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?