Back to Maui, and our December trip to Hawaii (wow-that long ago?) The West Maui mountains are older than Haleakalā, and consequently more eroded. Hawaiian volcanoes tend to reach their largest extent as massive dome-shaped mountains that have a somewhat symmetrical appearance (as Mauna Loa looks today). Once the eruption rate of the volcano slows down, erosion starts to work: rainfall creates streams, and eventually these streams create deep valleys. This is the stage the West Maui volcano is in.
ʻĪao Valley is a picturesque spot deep within the West Maui mountains. It’s a popular tourist attraction, but also has historical significance. The highlight, for most people, is probably ʻĪao Needle, a rock formation at the end of an eroded ridge.
'Iao Needle
ʻĪao Valley contained important agricultural agricultural and religious sites for Native Hawaiians. ʻĪao Stream watered many kalo lo’i (taro fields) and supported a large population. ʻĪao Needle itself was a sacred site, as it represented the phallus of Kanaloa, the god of the sea and the underworld. It does seem like a reasonable association.
Another view of the valley.
Hawaiian culture is frequently presented as lu’aus, surfing, and beautiful women dancing, and other historical cultural elements are frequently glossed over. ʻĪao Valley, for example, was the site of a huge battle in 1790, between the invading forces of Kamehameha (who would go on to conquer all the Hawaiian Islands) and the defending Maui chief Kalanikūpule. So many were killed that the stream was dammed up by bodies, and the remaining water ran red with blood.
Today, ʻĪao Valley contains a state park, and the stream is only likely to be dammed by a wall of tourists. Aside from Kanaloa’s phallus (which is, appropriately, the most prominent sight), there is now a botanical garden with many ethnobotanical specimens, as well historical markers about the Native Hawaiians and later immigrant groups.
Perhaps it’s a bit of a comedown for the valley to go from a sacred site and royal burial area to a well-groomed historical park. But that diminishing of magnitude (both sacred grandeur and terrible deeds) is something that we see in many places in Hawaii.
Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological State Park. …If that isn’t a mouthful of a park name, I don’t know what is. Located on Windley Key (no surprise there) in the Florida Keys, this park has some interesting things to see.
We visited this park in the spring of 2010, on a trip through the Keys. Unfortunately we didn’t take any photos 🙁 so the ones here are from the park website.
Windley Key quarry (FL state Parks)
The central feature of this park is a rock quarry which provided stone for the Keys Overseas Railroad, and was used until the 1960s. The “fossil reef” part of the title comes from the limestone rock, formed by fossilized coral. There are two big quarries in the park, and you can walk along the walls looking at fossilized shells and coral, finding some neat stuff. One of the highlights was a huge fossil brain coral. Pretty cool.
Fossil coral in limestone. The vertical lines were made by machinery. (FL State Parks)
On the day we stopped at the park it was hot. We got there after the visitor’s center had closed early for some reason, but fortunately the hiking trail (and water fountain) was open. There are a few connected trails you can take- you can circumnavigate the quarry walls, and also make your way through the tropical hardwood hammock- for about a mile and a half of walking. There are a number of markers describing different plant species along the route- plants here are quite different from those around Orlando, so many of these species were new to us. The shade in the hammock was a welcome relief from the blazing sun.
Hardwood hammock. Yay, shade! (FL State Parks)
Windley Key Park is a listed stop on the Great Florida Birding Trail, and the possible combination of White-crowned pigeons (a big dark pigeon with a white ‘scalp’) and fossils was just too interesting to pass up. I was really excited to see a few of the pigeons there- they’re pretty rare, and found in the US only in the Keys. Little did I know they would be flying overhead all the time in Key West… But they were a new species for me at this point. One of the main reasons they’re threatened in the Keys is that they need both mangrove forest and hardwood hammock (a drier type of forest) to eat and nest in- both of these types of forest are disappearing in Florida as development continues in coastal areas.
White-crowned pigeon (Great FL Birding Trail)
Other than the pigeons, we saw magnificent frigatebirds, mourning doves, northern mockingbirds, common grackles, a great crested flycatcher, and a mangrove cuckoo (also a first for me!). Given the heat of the day, it’s not a very impressive list, but seeing two new species, plus some cool fossils, was pretty nifty.
This (mostly) good news update comes from Florida Audubon. Apparently, state budget cuts will be directed in a way that does not mean closing the 53 parks previously targeted for closure.
However, that doesn’t mean there won’t be massive cuts to funds for managing public lands. There’s a massive budget shortfall to make up for, and the governor and legislature want to cut corporate property taxes on top of that (FL noes not have a personal income tax, so property taxes essentially fund state government). So that means big cuts to schools, social services, land management, environmental protection, etc.
With that in mind, I’ll try to keep posting about the Florida parks on that closure list, if only to get the word out that they’re there to visit. Here’s a soothing photo of Lignumvitae Key Botanical State Park, which I haven’t been to: it’s in the Keys, and you need a boat to get to it. Maybe something to combine with the ever-elusive spring birding in the Dry Tortugas trip some year…
Estero Bay Preserve State Park is one of 53 Florida State Parks proposed for closure in order to overcome budget shortfalls this year. This is one of very few Florida state parks centered on an aquatic area- in this case, Estero Bay, located just south of the massive sprawl of Cape Coral/Fort Myers in Southwest Florida. This part of the state is one of the current foreclosure capitals of the nation; abandoned homes and half-planned developments now blight the landscape here. Estero Bay Preserve is one of a handful of protected areas in the region.
Map of Estero Bay (FL Parks)
I’ve never been into the hiking trails of the preserve, which run through a variety of habitats and provide homes to venerable gopher tortoises, delicate orchids, powerful bald eagles, and many other species. I’ve also never gone kayaking among the sheltering mangrove islands, sturdy oyster reefs, and prehistoric Native American shell middens of the bay. However, I have been birding along the protected shoreline.
Sunset over Estero Scrub (Photo: FL Parks)
In December of 2007, we went for a walk along the beach at Estero Bay. As I recall, the tide was pretty low, so the exposed mudflats and sand were attracting a wide array of bird life despite the beach’s popularity with people. There were no doubt munching manatees and frolicking dolphins in the area, as well as a bunch of other species that we just didn’t see. For example, we saw a bunch of these critters hanging around in the shallow water- I think it’s a sea cucumber, but maybe someone else will be able to I.D. it:
Sea cucumber?
As we walked along the mudflats and through the shallow water, we watched out for stingrays and broken shells. I found a dying man-o-war (which we stayed a respectful distance away from) and Yan found several living sand dollars (which we left to do their thing).
My eBird list for the day records that I saw 21 species. Nothing too rare, given the type of habitat, but a fair variety of species: wood storks soaring overhead, Wilson’s plovers dashing on the sand, reddish egrets dancing for fish, short-billed dowitchers poking for worms, and so on. If we’d visited in the early morning, before the arrival of swimmers, there probably would have been many more birds to see. There were a fair number of fishermen, as well as swimmers:
Little blue heron & snowy egret watching the fishermen.
This estuary is a rich habitat for many different species, and provides a wealth of recreational opportunities for local residents and visitors alike. I’d assume that “closing” this park would mean closing the interpretive parts of the park, the kayak rentals, and access to trails, while keeping the aquatic areas open for boating and fishing. Unfortunately, this would deprive visitors of the context by which to understand the history and ecology of the area. It will still be a rich natural resource, but our understanding of it will be shallower. And just that much poorer.
In an effort to cut the massively-in-the-red state budget, the Florida legislature has ordered state agencies to target their programs for a 15% across the board spending cut. For the Department of Environmental Protection, the agency tasked with…well, protecting the environment, this has resulted in a proposal to close 53 state parks.
Allen David Broussard Catfish Creek Preserve may be closed (photo: DEP).
As the link above suggests, while these parks tend to be smaller and less-visited (parks with camping facilities are absolutely swamped with visitors pretty much all rear round- no pun really intended but hard to avoid), they’re often the economic engines for poor, rural communities. They are also places where Florida residents-many of them recent immigrants into the state-and visitors can learn about the unique history and ecology of the state. Many of the parks proposed for closure contain lesser-known archeological sites, or threatened and endangered species. Without maintenance, these sites could easily be overrun by weedy invasive species or perhaps looted for artifacts (a definite possibility, in the challenging economy).
Florida Audubon is organizing a Facebook campaign to get park users to share their stories about the parks which are proposed to be closed. I’ll also write about my experiences at some of them on this blog. Meanwhile, here’s a list of the parks:
Allen David Broussard Catfish Creek Preserve State Park, Haines City
Atlantic Ridge Preserve State Park, Stuart
Big Shoals State Park, White Springs
Bulow Plantation Ruins Historic State Park, Flagler Beach
Camp Helen State Park, Panama City Beach
Cedar Key State Museum State Park, Cedar Key
Colt Creek State Park, Lakeland
Constitution Convention Museum State Park, Port St. Joe
Crystal River Archaeological State Park, Crystal River
Dade Battlefield Historic State Park, Bushnell
Dagny Johsnon Key Largo Hammock Botanical State Park, Key Largo
Deer Lake State Park, Santa Rosa Beach
Devil’s Millhopper Geological State Park, Gainesville
Don Pedro Island State Park, Boca Granda
Dudley Farm Historic State Park, Newberry
Dunn’s Creek State Park, Pomona
Estero Bay Preserve State Park, Estero
Fort Cooper State Park, Inverness
Fort George Island Cultural State Park, Jacksonville
Fort Mose Historic State Park, St. Augustine
John Gorrie Museum State Park, Apalachicola
Judah P. Benjamin Confederate Memorial at Gamble Plantation Historic State Park, Ellenton
Lake Jackson Mounds Archaeological State Park, Tallahassee
Lake June-in-Winter Scrub State Park, Sebring
Lake Talquin State Park, Tallahassee
Letchworth-Love Mounds Archaeological State Park, Tallahassee
Lignumvitae Key Botanical State Park, Islamorada
Madison Blue Spring State Park, Lee
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Historic State Park, Cross Creek
Natural Bridge Battlefield Historic State Park, Woodville
Olustee Battlefield Historic State Park, Olustee
Orman House Historic State Park, Apalachicola
Paynes Creek Historic State Park, Bowling Green
Peacock Springs State Park, Luraville
Perdido Key State Park, Pensacola
Ponce de Leon Springs State Park, Ponce de Leon
Pumpkin Hill Creek Preserve State Park, Jacksonville
Rock Springs Run State Reserve, Sorrento
San Felasco Hammock Preserve State Park, Alachua
San Marcos de Apalache Historic State Park, St. Marks
Savannas Preserve State Park, Jensen Beach
St. Lucie Inlet Preserve State Park, Stuart
St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, Fellsmere
Suwannee River Wilderness Trail/Nature and Heritage Tourism Center, White Springs
Terra Ceia Preserve State Park, Palmetto
The Barnacle Historic State Park, Coconut Grove
Troy Spring State Park, Branford
Wacasassa Bay Preserve State Park, Cedar Key
Washington Oaks Gardens State Park, Palm Coast
Werner-Boyce Salt Springs State Park, Port Richey
Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological State Park, Islamorada
'Alauahio (image from Maui Forest Bird Recovery Project)
One of the reasons we went to Maui on our recent trip back to Hawai’i was to look for endemic birds. There are three species in particular on Haleakalā that I really wanted to see, and hadn’t seen before: the Maui ‘Alauahio (or Maui Creeper), ‘Akohekohe (or Crested Honeycreeper), and Maui Parrotbill (recently given the Hawaiian name of Kiwikiu). All three species are endangered, the latter two critically (there are perhaps 3,800 ‘Akohekohe and 500 Parrotbills remaining). The Maui Forest Bird Recovery Project has a lot of info on these birds and their conservation.
'Akohekohe (image from USGS/Wikipedia)
While the ‘Alauhio is fairly easy to see within Haleakalā National Park (at the Hosmer Grove campground), the other two species have a more restricted range. The best way to see these birds is to go on a hike into the Nature Conservancy’s Waikamoi Preserve, which is located just downslope of the north side of the park. Three of us went on this hike: myself, my husband Yan, and my cousin David. Surprisingly, no one else had signed up for the hike- this one is only offered once a month.
Maui Parrotbill (image from Maui Forest Bird Recovery Project)
TNC offers guided hikes into the preserve in two locations: we opted to go on the Boardwalk hike, as we’d heard there was more of a chance of seeing ‘Akohekohe on this route (Parrotbills are much harder to find). The hike starts at about 6,800 ft, and descends about 1,000 feet. We’d been warned about cold and rain (it does descend into cloud forest), but the weather was pretty great. Given that the day after our hike a big storm system swept through and it poured all day in this area, we were pretty lucky.
After scrubbing our boots to remove any alien plant seeds, we climbed through the gate to the Preserve. While the forest is managed to keep feral goats and pigs out, we thought this warning sign at the entrance might be overstating the hunting frequency by a wee bit:
At upper elevations, the forest is a mix of alien species introduced to combat erosion caused by feral goats and cattle. These included various pines and redwood trees, which you can see in the background of this photo- what you see in the foreground are ‘Ohi’a lehua trees, one of the dominant native species in Hawaiian forests.:
Upper Waikamoi Preserve.
Throughout this area, you can hear the calls and whirring wings of the native honeycreepers: mainly ‘I’iwi, ‘Apapane, ‘Amakihi and ‘Alauahio at this elevation. It was definitely very cool! These birds are mostly restricted to high-elevation forest without mosquitoes, which carry avian malaria- a big reason they’re threatened. Some are nectar-feeders (the big poofy flowers of the ‘Ohi’a are a favorite) while others eat insects or seeds. It was interesting to see that they were able to use the alien parts of the forest for shelter, if not for food- I wasn’t expecting that.
Ohia lehua blossoms (image by P. Fukunaga, USGS)
Once we got into the relatively pristine cloud forest, we saw a huge diversity of native plants- sadly, my native plant ID skills have eroded and I couldn’t identify many of them. The trail here goes on a boardwalk path that’s effectively a very long set of stairs. The ground here was covered with moss and ferns- an indication of the high level of rainfall. The boardwalk keeps damage to the forest floor at a minimum and provides solid footing. It was pretty damp.
And, right as we got to the cloud forest, we saw four ‘Akohekohe! It was pretty cool- our guide, Michelle, was talking about the birds and the forest, and discussing how rare they were and how uncommon it was to see them. And then one-two-three-four: they landed on a tree behind her. Excellent timing.
At the bottom of the boardwalk, there’s a platform and a seating area. On the rare non-cloudy days, there’s probably a great view from here to the ocean. We hung out here for maybe an hour, looking for birds and just listening to the total absence of human noise. Birds, insects, the wind in the trees: that is all you hear in this spot.
David, going back up the stairs.
Then it came time to go back up the trail. We knew that the rain front was rolling in- it was getting mistier and rain was starting to fall. It didn’t get completely foggy until we got back up to the top, though. The weather was excellent, overall. We never did see any Parrotbills, but that was a very slim chance anyway. I think the ‘Akohekohe is probably the most endangered bird species I’ve seen. And we saw several of them, with their cute little feathery crests.
I’d been a bit worried about hiking at this elevation, after living at sea level for so long, but it wasn’t a problem. It probably helped that we’d been at the summit for a few hours beforehand, so the 5,000-ft drop to the trailhead made us breathe much easier.
Overall, we got to spend several hours immersed in the sights, sounds, and scents of one of the most unique forests on the planet. This was truly a wonderful experience, and definitely made the trip to Maui worth it all by itself.
What lives in a Hawaiian alpine desert at 10,000 feet?
Here’s one species: the Haleakalā Silversword- `Ahinahina in Hawaiian.
Silversword in bloom, by Karl Magnacca (Wikipedia).
Descended from the lowly tarweed, these majestic plants have fuzzy, pointed leaves that gather tiny drops of dew in the rare high-elevation mists.
Dewdrops on silver.
Each rosette of leaves grows for many years, then flowers, sending a single spike of flowers high into the air. If pollinated, they release seeds, then die. These plants only have one chance at vegetative glory, so they make the most of it.
While rain is rare in Haleakalā, it’s more likely in winter (snow is even more uncommon). Silversword leaves resist freezing, so this cold moisture is welcome.
View into Haleakala under clouds.
High clouds turn the sun silver, and add iridescent light to the experience of Haleakalā. Do misty days mean happy Silverswords?
On our recent trip to Hawai’i, we spent one weekend on Maui. Maui’s never been my favorite island: it lacks the overall grandeur of Hawai’i, the cultural activities of Oahu, or the general quirkiness of Kaua’i. It does have these things in at least patches, though. And if you’re into hanging out at beach resorts, Maui may be a great place to visit for you. It’s also well-represented in the areas of entitled yuppies, crappy traffic, somehow-creepy mountains, and flat industrial agriculture vistas of sugarcane.
All that aside, we did have a good time there. We mainly concentrated our visit on Haleakalā, the eastern and younger of the two volcanic mountains that make up the island. Note the macron over the last ‘a’ in Haleakalā- that last syllable is what’s supposed to be accented.
Haleakalā is an enormous mountain: over 10,000 feet tall from the ocean surface (with another 20,000 feet or so to its base- one of several Hawaiian volcanoes that are technically taller than Mt. Everest!), containing 7,200 cubic miles of rock (USGS). Technically, the mountain itself is called ‘East Maui volcano’; it’s the valley at the top that’s called Haleakalā (meaning ‘house of the sun’). The sun does spend a lot of time up here: the summit is above the usual cloud line.
Haleakalā crater from the mountain summit, Pu`u `Ula`ula (Red Hill).
While the current valley is at the original site of the volcanic caldera, it’s not technically a ‘crater’- it’s an erosion-cut valley that later filled up with cinders from fresh eruptions. This is where the impressive landscape of red and gray cinder cones comes from.
The valley itself is several miles across, and over 2,500 feet deep!
The weather up here can be brutal: zero shade, nasty wind, and bitterly cold. But the views are awesome (in the true sense of the word). Here’s Hawai’i Island, off to the southeast (or at least the tops of 4 of its mountains):
Mauna Kea, Kohala, Mauna Loa, and Hualalai from the summit.
Did you see the snow on top of Mauna Kea? Pretty nifty.
And here’s a view west across the isthmus (and all that sugarcane) to the West Maui Mts., Lana’i, and Molokai in the background (though it’s hard to see what’s the West Maui summit and what’s Molokai):
View of the West Maui Mts., with Lanai to the left. Molokai's in the back, but hard to make out.
We didn’t do any real hiking up near the summit, but did do some down below the treeline -both warmer and easier to breathe down there :). More on that later, though…
The north-west tip of O’ahu is Ka’ena Point. This, the tip of the Wai’anae Mountains, is the one part of the island that’s not reachable by (paved) roads. There used to be both a dirt road and a railroad out here (the railroad for sugarcane transport). Now, the railroad has been removed and the road is extremely non-maintained.
You can actually drive along the non-maintained part of the road for a ways, from either side- fishermen do it. But with a rental car, you probably don’t want to risk it. This car, which apparently broke down at some point, has been out near the end of the road for a few years- every time we go back it’s just a bit more degraded. Last year, for example, the seats were still in decent shape.
Guess someone stripped it, then abandoned it...
A few miles toward the point from either side, the remaining road is fenced off. The reason is that this is one of the last non-developed coastal sites on O’ahu, because of its remoteness. It’s home to several species of threatened plant, and also serves as nesting ground for native seabirds: Laysan albatrosses and Wedge-tailed shearwaters, as well as a pupping spot for endangered Hawaiian Monk seals. The fence is intended to keep predators from slaughtering these ground-nesting birds.
A few dozen nest here each winter.
I think Laysan albatrosses are one of the more sophisticated-looking birds: isn’t that contrast between white head, slaty body, and subtly shaded eye mask cool?
Photo: Jlfutari at wikipedia.com
Back in the day, I did an internship with the Fish & Wildlife Service on Kaua’i. One of the things I got to do was help band Laysan albatrosses. These are the smallest albatross species, but still have a wingspan that’s up to two meters in length. More importantly for banding, those beaks are razor-sharp; we learned how to get around them pretty quickly! Despite their size, they don’t weigh much, and I strongly remember thinking that they smelled like feather pillows (unlike the Red-footed boobies, who would regurgitate half-digested fish onto you when approached- gross).
At any rate, Ka’ena Point is one of the last places on the main Hawaiian Islands where these beauties nest, at the end of the Wai’anaes.
Albatrosses nest on the ground; shearwaters dig burrows.
The day we went out, it was both hot (“Ka’ena” means “the hot”) and the surf was up. We didn’t see any Monk seals, but that just meant that we could go cool our heels in the tidepools.
All in all, this is a good hike on a winter day- there’s pretty much no shade, so it’s nice when it’s a bit cloudy. It can also be pretty breezy out at the point. While it’s generally quite dry, we’d just had rain and there were a lot of mud puddles on the road. It was pretty easy to get around them, though. Take water and a snack, and be prepared to just sit at the point for a while and watch the waves and the albatrosses coming in to land.
Just mauka (mountainward) of urban Honolulu is a ~19.6 mile system of trails in the Ko`olau Mountains: the Honolulu Mauka Trail System. This system includes the Judd Trail, which I talked about in a previous post. While the Judd Trail is in Nu’uanu Valley, most of this trail system is on the south side of the crest of the Ko’olau range. It’s probably the best-maintained trail system on Oahu, and one of my favorite places to hike.
The map above is centered on the area where the trail system is: the area marked “Honolulu Watershed Forest Reserve” is in the back of Manoa Valley (there are trails all along the ridge lines on all three sides), the central area marked “Makiki-Lower Punchbowl-Tantalus” contains several trails, and then Nu’uanu Valley (which Hwy 61 runs through) has a few trails on the east side. Downtown Honolulu is in the lower left, and Waikiki is just off the map to the lower right.
One of the hikes I’ve done a few times is the Pu’u ‘Ohi’a Trail, which goes to the top of one of the high points in this part of the range, called Pu’u ‘Ohi’a (‘Ohi’a Tree Hill), or more popularly, Tantalus. The summit is about 2,000 feet; the trailhead starts at about 1400 (?) feet. It’s a bit of a climb. Part of the trail goes through bamboo forest, which is a bit eerie- the bamboo (which is invasive) blocks out a lot of light.
Escaped cockatoos live in upper Manoa Valley.
We actually went a bit onto the Manoa Cliffs Trail, which as you might guess from the name, goes along the cliffside above Manoa Valley. I have to say that Manoa is the prettiest valley on Oahu. Others may disagree, of course 🙂
After our quick view of Manoa Valley, we took the Kalawahine Trail, which hugs the western side of Pu’u ‘Ohi’a. The narrow valley on this side is Pauoa Valley. From this side, you get a great view of Nu’uanu valley to the north, and can see across the Ko’olau Mountains to Kailua.
Upper Nu'uanu Valley, with Kailua off in the distance.
Further south along the Kalawahine Trail, you get a great view of downtown Honolulu and Pearl Harbor off to the west, along with the Wai’anae Range (which you can’t see in this photo).
Downtown Honolulu.
The Kalawahine Trail is really botanically interesting: there are actually quite a few native species here. Part of the forest here is fenced (to exclude mainly pigs) and is intended to be a native tree snail preserve. Tree snails were very diverse in Hawaii before human settlement; now habitat loss, collecting, and an invasive predatory snail have made most of the species extinct. A few species are hanging on in remote mountain refuges. Native forest birds are often sighted here, but we didn’t see any this time. There are also quite a few native plants, including a stand of hibiscus trees that were blooming.
This is also a great trail to look at ferns: there are quite a few different species here (both native and introduced). This was a fun place to botanize when I was in college.
For scale, this boulder is about a meter in height.
The Honolulu Mauka trail system has some pretty diverse terrain, vegetation, and views. It’s also pretty accessible from either downtown or Waikiki. You can access it either by car (though parking is limited & the area is sometimes prone to break-ins) or by bus. It’s definitely one of the unique things about living in Honolulu…
