Mauna Kea Natural History Tour
November 22, 2005 • Mauna Kea, Hawaii
Office of Mauna Kea Management Director Bill Stormont graciously offered his time to give members of the Mauna Kea Observatories Outreach Committee a natural history tour of Saddle Road and Mauna Kea. Remi Cabanac-CFHT, Hiroko Shinnaga-CSO, Cathy Ishida-Subaru and Ron Koehler-MKSS and Gary Fujihara-IfA began the experience on a beautifully clear day from Boiling Pots in the Piihonua area of Hilo. The tour continued up the Saddle Road with frequent stops at various points of interest to visit trails through and around lava flows and kipuka. A stop at Pu`u Huluhulu offered a spectacular view from atop the cinder cone of Mauna Kea standing majestically in the distance. After a brief lunch at Hale Pohaku, we continued up the mountain to stop off at the first parking lot, where we walked out to a rocky outcrop to inspect striations in the surface from movement of ancient glaciers. Up a little further, we came upon an ancient adze quarry, where Hawaiians of old would mine and fashion stone tools from the dense lava. Whew! This was a great experience, and one that I am hoping we can share with our fellow observatory staff in the near future.
Bill offers his mana`o at the visitor deck above Boiling Pots - a series of pools along the Wailuku River Our group, being led by Bill through a trail at mile 8 of Saddle Road Bill sharing information about the vegetation within the kipuka, like this hapu`u fern
Walking into the Kaumana Trail located at mile 18.5 of Saddle Road The Kaumana Trail is a historic remnant of a cart trail. Notice the rocks used to build up low areas of the trail. Bill showing the group the Liko Ohelo, or young shoots of the Ohelo shrub.
At mile 21 of Saddle Road, about to enter a lava field into a kipuka with Mauna Kea in the background Bill demonstrating his technique for "hopping fence" Bill and Ron on a fallen Koa tree within a Kipuka off mile 21 of Saddle Road
Off the Mauna Loa road, a short hike on the 1935 lava flow, with Mauna Kea in the background The group is standing on the 1935 flow, with an older a`a flow in the background BIll holding flower bud of the Poha plant off the path toward the top of Pu`u Huluhulu
A brief respite on top of Pu`u Huluhulu and a portrait of the group, majestic Mauna Kea standing in the background Bill standing on a rocky outcrop near the first parking lot above Hale Pohaku. Grooves in the rock surface, caused by glacial abrasion. Group on the rocky outcrop, with grooves etched into surface of rocks in foreground
Detail of one of the basalt rocks found on the trail.
Bill revealing olivine inclusions in the basalt rocks near the side of the road Bill, Remi and Ron near an adze-making workshop near Keanekako`i
Mahalo nui loa to OMKM Director Bill Stormont