Koko crater pano

Koko crater pano
best view of the island

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Lanipo!!

OMG i totally died on this one! It was soo hot and i havent hiked in 3 weeks (just hitting gym) so i had zero energy!! I made it total  6 miles and i was dragging my butt each step!

ill post up the hiking shots later, for a change i took pictures of all the plants i saw (yeah , im strange)

no idea what this one is..

Ohia flowers

Ohia flower w/out all the petals

dainty fern

this fern was out in full force and made me glad i had long pants on.

Tiny flower, not many on this trail tho.

No idea...


Really shiny leaves

Tiny flower, tuff to shoot cuz of the wind.

Looked neat, pretty small tho.

Grows on trees


Unknown orchid


Fern but not too many of these on this trail

Really small, grows on trees

really strong leaves

a weed but looked kewl.

this is a tree trunk, super rough. Id hate to try climb it.

tiny flowers, neat that 2 diff colors on same plant.

Pretty purple flowers, not many blooming today.

Lotsa these, no idea.. wonder if taste good? j/k


If u like cherry guava's (think thats what called) there were tons!!

Really thick leaves!

Saw just one of these growing



Orchid right at start of trail..

Friday, September 24, 2010

Tantalus/Makiki hike

Finally went to a hike i havent gone in ages, the tantalus/makiki trails. OMG there are soo many trails that all snake off in every direction. I was going to try do the hike in the book thats about 8 miles long....



These are the many trail marker signs that i passed on my hike!!



This is the start of the trail. Got a nice parking lot right before these signs. Make sure u park here and dont drive up farther along the road. I think u need a permit or something.


There are a lot of information signs and even a map to help u try to figure out where on earth u are at! I had terrible time trying to read that map... too many lines on it!!


Its a very nicely made trail, with wooden steps to help u up the hills, gravel lined trails so u dont slip, and even a few bridges!

Great place for a picture or two!


Awesome spots to take more pictures! The trail follows this stream for a while. U can hear the running water while u walk along under the shade...

I thought this was really pretty! Its like a cave made out of hanging leaves. U walk in a tunnel formed by all those hanging plants and when u are inside, the sun lights up the "walls"!!

To help u NOT get lost, there are a zillion signs to help u with your progress! But, trying to figure out where u are on that map while looking at the signs is a challenge!! Guess id better sign up for "reading maps 101"!

Another bridge!! It was a great day for a hike cuz there were no mosquitoes!! Even with all the running water i didnt get a single bite!! Even the mud was in check! it rained a few days ago but the trail was pretty dry.

A nice long walk up some steps.. these things always kill me... Bet it was a ton of working placing them tho..

I finally made it to the first switchback!! lol  So far this hike is really easy.. great place to bring kids or old people!! Funny thing is I saw soo many older Korean couples hiking this trail..

Bambooooooo..... The bamboo forest wasnt as big as the upper trails so was a nice change of scenery.

Whew.. to get to this part u have to cross the street so watch out for cars! j/k there were almost no cars on the road. I didnt see the trail start but there was a helpful guy who told me which direction to go.. head right!!

U even get to see some sunlight finally!! Most of the trail is under the tree cover so u dont get sunburns like u do on ridge trails. There were many unusual plants along the way too.

I was like "HUH?", whats a fence doing in the middle of the forest? When i read the sign, its to keep the pigs OUT!! they are ripping up all the plants and doing major damage so unless they learn how to open a door (just push it), they hopefully wont get in.

Amazing trail, they even have these huge signs with the maps so u dont get lost! and i got lost anyhow haha I was trying to find my way to the nuuanu lookout and i followed the trail on that map and went in a big circle and ended back at this sign... But, by now i was too tired to try find it and decided to limp my way back to my car..

There was a sign telling all about the Hawaiian snails. I took a peek around and found a few, but boy are they small.

There were soooo many ginger plants along this part of the trail. sure made it smell nice!!

Scary sign, scarier part was i came from the other direction and saw all the huge rocks along the trail !!

I was at the circle on this map and the trail said go straight and ill be back at my car (near the nature center). I followed it and .. the trail got thinner and thinner till it disappeared. I was squeezing my way thru a ton of cherry guava trees till i couldnt get any further.. had to bushwhack my way back to the trail lol

Right at the start of the "fake" trail there was this creepy looking "house" that looks like it belongs in blair witch or texas chainsaw !! i didnt bother to try explore it ...

Overall, a great hike but the mileage sure added up!! I think i hiked over 10 miles and never found the area i was trying to get to..My book and my maps didnt help.. i should have used my gps to mark the location yeah? maybe next time..i have to soak my tired feet in some warm water  ... j/k

But with all the pretty scenery and views, id do this again... maybe not...