Another Questionable Eclipse

Last week, there was a partial eclipse of the sun, "visible" from Kona. It was with some trepidation that I set out, since the "total" eclipse of the sun in 1991 was also "visible" from the Big Island. The 1991 eclipse was on my birthday. That part was nice. We had visitors from Oahu and we looked anxiously at the pre-dawn sky to see where there were clouds and where there weren't. It was cloudy at our house so we took off, heading north to the Kekaha wai 'ole desert. We had with us a pinhole box to look at the projected image of the sun. We stopped out at the 1800 (Puhia a Pele) pahoehoe flow that the airport is built on top of. It was clear. The eclipse started and the sky was clear and it was eerie out on the lava. The light was dimming. About 10 minutes before totality, clouds came in and stayed until the eclipse was over. At the moment of totality we could see the ring, dimly through the thinner parts of the clouds. But totality was awe-inspiring: the ring of the 360 degree horizon was pink all the way around, as though the sun was rising on every side.

So anyway I drove down to OTEC hoping to photograph a sunset with a crescent taken out of it. When the sun descended to about 10 degrees above the horizon, it went behind a bank of high clouds, far, far out. So much for the eclipse/sunset photo. Deja vu.

Kului is a small to medium shrub with pale green leaves and paler green fuzzy flowers. In the goat-proofed area, Ka'upulehu. 

Lama tree near sunset, Ka'u pulehu, in the goat proof fenced area across from the big rock pile on the upper road. 

Yellow Lehua (Ohia flowers) growing amid pahoehoe and a'a flows, about mid way between Pu'uwa'awa'a and the scenic lookout on the upper road between Kona and Waimea. 

Pu'uwa'awa'a (Hill with furrows). A source of obsidian. The oldest feature on Hualalai. From behind the hill spasmed out the 900 ft.-thick[!] Puuanahulu Flow. The forest here has been cleared for cattle operations. Note how lush and green the immediate vicinity of Pu'uwa'awa'a is. The surrounding areas are arid. 

Pu'uwa'aa'a, as seen from Queen Kaahumanu Highway. Home to a Hawaiian dryland forest, one of the most endangered forests on earth. 

Koa at the ridge of a small cinder cone at about the 4500-5000' level on Hualalalai.

Kauila Korner

Today's hike was just south of last week's site, about a mile north of the scenic lookout on the upper road to Waimea. There's little access road and a gate with a "Hualalai Ranch Private Property" sign. The lama forest is full of kauila trees, lots of them. There were also the occasional 'iliahi, halapepe, and ala'a trees, but I really wanted to see the kauila.

Off the road, the terrain is my arch-enemy, a'a lava with fountain grass (because the thick fountain grass obscures the holes and other hazards). Last week, on similar terrain, I fell, which inevitably leads to scrapes, on a'a. But there was no other way to see the trees close up. Cutting across country I came upon a herd of goats, which I had heard (and smelled) before I saw them. The leader was a big Billy goat with a shockingly white rear end. The rest of his body was chocolate brown, like the other goats.

In addition to the many live kauila trees, there were quite a few dead ones, graceful grey skeletons reaching up to the blue sky. Near the end of the hike I came upon a possible clue why. I came up behind (downwind) of a small group of cattle. They were taking it easy in the shade of a grove of trees. When they saw me, the cows noisily stomped away. Since I was more or less following cow trails (since I could see my footing) I passed where the cows had been. In addition to the fresh cow pies, I notice that one of the trees was a kauila, with only a few leaves scattered in its crown. At the base, the bark had been gnawed off up to about three feet above the ground. I'm no botanist, but I'm pretty sure that's a way to kill a tree.

I got a few photos that I'll post later. I also got bloody knees from the nasty thorned lantana that's everywhere under the trees, making it impossible (with assistance from fountain grass, rats, cows, and goats) for the native trees to reproduce. These little pockets of native forest are doomed, I tell you. Doomed. Check back for more cheery posts!