Notes 99.03.20

Drive from Entrance of HVNP down Ka'u and up to Kona

• Checkpoint: park entrance
  • 0.6: 3-layer forest: 10m ohi'a, hapu'u, uluhe
  • 0.7: ferns mostly gone, much less hapu'u, uluhe patchy
  • 1.3: less uluhe
  • 1.5: crest
  • 2.3: ohi'a more spaced apart, with brown grass
  • 2.8: koa on R
  • 3.2: koa on R again
  • 3.3: no koa
  • 3.7: ohi'a 6 m, scattered, ground more rocky, shrubs < 1 m
  • 4.8: poles on R
  • highway here is wide, with paved margins
  • 5.3: more visible a'a, ohi'a more scattered
  • 6.1: 3500' sign
  • 6.6: very large rocks in a'a, ohi'a every ~20 m
  • 8.6: no change
  • 10.0: 3000' sign
  • 10.8: Nene Xing sign
  • 11.3: leaving HVNP
  • 11.8: larger ohi'a, 9 m, some silk oak & other trees
  • 12.7: fence on both sides
  • 13.4: pahoehoe, same veg., but denser
  • 13.7: 2500' sign
  • 15.9: poles on R
  • 16.9: lots of yellow-green trees, presumably silk oak, dominant
  • 17.3: 200' sign
  • 17.8: large medium-green round 12 m trees along road (sumac family?)
  • 20.3: 1500' sign
  • 20.7: dry savannah
  • 21.0: vegetation now thick and green
  • 21.5: macnut on R
  • 21.7: bridge
  • 22.2: macnuts on R are giant, dark underneath
  • 22.4: 1000' sign
  • 22.8: macnut ends, green savannah on R
  • 22.3: macnut on L, rez. on R
• 24.1: Checkpoint, Maile St. on R
  • 0.25: 500' sign
  • 0.4: bridge
  • 0.7: large mushroom-shapes trees on grasslan, both sides
  • 1.2: bridge, koa haole planted occasionally on roadside
  • 2.0: road on R, macnut on R
  • 2.3: macnut stops
  • 2.9: tons of koa haole on both sides, 7 m
  • 3.8: rangeland on L, koa haole on R
  • 5.4: stopped, took pictures of pu'u to R
  • 6.0: koa haole & other small trees to 5 m, occasional mushroom-shaped trees
  • 7.1: a'a flow, shrubs < 1 m
  • 7.7: grassland w/scattered trees
  • 8.4: briefly residential
  • 8.7: large kiawe along road, smaller koa haole
  • 9.2: steep hill to L, grasslands
  • 9.4: pretty whitewater on shore to L
  • 9.8: pasture, lumpy, rarely a small trees
  • 10.2: fences overgrown w/grass
  • 10.6: more pasture after police station
  • 11.0: cow sign
  • 11.2: Na'alehu - town
  • 11.4: Ohai Rd. on R
• 11.65: Checkpoint: Kukui St. on R
  • start: Kaalaiki St.
  • 0.2: tows stops, grassland starts
  • 0.5: some rez. on L, pasture on R
  • 0.9: koa haole along road on R
  • 1.3: cross a culvert, rez. on both sides
  • 2.4: rez. stops, mixed forest to 10 m on both sides
  • 2.9: pasture on R
  • 3.1: mixed forest on both sides, hawaiian stone wall on R
  • 3.4: large estates w/surrounding MacNut groves on R
  • 3.8: tall hedge trees along road
  • 4.5: still hedge; mixed forest w/occasional pasture on both sides
  • 5.1: manut on R, lines of tall Euc/silk oak on L
  • 5.5: rez. / mixed ag. both sides
  • 6.1: tall Euc. along road
  • 6.6: Ohi'a (!) natural vegetation, medium-dense, to 7 m
  • 7.2: pasture on both sides
  • 7.4: pahoehoe on R
  • 7.7: a'a on both sides
  • 8.2: dry grassland with shrubs < 2 m
  • 9.0: larger ohi'a to 12 m
  • 9.3: fresh a'a
  • 9.4: grassland/shrubs
  • 9.7: very fresh a'a, no veg (well, 1 ohi‘a per ~50 m)
  • 10.6: ohi'a every 10 m
  • 10.7: fresh a'a again
  • 11.1: sceni point on L
  • 11.5: 12 m ohi'a every 20 m
  • 12.4: "King Kamehameha Blvd." on R
  • 12.6: shrubs dense to 3 m
  • 12.9: ohi'a on a'a, large to 14 m
  • 13.6: intersection, services, patch of weird yucca-like plants
  • 13.7: ohi'a to 10 m, no undergrowth
  • 14.6: scattered 3 m ohi'a
  • 15.0: ohi'a to 10 m, dry grass on R
  • 15.5: ohi'a 12 m w/dry grass
  • 16.1: "Manuka Natural Area Reserve" sign
  • 16.5: ohi'a to 14 m
  • 17.4: large complex forest, somewhat dry, ohi‘a are greyish
  • 18.0: road is sunken, making it hard to see understory
• 18.9: Checkpoint, South Kona District boundary sign
  • 0.4: macnut both sides
  • 1.5: MacFARMS of Hawaii sign on R
  • 2.0: dry grass on roadsides
  • ground in macnut orchards: strips of grass between rows, dirt & leaf litter under trees
  • 3.0: macnuts end, mixed forest
  • 3.5: macnuts on L, forest on R
  • 4.0: mixed forest L, pasture R
  • 4.4: mixed forest both sides
  • 4.9: a'a with scattered skinny ohi'a
  • 5.2: forest on both sides
  • 6.1: macnut on R
  • 6.7: stopped and took pictures of mystery "round green" tree, leaves look like poison oak (sumac family?)
  • 6.8: 18 m ohi'a, understory of sumac?/faya? to 10 m
  • 8.0: 1500' sign
  • 9.2: ohi'a 16 m, same understory
  • 9.6: leave k-hoe natural area reserve
  • 10.0: lava, 8 m ohi'a every 20 m
  • 10.6: forest again, some rez.
  • 11.3: more rez., no ohi'a
  • 11.8: rez. w/agriculture in yards
  • 12.9: ohi'a understory forest
  • 13.2: rez. w/mixed ag.
  • 14.0: "Kona Paradise Estates" exit on L
  • 14.5: wild vegetation here is dense, medium green 10 m trees
  • 15.4: wild veg., occasional rez.
  • 15.8: brief lava
  • 15.9: wild veg. again almost entirely that sumac? thing
  • 17.5: lots of kukui here
  • 18.0: dark green 12 m vegetation / rez. again
  • 18.4: dry grass with mushroom-shaped trees
  • 18.9: ho'okena beach road on L
  • 19.4: rock walls occasionally on either side
  • 19.5: rez.
  • 20.6: mostly medium-green trees, Ben has a nervous breakdown attempting to classify them
  • 21.3: Higashi Store on L
  • 21.4: Honaunau intersection
  • 21.7: 1000' sign
  • 22.0: unsure how to classify, so took several pictures
  • 23.5: straightaway pointing N to kealakekua ridge
  • 26.4: 1500' sign
  • 27.4: kamakani St. on L (in Captain Cook) ...urban
  • 27.7: Amy Greenwell Ehtnobotanical Garden (on R)
  • 28.1: Napo'opo'o Rs. on L (to Kealakekua Bay)
  • 28.6: still urban, ceased attempting to classify vegetation