Monday, March 06, 2006
NaPali Coast and Waimea Canyon: March 4
Today we found sunshine and enjoyed a series of rewarding adventures. We arose before dawn and, feeling no rain, drove to Port Allen, a small town about 30 minutes west of Poipu, where we boarded a double-hulled 50-foot catamarin for a trip to the NaPali coast of Kauai. This boat had a single mast, two massive propellers in the rear, a semi-covered cabin, and a canvas “trampoline” in front of the cabin. We spent the 7-hour journey sitting on padded benches or standing on the hard deck or on the two walkways that extended forward on either side of the trampoline. Runoff from recent heavy rains, along with extremely powerful surf, eliminated any possibility of snorkeling, but the captain promised great views and lots of wildlife. We rode very tall swells all day, and the boat rose and fell in a nearly regular rhythm, rising high on each wave and then pitching forward into its trough. Sometimes these motions were so strong that people sitting on the trampoline were lifted into the air and inundated by waves breaking over our bow; at other times anyone on the front half of the boat was showered by spray. The sea was covered with whitecaps and we could see the waves crashing against the cliffs at the shore, but no one became seasick and a general joie de vivre prevailed.
We saw many, many humpback whales, which visit Hawaii each winter to mate and give birth. At times we were surrounded by so many whales it was difficult to decide which way to look. Many of the whales were lifting their flippers into the air, and we saw many instances of breaching, in which the whales projected almost their entire bodies out of the water and fell back with enormous splashes. We’d seen this behavior before during whale-watching trips off of Cape Cod, but never by so many individual whales. The whales were often accompanied by bottlenose dolphins, some of which accompanied our boat. In one area we encountered a school of small “spinner” dolphins, which leap from the water, spinning about and falling back on their sides. We also saw numerous large green sea turtles, swimming slowly and sometimes lifting their heads to look at us. At times we saw petrels skittering over the water and on several occasions a large black and white seabird soared low over the waves at some distance from the boat. Due to the pitching and rolling of the boat, I was never able to fix my binoculars on one of these birds, so I couldn’t confirm a crew member’s claim that that were “albatrosses” or whether they were shearwaters. We motored northward past “barking sands” beach, now a military missle test-site, and on to the NaPali Coast, a region of spectacular fluted cliffs that plunge almost vertically to the sea below. There is no road access to this dramatic coastline, so the only way to see it is by boat or helicopter. It’s impossible to describe the magnificence of this coastline, so I’ve attached some image files to this posting. Kauai is the oldest of the main Hawaiian islands, and it has eroded the most, creating both Waimea Canyon and these coastal pali. As we approached the north end of the NaPali (and the windward north shore), rain began to fall and the captain swung the boat around lifted the main sail upward, turning off the engines. For nearly an hour we sailed quietly southward, again spying whales, dolphins and green sea turtles. We disembarked about 2 pm.
After this trip, Lynn discovered an exhibition of hula dancing and other Polynesian dancing by a troup of pre-teen girls. This we watched with great interest.
We decided to drive up to Waimea Canyon and Koke’e State Park. Just before the mile 6 marker on the canyon road we stopped to watch a pu-o (Hawaiian short-eared owl) as it hunted in an old sugar cane field. It’s an atypical owl – a daytime hunter – and it hunts like a northern harrier, hovering over the ground in one position, searching for prey. This species is also a totemic Hawaiian creature and one of only two endemic Hawaiian raptors.
Today, unlike yesterday, the skies were blue and the scenic overlooks yielded spectacular, clear views of the canyon and its many waterfalls. At one of these overlooks we met Jim and Dorie, a delightful couple from Philadelphia who are staying at the resort next to ours. Jim, a molecular biologist on the faculty at Penn who enjoys photography, took our picture. (Does our neice Alexandra, a first year grad student in molecular biology at Penn, know this gentleman?) He grew up near Lynn’s hometown of Oreland, PA, and still lives nearby. After a lengthy and enjoyable conversation with this couple, Lynn and I drove on into Koke’e State Park, past the NASA geophysical observatory and the Air National Guard missile-tracking station, to the Kalalau Overlook at the end of the road. It had rained steadily yesterday when we visited this spot. Today we were able to look down the steep pali’i into the ocean. Then, as we began our walk down the one-mile path to the Pihea Trail, the rains began. This time we kept our raingear on and walked with another couple we met on the trail, a couple of retired school teachers from suburban Washington, DC, who have retired to the Lakes District of western Maine. We enjoyed their company on this two-mile hike, but we failed to see any of the elusive i’iw. The ohia woods were dominated by two honeycreepers, the bright red apapene and the yellow akeke’e, but the rain intensified and we were unable to do much birding. At the end of the paved road we found the sign for the Pihea Trail, which leads into the Alakai Wilderness, fabled home of the last o’o. We also saw a sign for Mount Wailaleale, wettest spot on earth. Wailaleale, the eroded summit of Kauai’s volcano, receives over 34 feet of rain annually. It is almost never visible, as it is almost always covered by clouds and falling rain.
Tomorrow we’ll drive to the north shore of Kauai, weather permitting, and visit the national wildlife refuge at Kilaeau Point and the mythic land of Hanalee.
We saw many, many humpback whales, which visit Hawaii each winter to mate and give birth. At times we were surrounded by so many whales it was difficult to decide which way to look. Many of the whales were lifting their flippers into the air, and we saw many instances of breaching, in which the whales projected almost their entire bodies out of the water and fell back with enormous splashes. We’d seen this behavior before during whale-watching trips off of Cape Cod, but never by so many individual whales. The whales were often accompanied by bottlenose dolphins, some of which accompanied our boat. In one area we encountered a school of small “spinner” dolphins, which leap from the water, spinning about and falling back on their sides. We also saw numerous large green sea turtles, swimming slowly and sometimes lifting their heads to look at us. At times we saw petrels skittering over the water and on several occasions a large black and white seabird soared low over the waves at some distance from the boat. Due to the pitching and rolling of the boat, I was never able to fix my binoculars on one of these birds, so I couldn’t confirm a crew member’s claim that that were “albatrosses” or whether they were shearwaters. We motored northward past “barking sands” beach, now a military missle test-site, and on to the NaPali Coast, a region of spectacular fluted cliffs that plunge almost vertically to the sea below. There is no road access to this dramatic coastline, so the only way to see it is by boat or helicopter. It’s impossible to describe the magnificence of this coastline, so I’ve attached some image files to this posting. Kauai is the oldest of the main Hawaiian islands, and it has eroded the most, creating both Waimea Canyon and these coastal pali. As we approached the north end of the NaPali (and the windward north shore), rain began to fall and the captain swung the boat around lifted the main sail upward, turning off the engines. For nearly an hour we sailed quietly southward, again spying whales, dolphins and green sea turtles. We disembarked about 2 pm.
After this trip, Lynn discovered an exhibition of hula dancing and other Polynesian dancing by a troup of pre-teen girls. This we watched with great interest.
We decided to drive up to Waimea Canyon and Koke’e State Park. Just before the mile 6 marker on the canyon road we stopped to watch a pu-o (Hawaiian short-eared owl) as it hunted in an old sugar cane field. It’s an atypical owl – a daytime hunter – and it hunts like a northern harrier, hovering over the ground in one position, searching for prey. This species is also a totemic Hawaiian creature and one of only two endemic Hawaiian raptors.
Today, unlike yesterday, the skies were blue and the scenic overlooks yielded spectacular, clear views of the canyon and its many waterfalls. At one of these overlooks we met Jim and Dorie, a delightful couple from Philadelphia who are staying at the resort next to ours. Jim, a molecular biologist on the faculty at Penn who enjoys photography, took our picture. (Does our neice Alexandra, a first year grad student in molecular biology at Penn, know this gentleman?) He grew up near Lynn’s hometown of Oreland, PA, and still lives nearby. After a lengthy and enjoyable conversation with this couple, Lynn and I drove on into Koke’e State Park, past the NASA geophysical observatory and the Air National Guard missile-tracking station, to the Kalalau Overlook at the end of the road. It had rained steadily yesterday when we visited this spot. Today we were able to look down the steep pali’i into the ocean. Then, as we began our walk down the one-mile path to the Pihea Trail, the rains began. This time we kept our raingear on and walked with another couple we met on the trail, a couple of retired school teachers from suburban Washington, DC, who have retired to the Lakes District of western Maine. We enjoyed their company on this two-mile hike, but we failed to see any of the elusive i’iw. The ohia woods were dominated by two honeycreepers, the bright red apapene and the yellow akeke’e, but the rain intensified and we were unable to do much birding. At the end of the paved road we found the sign for the Pihea Trail, which leads into the Alakai Wilderness, fabled home of the last o’o. We also saw a sign for Mount Wailaleale, wettest spot on earth. Wailaleale, the eroded summit of Kauai’s volcano, receives over 34 feet of rain annually. It is almost never visible, as it is almost always covered by clouds and falling rain.
Tomorrow we’ll drive to the north shore of Kauai, weather permitting, and visit the national wildlife refuge at Kilaeau Point and the mythic land of Hanalee.
# posted by Ken @ 1:14 AM 
