Author: lklinkhammer

I’m writing this a few days late, but we had a very interesting day on Monday.

My class started the day trying a Hawaiian specialty (at least according to Kaden): spam. After everyone else had tried it and decided it wasn’t too bad, Mac refused to take a bite. The group then spent about 45 minutes trying to get Mac to try it. Unfortunately, we were unsuccessful, and Kaden was quite disappointed.

Our first official stop of the day was at Akaka Falls.

We learned that the area around Akaka Falls was a 19th—20th-century sugar cane-growing region. The falls plummet down 442 feet, and the word Akaka means to split. An endemic fish only found in Hawaii, the oopu, spawns in the stream above the waterfall.

The legend around Akaka falls (briefly summarized) is as follows. There was a warrior chief named Akaka who sent his wife to Hilo one day to visit her parents. While she was gone, he went to visit another woman named Lehua. When his wife returned unexpectedly, Akaka was forced to flee Lehua’s house and return to his own home. When he arrived there, he began to feel ashamed. He left his house with his dog and arrived at a cliff, which he threw himself down, becoming the waterfall. His dog, being loyal, transformed into a rock at the top of Akaka’s waterfall. When his wife saw what had happened, she transformed into a rock to be with her husband. His lover, Lehua, was also despondent about what happened and cried herself into becoming a waterfall further down the coast. The end.

While at Akaka Falls, we also heard about rivers from Katie, who studies fluvial geomorphology. Here are some fun facts:

1. Waterfalls are triggered by “knick points” which are big breaks in slope and elevation in a river, which creates a waterfall
2. Knick points are controlled by one of three things:
   1. faulting motion, or pieces of land that slide off
   2. lithology, or the tendency of some rocks to erode more quickly than others
   3. climate, of the base level fluctuation of the river
3. There are two primary kinds of rivers:
   1. meandering rivers, which are the snaking rivers we usually think of
   2. and braided streams, which have little sediment bars throughout that make the river look braided

The next primary stop of the day was Laupahoehoe Valley. Laupahoehoe lava created the ground of a village built in the valley, which was devastated by a tsunami in 1946. An earthquake in Alaska triggered a series of three tidal waves that hit the town in 1946, killing around 50 people, including 21 schoolchildren. The wave was 56 feet high and moved at 490 miles/hour. Find more information about the tsunami here at the link.

Here are two news stories posted at the memorial site:

 

 

Today was less eventful (regarding the number of stops) but fun. Some people in our group started the day snorkeling in an area where there was a possibility of swimming with dolphins. I didn’t join because I get to kayak with dolphins regularly during summers for my job, so I figured I’d let others see if they could find any…unfortunately, dolphins did not appear today.

I started the day with a nice breakfast and then moved on with the rest of the group to meet up at Pu’uhonua, a national historic park, which was super cool.

In ancient Hawaii, this place was known as a “place of refuge.” What that meant was that if a Hawaiian broke what is known as “kapu,” or the rules of the area, they would be put to death unless they could find and take shelter in a place of refuge. These Puʻuhonuas were the home of priests and the bones of chiefs and were considered sacred, so if someone could get to one, they were allowed to claim refuge and live out their second chance at life in the Puʻuhonua. If you want to read more about Puʻuhonuas, click on the link.

Next, the group moved to a snorkeling spot, where we swam around for quite some time. It was really neat snorkeling. We saw a ton of coral and some really bright yellow fish. I was most impressed by the massive sea urchins on the sea floor. They were HUGE. After swimming around for a while, we moved over to a smaller tidal pool warmed by the Sun and sat and talked for a bit, which was really nice.

After that, we drove to where Captain Cook was killed in the late 1700s. The story we heard from a friend on the trip was that he originally arrived in the islands and was warmly welcomed as a god. The native Hawaiians probably believed he was a god since he had such white skin. Later, when he was leaving, his mast broke, forcing him to return. Upon returning, the natives realized he was, in fact, not a God, and in the face of some disputes between natives and westerners, he ended up on the wrong side of the native Hawaiians, and he was killed in the bay we went to see.

In the evening, a few of us went out to dinner…

…which was lovely 🙂 we ended the day by gathering and watching Shrek. Mahalo for reading!

Today was a super fun day. I started the morning with a mini CrossFit workout, and then we all headed to the Hilo Farmer’s Market. 

While there, Abby and I got Henna Tattoos, which I think will be a fun story later. 

After that, we got lunch at a Japanese garden, which was pretty. 

Then, we visited a Pu’u Huluhulu (hairy hill), a land island surrounded by lava. When a volcano erupts, sometimes the lava flows surround certain green areas but don’t cover them, and those leftover areas develop really interestingly. The one we went to was sacred to Hawaiian protectors, so we learned at lunch how to respect the land and space for the people who believe it was sacred. 

After that, we got to go on a sort of surprise trip on the road leading to the observatory on Mauna Loa…we drove all the way up to the point where 2022 lava flows crossed the road. It was really neat to get to see lava flows that erupted that recently!

Today was a good day. A few of us started the day with an early morning (5:45) sunrise…

…and then Mac made chocolate chip pancakes for the group. They were delicious (thxs Mac 🙂 ) 

 

We got going at 9:15, and our first stop was a gas station, where we found ✨Trolli Eggs✨

After we fueled ourselves and our vehicles, we moved to Puhimau Crater, our first stop on the Chain of Craters Road (pictured below). Pit craters like this one form when the ground collapses, usually fairly quickly. They are formed when deep internal cracks form and move upwards. The very bottoms of the craters fill with rock rubble, and as more lava flows occur, most fill in. Find more information about pit crater formation here. 

The next stop was Devil’s Throat (pictured below), which was a neat stop because it wasn’t in the market at all, so it was not very crowded. We did learn about Dang-It Jimmy, a friend of Dr. Knapp’s (question mark?), and we all stayed away from the edge to avoid falling in and becoming Dang-It (insert name). We learned the crater was on Kilauea’s east rift zone and it is 165 feet deep. 

We stopped at a restroom later, and Caroline, Abby, and I found some cool iridescent rocks… we also met a really interesting man who had an intricate necklace made of these tiny seashells he collected years ago. He was from Minnesota and had lots of fun destination advice. He also had some theories about how there is a joint alien-human base on the dark side of the moon, which is an interesting idea to ponder…

Next, we went and saw some petroglyphs often used as umbilical cord offerings to ensure a long life for the child. It was also meant to tie the person to the land, which is a beautiful idea. I have always liked learning about how people in the past had such close connections with the land they lived in. In America, we sometimes forget all that the Earth gives us, and I think being reminded of that helps us remember why we should care about threats to it (like climate change). 

Our last stop was a sea column, which was an absolutely gorgeous stop. 

After that, we headed back, and I cooked mac-n-cheese, Caroline made burgers, and we celebrated Van’s birthday 🙂 She cut the cake like a mad-woman, which you will be able to see below. Then we all watched Moana and went to sleep. 

My location was Footprints Hike in the Kaʻū Desert….here are some fun facts! 

The Kaʻū Desert isn’t technically a desert because it receives too much rainfall. The dry-looking appearance of Kaʻū is caused by both the acid rain created from gases erupting from Kīlauea and the rain shadow from Mauna Loa. Read more here. 

The footprints at Footprints Hike have an interesting backstory. Although they are now thought to be the footprints of people going about their daily lives (some are small and thought to be left by women and children), researchers thought two armies left the footprints for a while. That story I will outline below…

Original story behind the prints: In 1782, Kalaniopuʻu, Aliʻi Nui of Hawaiʻi, died. In accordance with his wishes, his son, Kiwala’o, became heir of Hawaiʻi Island. His nephew, Kamehameha, however, had hoped to be named his successor. When he was not, his nephew became upset and launched a campaign to overthrow his cousin, the king’s son. In July 1782, the nephew defeated the son at the Battle of Mokuohai. Unbeknownst to the nephew, some of the son’s family members escaped the battle. Keoua, the son’s half-brother, was one of the warriors who survived. The half-brother returned to his home district of Kaʻu. The half-brother’s uncle, Keawemauhili, was able to escape as well and he returned to his home district of Hilo. For some time, these three leaders kept to themselves not wanting to accept one or the other as paramount chief. Keawemauhili finally decided that he was going to accept the nephew as his aliʻi nui and sent his own sons to assist the nephew in his efforts to gain control of the islands. This decision enraged the half-brother. He decided to take action and thus attacked Hilo, killing his uncle. The death of Keawemauhili, however, was not enough. The half-brother drove the nephew’s army to Hamakua ravaging the lands in his wake. The nephew quickly counterattacked and drove the half-brother back to Hilo. The battle in Hilo not being decisive, both armies retreated, with the half-brother heading back to his home district of Kaʻu. The route to Kaʻu that the half-brother and his troops chose was by way of Kīlauea Volcano. The half-brother and his army started their march to Kaʻu and on the first night camped on Kīlauea near a heiau dedicated to Pele, the fire goddess. This was a period of volcanic activity at Kīlauea caldera. Fearing they had somehow angered Pele, they decided to remain there for several days to bestow offerings in an attempt to appease her. Upon leaving Kīlauea summit, the half-brother split his army into three different companies that left the crater at different intervals. The first company had not gone far when the earth started to tremble violently. Volcanic ash and hot gas exploded out of the caldera. Then, a huge, dense cloud of ash, sand and rocks was ejected out of the crater and rained down for miles around. Unable to escape, all of the individuals in the second party died. One lone pig is said to have survived.Not far behind, the rear-company by chance survived the catastrophe because they were not in the path of the hot ash. Picking themselves up, they continued on their journey determined to get to Kaʻu. They were startled when they came upon members of the second company lying down across the desert floor. When to their surprise, the second company was not resting but in fact lay dead. Discovering this, it is believed that the rear-company choose to move on, not staying to mourn the deaths of their fellow compatriots.The ash, which settled across the desert floor, provided an excellent medium in which footprints have been fossilized. It has been suggested that the footprints are what remains of the half-brother, Keoua’s, fallen warriors. This suggestion was first made by Thomas Jaggar in 1921, but it was purely speculation. Recent archeological and geologic research in the area indicates that the history of the Kaʻu desert may be much more complex and that the footprints may not be from the 1790 eruption but rather may be evidence of everyday life activities in this area. This story was taken from the NPS website, and you can find more information on it here. 

Background of the footprints discovery: In 1857 a 19 year old tax assessor named Frederick S. Lyman was travelling around Hawaiʻi Island. As part of the tax assessment process, Lyman had to estimate the age of individuals being taxed. Most Hawaiians did not know their ages but could associate their births, in relative terms, with famous “occurrences.” Lyman recorded the information given to him by Native informants and compiled a List of Dates of these famous events. In this list five events were recorded to have occurred in the year 1790. Amongst these events is one buried within the list called Keonehelelei, “the falling sands.” In 1919, when Ruy H. Finch, a geologist at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, discovered human footprints fossilized in the Kaʻu desert ash. After they were discovered, a crude trail was marked through the jagged Keamoku flow, and many people visited the area. Soon, this area of the desert, which, in 1919, was not part of the newly formed Hawaiʻi National Park, became known as “Footprints” or the “Footprints area.” You can read more information on the man who discovered the prints on the NPS website here. 

 

To close, here are some fun pictures we took on the trail 🙂