Visiting Waipio?

[Durian Fiend]

On too the original purpose of the topic:  My 75 year old brother is visiting soon and had Waipio on his bucket list.  We did locate a tour guide that can take him down into the valley for $75.  A bargain as far as he is concerned.  As for myself,  I have been there several times and intend to not add my footprints there again.  Let it be.

Not bad.  Where does the tour commence?

The discussion of biking got me wondering if E-bikes have been used.  Maybe walk them down, or have them driven down, then bike up.  Sounds like something a tour company would dream up, although possibly a bit too risky.

[MyManao]

I was interested in seeing the size of threes in the upper lands between the gorges.  Never been timbered..

I do not know many details of Muliwai's (the name of the track of land between Waipio and Waimanu) biological history.. but if being sandwiched between two areas of extensive cultural and agricultural history, and in some instances some of the best preserved examples of the systems employed pre-contact.. 

http://www.ulumaupuanui.org/uploads/1/8/...awaiʻi.pdf

I suspect that the land was domesticated in times past. Of course without modern means of conveyance logging the timber in contemporary times is out of the question, still I'm of the impression very little land in the makai side of the island went unimpacted by the Hawaiians.

And still, I too have sought out tracks of native forest to appreciate..

If you're looking for the biggest.. the oldest.. the best example I have encountered.. and one that does not fail to blow the first time visitor's mind.. is the track of Ohia/Fern forest that the hunter's trail that starts from the very end of Wright Rd. (state highway 148, which starts as a main road in Volcano) goes through. It's actually Amaumau Rd out that far, but commonly folks call it Wright Rd. There the Ohia are literally 4 and 5 feet in diameter, and the Tree Ferns are more than 2 feet in diameter and 10 - 20 feet tall. It's simply mind boggling. It's a reasonable to rough trail, it's in a rainforest, but not forbidding, and is readily accessible right from the end of the paved road..

[Chas]

How far a hike from the end of the paved road is it?

[MyManao]

How far a hike from the end of the paved road is it?

10 feet.. maybe 100 feet until you’ve lost all sense of anything but omg is this real?

Keep in mind, the stands of Ohia/Tree Fern in Puna, even when we say to ourselves that it’s only so far developed because the lava itself is only so old, is actually, in most instances, second growth after the initial logging of Puna 100 years ago.

The track I am pointing out is part of Pu‘u Maka‘ala Natural Area Reserve. It’s extensive, and surrounds, cups actually, the National Park’s portion of the Olaa Forest Reserve as well as reaching over to Kulani. And the ground, having no pre-contact history of note, is barely touched since it was first emplaced. The current understanding is the Pahala Ash, which is the most recent volcanic deposit that was thick enough to destroy whatever was there before, is over 30,000 years old. This is Hawaii as it would be before it was touched by the hands of man.

Here’s a page dedicated to telling its story..

http://hawaiianforest.com/wp/puu-makaala...ainforest/

And here's mention of the National Park's acquisition of the Olaa Track.. at the end of the page.. 

https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_b...ol5-2l.htm

Which says about it..

The Upper Olaa Forest Reserve includes the most priceless and outstanding virgin forest to be found anywhere in the Hawaiian Archipelago, outdoing by far the forest values already contained in the park.

There are other points of access to the area, but just to take a walk on a well defined trail and within minutes be able to appreciate what lies at the heart of this expansive and little appreciated part of the island the end on Wright road is pretty cool.