Doomed Landscapes and a teensy bit about donkeys

Today I parked on the NELHA road and walked south for half an hour, then back. It was 11:00 a.m. so the pahoehoe was really hot: a good workout. I decided to walk there because there was a sign proclaiming the future home of another deep sea water bottling plant and our old friend the red plastic fencing showing the area to be bulldozed. Just south of the NELHA properties is O'oma, possibly the soon-to-be site of the infamous Clifto's development. So really, I walked on two landscapes whose time is about up. The lava is about 2,000 years old. The vegetation is sparse, mainly fountain grass but with some native plants, like maiapilo.

Walking on pahoehoe is always interesting. The liquid forms rise and fall, there are ridges and holes, and sections of nasty a'a, but I've found that there's almost always a way through, if you look hard enough. I saw what looked like donkey tracks, big chips on the lava (goats make smaller chips) and I've been told that there was a herd of donkeys in this area south to Honokohau, years ago (before the highway, the harbor and the airport) so they could be. I know I said no more about donkeys, but just when I think I'm out, they pull me back in.

Reviewing my posts, I see I've talked about doomed donkeys and doomed landscapes. I've got to walk somewhere that's not about to be destroyed soon. I promise.