Hilo and ʻAkaka Falls

Writing 2012.03.08.0820 Marriot Waikoloa Beach Resort

After spending some time in the morning catching up on the journal and Jonathan transferring his camera shots to the laptop, we drove off to Hilo at about 1030.

This graphic - taken from Wikipedia: Wikimeda Commons - comes from the US Geologic Survey, those folks we love to dial up when the earth starts to move here in California.

The point being that Hawaiʻi (and all the other islands in the chain) are made of volcanoes, in this case, five of them: Kohala the oldest, and Kilauea the youngest (not counting Lōʻihi as it hasn't reached sea level yet).

It’s rather redundant to say the geography of Hawaiʻi is defined by volcanoes, given the origin of the islands, but while driving, one is always travelling between and around them. These mountains are described as shield volcanoes for the broad expansiveness unlike conical stratovolcanoes (e.g. Mt. Shasta in California, Osorno in Chile). For driving, this rise is gentle enough that the roads don’t need much in the way of switchbacks, so it can be surprising how much rise and drop one covers driving these routes.

We drove to Hilo on Route 19, the Hawaiʻi Belt Road on the north side of the island (between Kohala and Mauna Kea). The landscape started sparse and dry and got progressively greener and wetter as we drove east.

We arrived in Hilo at 1230, parked the car and went looking for lunch – settling in at Café Pesto on the main drag facing the waterfront. After a pleasant lunch (caramelized onion soup, turkey and spinach sandwich made with real turkey – dark meat!), we wandered through the Hilo Farmers Market. I picked up some homemade refrigerator magnets made by a ceramicist specializing in tile. We also ended up visiting the Pacific Tsunami Museum which has a number of interesting displays – Hilo has been devastated twice in the 1900’s by tsunamis.

Heading back to Waikaloa, we stopped at the Akaka Falls State Park. Both Jonathan and I took numerous photographs of the vegetation and stream. Jonathan commented that he could spend several more hours there with his camera.

Click on the images for a larger view

The sign with its namesake visible in background.

The park was a very lush site.

This is the last I saw Jonathan for about 30 minutes.

Etlingera elatior – Torch Ginger.

Etlingera elatior – Torch Ginger.

Etlingera elatior – Torch Ginger.

Etlingera elatior – Torch Ginger.

Bamboo, heavy on the filters (I liked the result so I'm posting it).

A large banyan.

One of a multitude of fern carpet shots I took.

The moss bearding the bamboo at the joint.

One of my favorite shots, no idea what the vine is.

Azalea - refugee from someone's garden.

Kahuna Falls.

A very close up of a fern.

A close up of a fern.

Koster's Curse (Clidemia hirta) classified as a noxious weed.

Ardisia elliptica, Inkberry from Sri Lanka.

Mr. Lubin resurfaces.

Monstera
Monstera deliciosa.

Red ginger (Alpinia purpurata) - where's MaryAnn?

Close up of red ginger.

First sight of ʻAkaka Falls.

ʻAkaka Falls.

Plunge pool at the bottom of the falls.

Jonathan fiddling…
…with his camera.

Musa acuminata - Banana.

Sanchezia nobilis – from Equador.

Sanchezia nobilis.

Not sure what this is, perhaps Helliconia?

ʻOhe (Bamboo).

A couple short clips of the falls

From various park signage:
The 0.4-mile loop trail provides a closer viewing of ʻAkaka Falls, the highest free-falling waterfall in Hawaiʻi. From the top of the gulch, Kolekole Stream drops straight down 442 feet (135 meters) to the pool below. ʻAkaka Falls is twice the height of the more famous Niagara Falls.

Along the trail you can see Kahuna Falls, a cascading falls that drops 300 feet (100 meters) into Kolekole Stream. Kahuna Falls is about 0.3 miles downstream of ʻAkaka Falls and is best viewed from the lookout off the trail.

Free-falling vs. Cascading: Kolekole Stream has cut a deep narrow gorge into the basalt and ash of Mauna Kea making it an ideal site for waterfalls. The waterfalls in this section of Kolekole Stream offer a good comparison of the two main types of falls. As a free-falling waterfall, the water of ʻAkaka drops from the cliff edge to the plunge pool below as one continuous flow. Kahuna Falls and Uluhi Falls, both downstream of ʻAkaka Falls are cascading waterfalls. They drop down a series of pools before merging with Kolekole Stream.

Listen for the thundering sounds as the water crashes into the pool below. Look for rainbows as the sun strikes the misty water spray

Ua ka ua, kahe ka wai.
The rain rains, the water flows.

With a straight fall of 442 feet, ʻAkaka Falls is twice the height of Niagara Falls located at the border of New York and Ontario, Canada. However, Niagara Falls is greater in width and has a higher volume of water.

Angel Falls in Venezuela is the highest free-falling waterfall in the world. Water falls a distance of 3,212 feet over a steep face of basalt rock to the pool below.

The highest waterfall in the United States and one of the highest in the world is Waihīlau Falls on the island of Hawaiʻi. This waterfall drops 2,600 feet to the floor of Waimanu Valley, past Waipiʻo Valley at the northern end of the Hāmākua Coast.

We decided that as a result of the luau being held at the resort (every Wednesday and Saturday), we would eat Italian at the Macaroni Grill just up the road from the resort. After we finished, we walked back to the resort where the luau was still in full-throat – easily and loudly heard from the lobby. As Jonathan said, it would have been unbearably loud seated in the luau itself.