Notes 99.03.13

Car trip from Waimea to Kona via High Road

• Checkpoint #1: Saddle Road turnoff
  • dry desert with Koa Haole along road
  • mi. 2.0: burnt area on right
  • mi. 3.3: sad Euc. on L
  • mi. 4.5: drier and drier
• mi. 4.8 Checkpoint #2: Waikoloa turnoff
  • denuded soil - cows on R
  • mi. 1.5: Euc. on both sides
  • mi. 1.6: very large power poles on R (so far)
  • black and white cows dot landscape
  • mi. 3.0: still Koa Haole along road
  • mi. 3.5: very rough a'a (hopefully no cows)
  • mi. 4.2: very scattered Ohi'a, a'a contines
  • almost entirely fountain grass
  • mi. 5.6: Ohi'a gets thicker, very dry and gnarled
  • mi. 7.8: a'a continues - freshed though, and less grass
  • mi. 8.5: back to very dead looking pasture - a'a ends
  • mi. 9.0: Nene crossing
  • mi. 9.2: partly forested ranch residences
  • mi. 10.7: old hawaiian walls on both sides
  • stopped to take (photos of) walls, cactus, and cows
  • mi. 11.2: beautiful flowering Silk Oaks - dominant tree
  • mi. 13.0: dry rolling hills, thick fountain grass
  • mi. 15.0: still giant polls on R
  • mi. 15.7: fresh a'a - less grass
  • mi. 16.9: scenic point on R
  • mi. 17.4: scattered, small dry Ohi'a - still some Silk Oak
  • mi. 19.8: 2000 ft. sign
  • trees thick - mystery trees, ~50 kinds of varying colors, no dominant tree
  • mi. 23: much wetter - more vegetation, along road - more houses, huge yards, many ornamentals
• mi. 25 Checkpoint #3: Hawaiian Gardens turnoff (L)
  • 2.8 terrain is a'a but vegetation is tropical
  • 3.0 large area covered by short Koa Haole
• Checkpoint #4: turned L onto main Kona highway
  • 0.3: Keawe - large (25 m) on both sides, Koa Haole is 6 m
  • 6.0: end 3-lane highway - huge poles on both sides