtles. They were harvested almost to extinction. Their survival was in doubt until they came under the protection of state and federal laws. Today they are a highlight of a visit to the islands

A Look Back at Ten Years of Geotripping: The Hawai'i That Was

This is one of my favorite bits of writing from Geotripper. I didn't actually write it until 2016-17, but I actually sketched it out way back in 2009 while sitting in a Mexican Restaurant in Bakersfield on a 112 degree day. On that day we were in no hurry to leave, so I was reading about the presence of the Gardner Pinnacles, a seven acre island that is the oldest bit of exposed volcanic rock in the Hawaiian Island chain. As I worked my way through a delicious three-entrée plate of tacos and enchiladas, I was imagining how many species of animals and plants might have existed there, including many that would have disappeared along with most of the island itself. My musings ended up as several handwritten pages of text that would eventually become the first post of the series. I lost the pages somewhere within a few days, but I never forgot the desire to write a series of posts on this incredible place. An extended visit and field class in the summer of 2016 finally gave me the inspiration to get the whole project off the ground. Instead of describing the beaches and tourist hotels, I was seeking to understand the ancient Hawai'i, the one that existed before European contact, and the one that existed before Polynesian contact.

This has been a continuing series of my personal celebration of ten years of blogging. The compilation below appeared on May 5, 2017.

Since last summer I've been working on a blog series based on the geology, natural history, and anthropology of the Hawaiian Islands, loosely based on our field studies class last summer. There are a lot of stories told by these isolated islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. I finally reached the (possible) end of the series yesterday, and so today I'm putting together a compilation of the posts (click on the titles to get to each blog).

The Hawai'i That Was: A New Blog Series
This was the opening post that described what I hoped to do with the series. It included a picture of the Gardiner Pinnacles, the last bit of volcanic rock in the Hawaiian chain of islands. This bit of rock is the final remnant of an island that may have rivaled Kaua'i or Maui in size.

The Hawai'i That Was: To know what was we need to know Hawai'i today
I remember that the location and relative size of the islands meant little to me until I actually visited. In this post I laid out the geography of the main islands of the chain.

The Hawai'i That Was: Why Should We Care?
We are often far too ignorant of our dependence on the land and resources, and forget that they can be abused and wasted. All human societies alter the landscapes that they occupy to increase their chances for survival, and some are more successful than others. Hawai'i is a microcosm of the human experience on Earth.

The Hawai'i That Was: The Beginning of All Things, (Ba)salt of the Earth
Hawai'i begins and ends with basalt, the product of the partial melting in the mantle of the Earth. Basalt is the foundation on which the entire story of Hawai'i is written.

The Hawai'i That Was: The Abode of the Gods and Creation at Kilauea
Kilauea is the site of Hawaii's ongoing eruptive active, 33 years and counting. We saw some spectacular spattering when we visited at night. The video is in this post.

The lava lake in Kilauea Iki in 1959. We walked across it last summer

The Hawai'i That Was: Walking a Lake of Fire in "the Little Source of Great Spewing"
In 1959, a huge eruption produced gigantic columns of spewing lava and filled a depression creating a lake of fire. It's still hot today nearly 60 years later. We walked across the abyss.

The Hawai'i That Was: Pu'u O'o, the Volcano We Couldn't See
The present day lava flows at Kilauea originate at a vent called Pu'u O'o a few miles east of the summit. We didn't get to see it on this trip, but I flew right over it in 2009. Here are the pictures!

The Hawai'i That Was: Living on Uncertain Ground - The First Human Wave Arrives
Hawai'i was one of the last uninhabited places on planet Earth. We get a first look at what life was like for the earliest colonizers, and begin to understand how they changed the islands.

The Hawai'i That Was: How Can the Biggest Mountain in the World Stay So Hidden?
It was a bit strange that we were on Mauna Loa, the world's biggest mountain, and barely ever saw it. The weather on the Big Island can be fickle! No worries though, I found a lot of images in the archives.

The Hawai'i That Was: Mauna O Wakea, the Opening to the Heavens, and the Realm of Ice
There is a second gigantic volcano on the Big Island that is taller than Mauna Loa, but of somewhat less bulk. Mauna Kea is considered the realm of the gods, and in a sense modern technology reflects this as some of the world's most powerful observatories on the summit search the Universe for understanding.

The Hawai'i That Was: A Tale of Two Kipukas, and Thoughts on the Rarest Plants in the World
Ever wondered about the world's rarest plant? How about one that existed as a single specimen? That died? Someone preserved just a few seeds, so it may come back (there are about 200 planted in the kipuka today). The role of kipukas in preserving the Hawai'i that was is described in this post.

The Hawai'i That Had Never Been: A Mountain That is Younger Than Me, Mauna Ulu
An exploration of a mountain that didn't exist when I was in grade school, along with another of Hawai'i's fascinating kipukas. Mauna Ulu is a fascinating place to explore.

The Hawai'i That Was: There was a Monster in the Water at Laupahoehoe
The tragedy of the 1946 tsunami at Laupahoehoe, and how it saved hundreds of thousands in the Pacific Ocean later on, but didn't in the Indian Ocean in 2004.

The Hawai'i That Was: Where are the Rivers? Waterfalls on the Big Island
Many parts of the Big Island have no rivers despite near constant rainfall. In other places, there are some really nice waterfalls! We explore some of them in this post.

The Hawai'i That Was: A Veritable Rainbow of Sand (and cute gratuitous sea turtles)
Did you know that there are beaches in Hawai'i that are made of gemstones? Or that beaches range in color from black to white with a whole rainbow in-between? Lets explore a few.

The Hawai'i That Was: Look at the Cute Squirrel! (NOT a squirrel)
You will no doubt see a squirrel-like creature on some the Hawaiian Islands. It's not, it's a mongoose, which is an important control on pests in other lands. In Hawai'i it IS the pest. It's had a devastating affect on the native birds of the islands.

The Hawai'i That Was: Exploring Pololu Valley on an Unstable "Dead" Volcano
The Big Island is not noted for having huge coastal cliffs, but there are some nice ones on the northeast coastline. The origin of the cliff is a notable story as well, that of a gigantic prehistoric landslide.

The Hawai'i That Was: What Happened to the Stones of Pololu? A Look at Pu'ukohala Heiau
This is the story of the Pu'ukohala Heiau, one of the most intriguing archaeological sites in the Hawaiian Islands. It was built by King Kamehameha I prior to his uniting of the islands under single rule. The stones they used to build it came from the other side of the island.

The Hawai'i That Was: Lapakahi, the Kind of Place Where the Rest of Them Lived 
History seems to always be about the kings and presidents. We usually hear little about what life was like for the "commoners". Lapakahi is an archaeological site that protects a commoner's village on the northeast coast of the Big Island.

The Hawai'i That Was: Have We Got Some Real Estate for You! Exploring Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park
Hawai'i has a number of national parks, and one of them seems a strange choice, backed up against a Costo store near Kona. It's a barren lava flow, but treasures are hidden within its boundaries.

The Hawai'i That Was: Pu'uhonua o Honaunau, the Place of Sanctuary That Might Not Be So Safe (Geologically)
Can you ever feel safe? There are different kinds of 'safe' in Hawai'i. A few hundred years ago, small infractions could get you killed, but you could find safety and forgiveness if you could make it to a place like Pu'uhonua o Honaunau. Geologically though? Maybe not so much.

The Hawai'i That Was: Watching the Destruction of the Islands in Real Time
Flying from the Big Island to Kaua'i is like riding a time machine both backwards and forwards. We see the progression of the erosion and subsidence of the islands over the last 5 million years, but we are also seeing the future of the Big Island, five million years into the future.

The Hawai'i That Was: We Arrive on Kaua'i and Find the Beauty of Age
The Big Island and Kaua'i are separated by only a few hundred miles, but they might as well be worlds apart. They are different from each other in many ways. We begin an exploration of the oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands.

The Hawai'i That Was: History and Beauty at Ke'e Beach and the Na Pali Coast.
On the north side of Hawai'i is a spectacular coast of some of the highest beach cliffs in the world, and the remains of a hula school that operated for perhaps 800 years. Not many universities in the world can make such a claim.

The Hawai'i That Was: An Idyllic Paradise on the North Shore of Kaua'i. Sort of.
Hanalei Bay is one of the most beautiful places on planet Earth. But even paradise can be a place of danger. Why are all the houses built on stilts?

The Hawai'i That Was: Hanalei, Where the Waterfalls Seem to Stream From the Clouds
The north side of Kaua'i captures the warm moist tropical trade winds, and collects prodigious amounts of rainfall. The mountains here are the wettest places on Earth, with one spot that gets nearly 500 inches of rain per year.

The Hawai'i That Was: Rising Out of Depression on Kaua'i, and Sleeping Giants
Have you ever wondered where that unique mountain in the opening of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" was located? Actually dozens of movies have been filmed on Kaua'i somewhere. We also climb the Sleeping Giant, a slumbering hero of the native Hawaiians.

The Hawai'i That Was: Into the Last Stand of Wilderness in Kaua'i, the Alaka'i Swamp
We take a hike into the last refuge of many of the native species of the Hawaiian Islands, a high-altitude "swamp" on the Alaka'i Plateau. It is an absolutely unique environment, unlike any on Earth.

The Hawai'i That Was: What the Worst Disaster You Can Think of? The Terror of Na Pali...
The cliffs of the Na Pali is one of the most incredible shorelines in the world, and are stunningly beautiful. On the other hand, they are evidence of one of the most violent of disasters, one that was so intense that it sent waves crashing against the other islands more than a thousand feet high.

The Hawai'i That Was: The Lost Wetlands of the Mana Plain on Kaua'i
A portion of the west coast of Kaua'i exemplifies the conflict between the modern world and the natural environment that existed before. Volunteers are attempting to rebuild some of the wetlands that once existed on the Mana Plain.

The Hawai'i That Was: Waimea Canyon, the View You "Have" to Earn...
Our trip was near an end, and we took one last hike, one that end at the brink of a place so spectacular that it's been called the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific". We learned about the need to "earn" a view.

The Hawai'i That Was: The Final Refuge
For the our final blog in the series (for now at least), we have a look at Waimea Canyon, a deep gorge produced when half the island threatened to collapse and sink into the sea. We end with the realization that the natural environment that once existed in Hawai'i still survives in isolated corners here and there. These are the last refuge for many species, and many of us.

The Hawai'i That Was: A Geological and Anthropological Exploration of the Islands

Since last summer I've been working on a blog series based on the geology, natural history, and anthropology of the Hawaiian Islands, loosely based on our field studies class last summer. There are a lot of stories told by these isolated islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. I finally reached the (possible) end of the series yesterday, and so today I'm putting together a compilation of the posts (click on the titles to get to each blog).

The Hawai'i That Was: A New Blog Series
This was the opening post that described what I hoped to do with the series. It included a picture of the Gardiner Pinnacles, the last bit of volcanic rock in the Hawaiian chain of islands. This bit of rock is the final remnant of an island that may have rivaled Kaua'i or Maui in size.

The Hawai'i That Was: To know what was we need to know Hawai'i today
I remember that the location and relative size of the islands meant little to me until I actually visited. In this post I laid out the geography of the main islands of the chain.

The Hawai'i That Was: Why Should We Care?
We are often far too ignorant of our dependence on the land and resources, and forget that they can be abused and wasted. All human societies alter the landscapes that they occupy to increase their chances for survival, and some are more successful than others. Hawai'i is a microcosm of the human experience on Earth.

The Hawai'i That Was: The Beginning of All Things, (Ba)salt of the Earth
Hawai'i begins and ends with basalt, the product of the partial melting in the mantle of the Earth. Basalt is the foundation on which the entire story of Hawai'i is written.

The Hawai'i That Was: The Abode of the Gods and Creation at Kilauea
Kilauea is the site of Hawaii's ongoing eruptive active, 33 years and counting. We saw some spectacular spattering when we visited at night. The video is in this post.

The lava lake in Kilauea Iki in 1959. We walked across it last summer

The Hawai'i That Was: Walking a Lake of Fire in "the Little Source of Great Spewing"
In 1959, a huge eruption produced gigantic columns of spewing lava and filled a depression creating a lake of fire. It's still hot today nearly 60 years later. We walked across the abyss.

The Hawai'i That Was: Pu'u O'o, the Volcano We Couldn't See
The present day lava flows at Kilauea originate at a vent called Pu'u O'o a few miles east of the summit. We didn't get to see it on this trip, but I flew right over it in 2009. Here are the pictures!

The Hawai'i That Was: Living on Uncertain Ground - The First Human Wave Arrives
Hawai'i was one of the last uninhabited places on planet Earth. We get a first look at what life was like for the earliest colonizers, and begin to understand how they changed the islands.

The Hawai'i That Was: How Can the Biggest Mountain in the World Stay So Hidden?
It was a bit strange that we were on Mauna Loa, the world's biggest mountain, and barely ever saw it. The weather on the Big Island can be fickle! No worries though, I found a lot of images in the archives.

The Hawai'i That Was: Mauna O Wakea, the Opening to the Heavens, and the Realm of Ice
There is a second gigantic volcano on the Big Island that is taller than Mauna Loa, but of somewhat less bulk. Mauna Kea is considered the realm of the gods, and in a sense modern technology reflects this as some of the world's most powerful observatories on the summit search the Universe for understanding.

The Hawai'i That Was: A Tale of Two Kipukas, and Thoughts on the Rarest Plants in the World
Ever wondered about the world's rarest plant? How about one that existed as a single specimen? That died? Someone preserved just a few seeds, so it may come back (there are about 200 planted in the kipuka today). The role of kipukas in preserving the Hawai'i that was is described in this post.

The Hawai'i That Had Never Been: A Mountain That is Younger Than Me, Mauna Ulu
An exploration of a mountain that didn't exist when I was in grade school, along with another of Hawai'i's fascinating kipukas. Mauna Ulu is a fascinating place to explore.

The Hawai'i That Was: There was a Monster in the Water at Laupahoehoe
The tragedy of the 1946 tsunami at Laupahoehoe, and how it saved hundreds of thousands in the Pacific Ocean later on, but didn't in the Indian Ocean in 2004.

The Hawai'i That Was: Where are the Rivers? Waterfalls on the Big Island
Many parts of the Big Island have no rivers despite near constant rainfall. In other places, there are some really nice waterfalls! We explore some of them in this post.

The Hawai'i That Was: A Veritable Rainbow of Sand (and cute gratuitous sea turtles)
Did you know that there are beaches in Hawai'i that are made of gemstones? Or that beaches range in color from black to white with a whole rainbow in-between? Lets explore a few.

The Hawai'i That Was: Look at the Cute Squirrel! (NOT a squirrel)
You will no doubt see a squirrel-like creature on some the Hawaiian Islands. It's not, it's a mongoose, which is an important control on pests in other lands. In Hawai'i it IS the pest. It's had a devastating affect on the native birds of the islands.

The Hawai'i That Was: Exploring Pololu Valley on an Unstable "Dead" Volcano
The Big Island is not noted for having huge coastal cliffs, but there are some nice ones on the northeast coastline. The origin of the cliff is a notable story as well, that of a gigantic prehistoric landslide.

The Hawai'i That Was: What Happened to the Stones of Pololu? A Look at Pu'ukohala Heiau
This is the story of the Pu'ukohala Heiau, one of the most intriguing archaeological sites in the Hawaiian Islands. It was built by King Kamehameha I prior to his uniting of the islands under single rule. The stones they used to build it came from the other side of the island.

The Hawai'i That Was: Lapakahi, the Kind of Place Where the Rest of Them Lived 
History seems to always be about the kings and presidents. We usually hear little about what life was like for the "commoners". Lapakahi is an archaeological site that protects a commoner's village on the northeast coast of the Big Island.

The Hawai'i That Was: Have We Got Some Real Estate for You! Exploring Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park
Hawai'i has a number of national parks, and one of them seems a strange choice, backed up against a Costo store near Kona. It's a barren lava flow, but treasures are hidden within its boundaries.

The Hawai'i That Was: Pu'uhonua o Honaunau, the Place of Sanctuary That Might Not Be So Safe (Geologically)
Can you ever feel safe? There are different kinds of 'safe' in Hawai'i. A few hundred years ago, small infractions could get you killed, but you could find safety and forgiveness if you could make it to a place like Pu'uhonua o Honaunau. Geologically though? Maybe not so much.

The Hawai'i That Was: Watching the Destruction of the Islands in Real Time
Flying from the Big Island to Kaua'i is like riding a time machine both backwards and forwards. We see the progression of the erosion and subsidence of the islands over the last 5 million years, but we are also seeing the future of the Big Island, five million years into the future.

The Hawai'i That Was: We Arrive on Kaua'i and Find the Beauty of Age
The Big Island and Kaua'i are separated by only a few hundred miles, but they might as well be worlds apart. They are different from each other in many ways. We begin an exploration of the oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands.

The Hawai'i That Was: History and Beauty at Ke'e Beach and the Na Pali Coast.
On the north side of Hawai'i is a spectacular coast of some of the highest beach cliffs in the world, and the remains of a hula school that operated for perhaps 800 years. Not many universities in the world can make such a claim.

The Hawai'i That Was: An Idyllic Paradise on the North Shore of Kaua'i. Sort of.
Hanalei Bay is one of the most beautiful places on planet Earth. But even paradise can be a place of danger. Why are all the houses built on stilts?

The Hawai'i That Was: Hanalei, Where the Waterfalls Seem to Stream From the Clouds
The north side of Kaua'i captures the warm moist tropical trade winds, and collects prodigious amounts of rainfall. The mountains here are the wettest places on Earth, with one spot that gets nearly 500 inches of rain per year.

The Hawai'i That Was: Rising Out of Depression on Kaua'i, and Sleeping Giants
Have you ever wondered where that unique mountain in the opening of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" was located? Actually dozens of movies have been filmed on Kaua'i somewhere. We also climb the Sleeping Giant, a slumbering hero of the native Hawaiians.

The Hawai'i That Was: Into the Last Stand of Wilderness in Kaua'i, the Alaka'i Swamp
We take a hike into the last refuge of many of the native species of the Hawaiian Islands, a high-altitude "swamp" on the Alaka'i Plateau. It is an absolutely unique environment, unlike any on Earth.

The Hawai'i That Was: What the Worst Disaster You Can Think of? The Terror of Na Pali...
The cliffs of the Na Pali is one of the most incredible shorelines in the world, and are stunningly beautiful. On the other hand, they are evidence of one of the most violent of disasters, one that was so intense that it sent waves crashing against the other islands more than a thousand feet high.

The Hawai'i That Was: The Lost Wetlands of the Mana Plain on Kaua'i
A portion of the west coast of Kaua'i exemplifies the conflict between the modern world and the natural environment that existed before. Volunteers are attempting to rebuild some of the wetlands that once existed on the Mana Plain.

The Hawai'i That Was: Waimea Canyon, the View You "Have" to Earn...
Our trip was near an end, and we took one last hike, one that end at the brink of a place so spectacular that it's been called the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific". We learned about the need to "earn" a view.

The Hawai'i That Was: The Final Refuge
For the our final blog in the series (for now at least), we have a look at Waimea Canyon, a deep gorge produced when half the island threatened to collapse and sink into the sea. We end with the realization that the natural environment that once existed in Hawai'i still survives in isolated corners here and there. These are the last refuge for many species, and many of us.

The Hawai'i That Was: To know what was we need to know Hawai'i today

Na Mokupuni O Hawaii Nei-Kalama 1837 (Source: http://imagesofoldhawaii.com/simon-peter-kalama/)

To understand the Hawai'i that was, we need to know the Hawai'i that is. There can be a bit of confusion among travelers who haven't done their research before buying tickets. I've heard plenty of stories of people who land in Honolulu and wonder where the flowing lava is at, and others who land in Hilo or Kona who look around for Diamond Head and the big high-rise hotels. So here are some vital statistics!

I haven't been to Kahoʻolawe, but I've been over it.

There are eight main islands, and quite a few minor islands. Of the big eight, Kahoʻolawe is the smallest at 44 square miles. It lies in the rain shadow of Maui, so it is barren and presently uninhabited. Despite the dryness, several hundred archaeological sites are known, so people have lived there in the past. It was used for years as a bombing and military testing range, but in the 1980s efforts began to return the island to a natural state.

Niihau from the western side of Kaua'i

The next largest (and westernmost) island is Ni'ihau, the Forbidden Isle. With an area of 70 square miles, it has a small population of about 170 people, mostly Native Hawaiians, maintaining a largely traditional lifestyle. The island is owned by a single family, the Robinsons. I've only seen the island from a distance.

Lana'i from above, the only way I've seen it.

Lana'i is the next largest island at 140 square miles. It is also inhabited, with just over 3,000 people. Strangely enough, 98% of the island is owned by a single man, Larry Ellison of Oracle. In the past, almost the entire island was given over to pineapple production. Today, tourism is taking center stage.

The immense coastal cliffs on the north coast of Moloka'i. It's another island I've only seen from above.

Moloka'i clocks in with 260 square miles, and a population of more than 7,000 people. It is a linear island with seacliffs that are the highest in the world. The western half of the island is largely barren from overgrazing, but the eastern part is lush, with a high altitude rainforest that preserves many endemic species of plants and animals.

Waimea Canyon, the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific", on the island of Kaua'i.

Kaua'i may be one of the most beautiful islands in the world, in my totally unbiased opinion. It has an area of 553 square miles, including the rainiest place in the world at Mt. Wai'ale'ale (~430 inches/year). The population of 67,000 is supported mostly by tourism, although agriculture is still important. Geologically, it is the oldest of the eight main islands. During our recent journey we spent four days on the island.

Diamond Head and Waikiki from the airport

Oahu is the third largest island at 597 square miles. Two-thirds of the population of Hawai'i lives on the tiny bit of land, nearly a million people. Almost everything that people "know" about the state of Hawai'i is found here: the sparkling sands, Diamond Head, Honolulu, Waikiki, Hawaii 5-0, Magnum P.I., and the North Shore surfing beaches. There's just not a lot of the Hawai'i that was.

The giant volcano Haleakala on the island of Maui.

Maui is the second largest island at 727 square miles. It has the third largest population at about 150,000 people. It's known for tourism, especially around the old whaling community of Lahaina. Sugar cane is still being grown on parts of the island (but only through the end of the year). To the geologist, the island is all about Haleakala, the gigantic shield volcano that dominates the east end of Maui. It's more than 10,000 feet high, and erupted as recently as 1790.

Then there is the Big Island. And it really is...big. At 4,027 square miles, it is larger than all the other Hawaiian Islands combined. It has a staggering number of unique ecological environments, ranging from tropical coral reefs to alpine peaks. One can literally drive to the summit of the highest peak, Mauna Kea, fill a truck with ice, and then have a snowball fight on a sunny beach.  It's also the land of active volcanoes. Kilauea has been in continuous eruption for more than 30 years, and Mauna Loa has had numerous historic eruptions. Mauna Loa is the highest mountain on the planet when measured from the ocean floor. The single mountain makes of half of the entire island. There are four other giant volcanoes making up the island. The 185,000 residents are employed primarily in the tourist trade and agriculture. On our recent trip, we spent 10 days exploring as much of the island as we could in the limited time we had. There was much more to see.

Bathymetric map of the Hawaiian Islands. Present day land is in gray and historic lava flows in red. Source: http://soundwaves.usgs.gov/2006/01/bathyLG.jpg

And that is our brief introduction to the Hawaiian Islands as they are today. In future posts we are going to explore what remains of the Hawai'i that existed in the past. Are we straight now on the island names? There will, after all, be a quiz! Oh wait, I need to get out of professor mode...

Dispatches from the Road (the one I wish I was still on): The Nu'uanu Pali and a bit of Hawaiian History

It's been a few weeks since I was enjoying a visit to the Hawaiian Islands, and school has begun in earnest, but I had a few more dispatches that I hoped to complete before academic matters overwhelm me. We've visited Pillbox Hill, stepped over molten lava, searched for native bird species, found invasive species, and explored two kipukas on the Big Island. We explored one other trail, the Old Highway on the Nu'uanu Pali near Highway 61 where it passes through the Ko'olau Range between Honolulu and Kailua. It's a place of mysterious stories and tragic history.

There's a movie and TV trope called the Fallacy of the Climbing Villain. In a chase scene, the person being chased has a choice of going downstairs or upstairs. They invariably choose to go up, which invariably leads to them to being trapped or plunging down to their deaths. It's a sign of weak scriptwriting skills most of the time. On the other hand, there are moments in real life when one has no choice. In the first years following European contact with the inhabitants of the Hawaiian Islands a momentous event was unfolding. For the first time in Hawaiian history the islands were being united under one king, Kamehameha I. This unification was not a voluntary exercise; the kings and chiefs on the various islands were not willing parties to the idea, and a series of violent invasions were needed to subdue each of the main islands (with the exception of Kaua'i. The king of Kaua'i got smart and acquiesced after seeing what happened to everyone else).

On Oahu in 1795, things weren't going well for Kalanikūpule and his army. Kamehameha drove Kalanikūpule's soldiers up the Nu'uanu valley, and they soon found themselves trapped between the forces of the invader king and the 1,000 foot Nu'uanu Pali. A few tried to climb down, but more than 300 were driven over the edge, plunging to their deaths (hundreds of skulls were found at the base of the cliff during road construction in 1898). The remaining forces surrendered and the invasion of Oahu was complete.
Plenty of other stories abound about mysterious beings around the Pali. There are tales of the goddess Pele (we heard one of them from our waitress at a restaurant in Kona) appearing as a woman hitchhiker. To this day, travelers on the highway carry gifts for the gods as they drive over the pass.

In 1959, tunnels were bored through the cliffs to build a modern thoroughfare, and the old narrow Pali Highway was abandoned to the elements. It serves today as a trail that provides spectacular views of the Pali cliffs and the lowlands of the ancient Ko'olau caldera that now is covered by the towns of Kailua and Kane'ohe. It's a wonderful stroll that provides a better view of the cliffs than the heavily visited Pali Overlook. It also turns out to be a pretty neat spot for birdwatching.

The Pali cliffs formed in part because of one of the giant landslides that have originated on the different Hawaiian islands, landslides that carried debris for dozens of miles out to sea, and caused massive tsunamis not seen or experienced in human history. I discussed one of these incredible events in this post.

Dispatches from the Road: Exploring the Ko'olau Caldera

I've always been partial to the Hawaiian Islands that aren't Oahu. I suppose I'm just being snobbish in a geologic way because I feel a visit to the islands is just wasted if all you see is Diamond Head and Waikiki (which is what a great many tourists do). If you want to see a city, well, there are lots of cities all over the world. But there are only a few good-sized Hawaiian Islands. And the scenery on Kaua'i or the Big Island has always seemed to outdo Oahu, to me at least.

But then again, I fool myself into discounting the treasure beneath my feet. The other day I watched the sun rise from Kaiwa Ridge on the Windward coast of Oahu, and had a geological awakening at the same time. The hike is short, just 4/10ths of a mile, but the climb is 600 feet, and I was seriously huffing and puffing most of the way up the small mountain ridge.
My destination was the "Pillbox", a machine-gun emplacement built during World War II. When Pearl Harbor was attacked on Dec. 7, 1941, it was actually the northeast shore near Kailua that was hit first. The concrete structures were soon constructed to defend against a feared Japanese invasion that luckily never came. As I struggled up the steep trail, I found myself imagining the poor Army grunts who had to haul ammunition up these hills.
The view from the top was astounding. I could see the most of the Ko'olau Range, which forms the steep cliffs that surround Kailua and Kane'ohe, as far as Kane'ohe Bay. Hidden in the rocks of these impressive 2,000 foot cliffs was an incredibly violent story that probably affected the entire Pacific Ocean basin.
2.7 million years ago, the Ko'olau volcano was a massive shield complex, much like Mauna Loa or Kilauea today on the Big Island. To the south, the volcano was buttressed against Oahu's other volcano, but to the north there was only deep ocean. A huge caldera, about eight miles long and four miles wide formed the volcanoe's summit. Around two million years ago, the north flank of the volcano destabilized and slipped into the sea, forming an underwater landslide of apocalyptic proportions. The huge mass, called the Nu'unau Slide, flowed underwater for a distance of 120 miles. A single chunk in the mass is eighteen miles long and a mile thick. A slide this large almost surely produced a super-sized tsunami that would have caused serious damage across the Pacific Rim. Needless to say, we wouldn't want it to happen today. Such waves have landed chunks of coral more than a thousand feet above sea level on the islands.
Kaiwa Ridge, the one I hiked the other morning, is made up of dikes and altered basalts of the caldera. The steep cliff in the distance, the Ko'olau Mountains, is the rim of the massive landslide that wreaked havoc across the Pacific. It is on the eroded remnants of this geologic catastrophe that the peaceful village of Kailua is built.

Now this is what I call a vacation!