When you want to see the stars, find someplace dark
It has been a while since I last hiked out to Goat House Lava Tube. A bit obscure, the tube hides in the grasslands outside Waikoloa Village, accessible with a modest hike.
With the new eMTB this tube is even easier to get to. The power line access roads are rough, simple tracks just scraped into the lava, but fun. A good road to enjoy with a full suspension bike bouncing over the bare rock.
Continue reading “Goat House… Again”Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park is famous for eruptions and lava, so many come hoping to see this spectacle of nature. The park is also famous for the crowds, particularly at the more popular viewpoints and trailheads. While the park is enormous, only a small portion of the park is easily accessible and even then the crowds tend to concentrate at the summit of Kilauea and along the rim of the caldera.
Those like myself who enjoy the park will often plan outings specifically to avoid the crowds, and fortunately this is relatively easy to do. Visiting the lesser used sections of the park is a good tactic. A visit to the park’s Kahuku unit is a good choice. Or perhaps a hike into the Ka‘u Desert.
Sometime you want to see the popular sections, this is also possible. One major hint… Early mornings.
Continue reading “A Rainy Morning in the Park”
This week I returned to Puʻuwaʻawaʻa.
The plan was to use a mountain bike this time. One nagging issue in hiking Puʻuwaʻawaʻa is the long access road you need to hike just to get to the base of the puʻu. Two miles of straight, and mostly paved road to climb before the hike really gets interesting.
It is old pavement, but in good shape as there is little more than foot traffic. Last time hiking out I wished I had a bike so those two miles would be one smooth downhill roll back to the vehicle. Once above the puʻu I could use the bike to explore the network of ranch roads that lead back into the forest reserve.
That was the plan, reality did not work out quite as well.
Continue reading “Puʻuwaʻawaʻa Take 2”It is not really called Goat House. It is just that I have never heard another name, Goat House is what I have named the cave considering the lack of any better designation. The tube is no great secret, its existence is well known to longtime residents.
This tube is found several miles out the power line road just above the village. The road starts across from the stables and heads straight south. There are side roads that go left and right, just go straight to the cave.
Along the way you find the mauka fence of the Waikoloa Dry Forest Initiative restoration effort. This fence keeps the goats out of a 275 acre area in an effort to preserve native trees like the Wiliwili. With some success it appears, the trees look pretty good. The wiliwili are strikingly beautiful trees, I am happy to see them thriving here.
