King's Canyon and More

We left Mendocino on September 10, 2019, on our trailer trip to the southern Sierras--King's Canyon and Sequoia National Parks-- followed by a cross-state trip to Paso Robles.  The first stop was just east of Lodi at an RV park, chosen for its location to set us up for the drive on September 11th down HWY 99 to Fresno then east into the National Park.  It was hot in Lodi but we managed to have
"operator error" on our first attempt to start the A/C--it was a busy time, and we gave up as it wasn't that hot in the shade.  Tomorrow, I plan to read the manual, although we won't be able to use the A/C while dry camping with no electrical hookup.

On the map, the journey looked relatively easy.  Certainly the trip down HWY 99 was straightforward, and the trailer traveled well being pulled by the Jeep.  Then, the eastward journey began on HWY 180.  The first thing that happened is that we ran out of city and services before we had an opportunity to fill up with gasoline. The 180 Highway system seemed fairly new.  So, we made a short westward turn, and retraced about five miles to head for the nearest service station, the gas gauge being down to 1/8th of a tank and mileage pulling a trailer being dreadful.  As we drove west, and stopped at a traffic light, a woman pulled up next to us, gestured to roll down my window and told me that my trailer door was open!  Well, we had certainly locked it, so somehow it had torqued open.  It slammed shut as pulled forward from the signal stop, and didn't open again.  When I checked it at the service station where we filled up, the door was securely fastened shut.  Puzzlement.

As it was a little after noon, we pulled over on a wide country lane spot where it would be easy to turn around, and got set to have lunch.  Upon unlocking and opening our door, I noticed that it was sprung --  that is, the spring latch that routinely helped close the trailer door seemed missing, and the door just swung easily to-and-fro.  But it still closed, still locked, so no repairs at Camping World seemed warranted.

After lunch, we continued on our way eastward, and continued, and continued.  What had seemed short on a map, was quite lengthy in reality as the road was  narrow and exceptionally windy, and speed had to be around 25-30 MPH in most locations.  Sheer drop offs were present as we gained elevation and headed into King's Canyon.  It took  us three more hours to go a map smidgeon distance, but we eventually reached Moraine campground, which is quite lovely, and set up camp in Moraine #104, which is similar to the view of the campground in this generic online picture.  

Over a quick dinner of hot dogs, we decided that we might have to re-think our planned excursions.  We mapped out some possible day trips with just the Jeep for the next few days.

After a wonderful breakfast of French toast and ham, and just a few wasps, we started the next day (Friday) with traveling east along The South Fork of the Kings River to  Roaring Falls and ultimately the end of the road.  Roaring Falls was lively and indeed roaring:

Further east was Zumwalt Meadow which had a loop trail, but one segment of the loop was closed due to flooding. You could look across the meadow, which was lovely, but it was too soggy to pass through. 

Cars aplenty were parked at the Road's End, as back-packing into the King's Canyon wildness area is popular.

We wanted to check in again with Laura, but have had absolutely no cell service since starting into the Sierras.  The nearby Cedar Grove Visitor's Center (Visitor's Room is a better word, as it was less than 10x10 in size) had a pay telephone so we called Laura, was sent to voicemail and left a message that we were well.

We did scope out the Cedar Grove lodge and market (showers!), and then continued west down the highway to Grizzly Falls and lunched on our staple lunch of crackers, salami and cheese.  There were loads of buzzing wasps, so we ate hurriedly (me more hurriedly because I had a sudden nosebleed and retreated to the wasp-free car to recover).  After the wasps and the minor medical issue, we felt we deserved a treat, and so treated ourselves to Hagendaas ice creams back at the market, then home to camp, where we dug out the bug jackets and treated them with DEET. Where is Laura and her wonderful bug tent when we need her?

We eat well camping, and dined that night on my garlic-and-onion chicken Alfredo over noodles, and Liz's great salad.  The camp stove is a great Coleman three burner affair.  All cooking materials, stove, trash, wash tubs, etc, have to be stored in the bear-secure metal lockers located at each campsite before turning in for the night.

Saturday revealed that more people come up for the weekend, and traffic was quite a bit busier as we headed along the sheer canyon of the King's River through marble outcrops and exquisitely twisted rock formations. 

 But the drive is not one to do daily, so we have decided that this is the first trip we will make here, and will see as all that we can of Kings Canyon, so that the next trip (either with trailer or by staying at lodges) will allow us to see the north part and south part of Sequoia NP as two more trips.

We stopped at Hume Lake (two more pay phone calls to Laura--left messages), and dropped down to the main KC visitor's center, then returned to camp. 

Sunday started as an overcast day--whispy clouds gathering into periodic thickness that blocked the sun.  We set out the solar panels for charging Kindles and kept the trailer panel rotated toward the vague sunlight.  By 11:00 am, the trailer battery had charged to full strength again, recovering from the 1/3 down of the early morning. The folding panels of solar charger for the kindle struggled as the sun faded, and trees, rocks, and figures lost their shadows, only to suddenly regain a blurred darkness that sharpened into crisp shadow as the sun emerged, then seconds later faded back to diffused shadowless light.  It is muggy, and perhaps we will have a thunder shower.

Today we explored our campground and the closed group camp immediately adjacent and west of us.  The group camp is really nice, and has BBQ and cook areas suitable for groups from 10 to 30, depending on which site is selected.

On Tuesday, we headed out early with the trailer, ending up in Visalia, at a familiar KOA--people are very nice, and the little campground is perfect for showers and laundry.  Tomorrow, we are off toward Paso Robles.  

Rained Out

I didn't take the above picture on the way to Kula today to stroll in the botanical gardens, but it looks a lot like the small streams we passed as down pours hit us after driving from the drier side around toward Kahului and up on the shoulders of Haleakala Volcano.  We decided to turn around and explore indoors at the Sugar Mill museum instead.

The last sugar mill closed two years ago, but the museum honoring the industry (especially the Alexander and Baldwin company) is interesting.  At the time of closing, the process of growing, harvesting, and processing sugar had been automated considerably.  In recent times, cane fields were burned to remove the leafy cane foliage, and the sugar stalks (unharmed by the burning) were mechanically gathered up with large collectors whose contents in turn dumped into huge conveyance bins via a large crane-and-grabber; then, next the ENTIRE bin was crane-and-grappled into the mill conveyance system for separating the stones and rocks, rinsing the stalks and continuing into the process of making sugar.  This latter process of chopping, grinding, dissolving, condensing, etc, was all done via computer programs that monitored and directed the process with only a few humans overseeing the computers (with of course other humansmaintaining the heavy duty equipment that did the actual  work).

Sugar cane takes 14 to 18 months to mature and planters staggered cultivation so that the cane did not all mature at once. In the early days, planting the cane was labor intensive as trenches were dug by hand, and canes planted. Thirty men using hoes could plant two acres in a day. When the cane was ripe, workers cut the sugar cane by hand with broad curved machetes and loaded the stems onto carts. Mills were also slow and inefficient in the early years, so more workers were needed--and many workers from diverse cultures were imported to work sugar cane. Mechanism at first came gradually, but by the year 1959, sugar plantations in Hawaii employed one out of every 12 people in the State. Its agricultural workers were among the highest-paid in the world. At one time there were large sugar plantations and mills on Oahu, Maui, Kauai Molokai and the Big Island of Hawaii.

In 1980, Hawaii supplied about one-tenth of the sugar in the US. But the industry saw a severe decline that began in the 1990’s. This was because it became less expensive to grow sugar elsewhere. The last company that grew sugar in Hawaii ended operations in 2016, here on Maui.

"It's whale soup out there"

This local blown glass whale tail (Makai Glass, Maui) is the image of one seen today from the Lanai Ferry as it crossed the channel between Manele Bay in Lanai and Lahaina.  The ferry ride over was rough and made whale watching difficult, but folks did report seeing whales and spouts, although I did not glimpse any.  The return trip a few hours later was even rougher, requiring us to sit inside the keep from being soaked, and yet I spotted a whale tail just like the above image about 30 feet off the starboard side where I was sitting, and further along a spout a little while later.   Our local-born tour guide from the Coconut farm a few days ago had asked us if we had seen whales yet, and Helen said she had seen some spouts.  He said in reply: "You should see them all the time--it's whale soup out there right now!"  And so the ferry allowed me to see some whale soup.

 
The island of Lanai, 97% owned by Larry Ellison of Oracle fame,  is a 45 minute ferry ride across the channel.  As we approach the island, we began to see steep vertical cliffs as we approach the bay side of the island. I am sure sea birds roost plentifully in those cliffs.

Stepping on the ferry at busy Lahaina near the Banyan Tree where people are thronging is a big difference when stepping onto Lanai, where the speed of everything is cut in half, and we walked slowly up a small grade for ten minutes to a lovely sandy beach, sparsely dotted with people, where dolphins are known to frolic. 

Just up from the beach is the Four Seasons Hotel, where we had lunch.  The gardens surrounding hotel are much like a botanical garden, with plant tags/signs identifying the species. One unusual plant--tree-like--was covered with bees sipping the nectar.

Waiting for the ferry to return to pick us up that afternoon, we spotted the Hawaiian cardinal (actual two) that was  hanging around the boarding area.  One was gregarious, and chose to play with a sparrow-like bird that was hoping we would drop crumbs.

This cardinal is a cuties, a real high stepper:

Road to Hana

We took the long road to Hana and aroond the island (including the part that voids rental car agreements) yesterfay (Thursday), but left the driving to Tai of Roberts Tour Company.  It was a long day, as a bus picked us up at just after daybreak a little before 7 a.m. at our resort, then stopped for several others on this side of the island before rendezvousing with 5 folks who flew in from Honolulu for the one-day excursion (and they had an earlier day than we did!).  At the airport, we combined into a slightly larger bus driven by Tai, who was born in Maui 62 years ago, spent some time on Oahu and in San Francisco, and has been a tour guide for over 19 years.  Next year, he and his sister plan to spend three weeks in Ireland, Scotland, and England.  Tai is full of information and good humor, and better he than me as the driver of the Hana Highway, which is much like the first 3/4 mile of the Comptche-Ukiah Road for its better sections, and the section after Hana and before rejoining HWY 37 is like the short ever-failing section of Hwy 1 above Westport--one lane, steep dropoffs mostly without guard rails, and then combined with 600+ switchbacks.  A middle section is unpaved. A section of the wider one lane witha stone guard rail is shown below:

Check out middle of photo--roadside near the offshore rocks: our road.

Tai was excellent about pulling over to the least possible short pullout, warning us to watch for the few passing cars and not to step on the green areas which could mask a cliff dropoff.  One stop was by a grove of rainbow eucalyptus (below) and we all had to stand in the roadway listening for oncoming traffic (none, thankfully) as we snapped our photos.

The eucalyptus, like so many of the Hawaiian Island plants, was introduced. Hawaii might be known widely for its beauty, but it also holds the record for the most extinctions in the world. Due to its
extreme isolation Hawaii once had over 10,000 species found nowhere else on earth. For more than 70 million years, the evolution of new species vastly exceeded losses to extinction. Yet after the arrival of humans to the islands, about 700 years ago, numerous extinctions have occurred with losses including more than HALF of the endemic birds, including flightless ducks, rails, and ibis, hundreds of plant species, and possibly thousands of lesser known terrestrial insects and spiders that were lost
before they were ever described. Recall that these island creatures evolved without the threat of predation by mammals--the introduction of invasive species has led to rapid declines in native birds.  Habitat degradation due to plantation plantings (which now tend to lie abandoned here on Maui) caused disappearance of whole forests of native sandalwood trees.  Filling the space, and out competing the native vegetation, is often invasive plant species which do not well suit the native critters.  But restoration and habitat preservation activities are ongoing, and hopefully, the remaining native species stand a chance of making it long into the future. The Nene, the state bird, for example has made a very good come back.

I wonder how many plants in this picture along the road to Hana are native?

Further down the road from the rainbow eucalyptus were the small communities that dot the Hana highway, including an old church near where Charles Lindbergh spent his last few years.  An historic pilot, Lindbergh at age 25 in 1927 made the first nonstop flight from New York, to Paris, France.  Later, his baby son was kidnapped and killed in the notorious case described as the "crime of the century."  His non-interventionist position in the lead-up to World War II made him a controversial figure, and after he resigned his commission, he was publicly rebuked by President Roosevelt.  However. he went on to support the war after Pearl Harbor, flying many combat missions in the Pacific Theatre.  Still, he chose to live in relative obscurity in his later life, eventually moving to Hawaii where he died.  He is buried in the small cemetery Palapala Ho'omau Church.

After the church, the road worsened, and open range also started.  Many cattle were on the road, causing us to frequently stop or slow.  The picture of the cow below was taken from by bus window, no zooming....many of her friends were on the road in front of the driver.

We went past the agricultural area of Kala where we had been a few days earlier, and then dropped back into the "town" (the only community large enough  to be called a city on Maui) of Kahalui to the airport, and switched over to the bus for our return trip to our condo.  The sun set, and it was dark by the time we returned.

 

Maui Ocean Center

The aquarium at the Maui Ocean Center is well done, and full of information, including cultural changes to the coastal areas and islands over time. The exhibits of the shallow depths and mid-depths zones are well done, and we viewed a short movie on the work of the non-profit Pacific Whale Foundation and its partners in rescuing whales entangled in fishing gear.  Too many cetaceans are caught and die in entanglements every year, and this group is working to find better ways to help fishermen avoid the entanglements with gear changes.

The jellies display is small, but they had an interesting specimen--the upside down jellies--which are known for their strong sting.

The walk through the shark and ray tunnel is neat, and sitting in the tunnel as the creatures swim over and behind you is a thrill.

I tried to capture one very interestingly colored fish, below, and took dozens of images, but mostly the images had the tail chopped off, the nose chopped off, half a fish, a third of a fish, two thirds of a fish...and only one whole fish.  That's because this fish swims REALLY fast.  I've forgotten its name, so if you know it, please comment and let me know it too.

The mid-zone fishes were busy most of the time, too, and some schooled, while others just mingled in:

I am past scuba diving, so the aquarium is the only place I can see these mid-zone fish up close!

Coconut Farm

After a late breakfast out in Lahaina at the Aloha Mixed Plate, the three of us began our afternoon tour of a working coconut farm, Punakea Palms (https://www.punakeapalms.com/) just out of Lahaina.  I never realized how complicated the life stage of a coconut is!  The tour is fabulous and I recommend it for anyone visiting the island, as you end up with a quart of your own personally squeezed fresh coconut milk to take away (one quart per small group--Helen squeezed ours).

Coconuts are a member of the grass family, and their root structure is very shallow, almost surficial.  Each foot of coconut tree eight roughly approximates to a year of age,  and they begin bearing after a few years;.  The grove we visited was 13 years old, and while the trunk was 13 feet or so, the palm fronds and coconuts arch into the air above the stalk.  The coconut trees use lots of water (readily available) including salt water. There are irrigated with abundant volcanic spring water, but every month are dosed with sea water. 

The first useful edible stage of the nut, when the coconut wrapping is quite green and the water is easily sloshed inside, is the earliest and least "coconut" taste--the water is sterile inside the nut, and has been used medicinally in tough times for re-hydrating patients intravenously as its electrolyte suite is enriched and balanced.   He used a punch tool to push through the soft shell into the center of the nut and juice, and gave each of us a straw to drink from our coconut.

A month or so later, the nut has ripened into he youngest edible stage of coconut flesh--known as "soda" for the faint effervescence or "poppers" have become ta trendy new drink here in Hawaii, as the solution tastes a bit coconut, is slightly sweet, and very refreshing.  Our tour guide, Bennie, said he helped refresh a fainting lady on his tour with a few sips of the juice, and she felt quite herself again afterwards.  

The next stage, meat has formed within the shell, and the juice is sweeter.  Doe to the meat formation, pressure is exerted ion the fluid, creating a gentle effervescence when opened, and soft hiss when first released. The meat is very tender, coconut flavored (but not strong) and the voice is flavorful.

The last stage takes a bit more effort to open the nut--using a pry bar like tool to first pierce then spread apart the exterior shell.  Lastly, the hairy exterior of the nut is cleared away and the nut itself must be cracked, and the meat easily popped out with the coconut tool, which isn't even sharp.   The meat is tasty like coconut, but the main goal for us was pressing the "milk and cream" out of the coconut meat.  First it was placed in a blender, without any coconut juice.  Then water was added to equal the meat content, and blended.  The resultant slurry was passed through a coconut bag (easily could use cheesecloth) and the milky fluid squeezed out  One coconut provided a quart and little extra of milk.  

Here is a picture of a sprouting coconut, that would just seat itself where it landed and try to grow into a tree.

Baby Butts

The morning drive back along the coast then across the Maui saddle to Kahului was easy and soon we were winding our way up the shoulders of the Haleakala Volcano toward Kula, and our first stop of the day at the Surfing Goat Dairy. The first thing we saw at the dairy was a bunch of baby goat butts as little 2-week old kids tottered over to nibble (not so sure of what they were doing) on alfalfa leaves as a snack between milk feedings.  These little guys and gals were too adorable for words.

Our complete tour started with feeding the young ladies who were pregnant or about to become pregnant in the pen they shared with Pancake, their boyfriend. The farm lets nature take its course, and eventually more babies are born.  The dairy milks several hundred goats twice a day, and produces delicious artisanal cheese.  We know it is delicious because we tasted several as part of our tour.

We left the goat farm and headed to a nearby lavender farm where we found wonderfully scented soaps and other products.  The lavender was not in bloom, but other tropical plants were, such as the one below.

Leaving the lavender farm, we descended the volcano slopes to Kahului and lunched late by one of the ubiquitous golf courses, then headed back to our condo.

Blood Moon

We started out on a warmer-than-usual morning and returned to Kahului to attempt a visit at the 'Iao Valley.  Alas, after the short drive west a few miles up a steep and beautiful canyon, we were unlucky in that we could find no parking at the small Lot serving the state park, and allowing for a walk to view the "needle" rock formation. However, it is easy to return, and maybe when we do there will not be a cruise ship moored in the port five miles away and sending thousands of passengers on one-day excursions....

We visited a Walmart then a Target to pick up an inexpensive Fire Stick for our unit's TV, as the current setup is a bit off-and-on.  Then, off to lunch at a tucked away locals spot (Tante's) that was delicious and influenced strongly by the Philippines. A leisurely drive back found that the trade winds were dead quiet, and it remained very warm in the condo, but not enough to warrant using the A/C.

We set up the Fire Stick in about 3 minutes and all is well.

The blood moon-eclipse is tonight but we are pretty sure we won't see it because of the proximity of hills and buildings blocking our view of the moonrise.  We shall see!

Well, we saw it rise, full blood moon, and all!  Pictures with iPad were a bit tough due to the light pollution, but in the middle of this black square is a partial eclipse moon....

Cardiac Arrest Road

The exquisite turquoise, greens, and deep blues were out today, after a rainy night and grey overcast skies in the early morning.  It rained when Liz and I went to the small farmer's market just up the road, but only scattered drops that hardly mattered.  Fresh bread, ginger root, tumeric, lettuce, tomato and a bell pepper were just the thing and we soon were back at the condo to collect Helen and set off on our northern journey to the Nakalele Blowhole, and beyond for as far as it was safe to go.  

We were somewhat cautious as we started, as we had read the following from recent prior travelers for this road on the far north of West Maui:

"Probably the most excitement you can have for the cost of gas on the island. Makes the road to Hana look like the Trans Canada highway across Saskatchewan!! Hairpins, single lane, no room to meet an oncoming car, sharp drops, steep hills, you name it. Not for the faint of heart"

"...we encountered several cars in what must be the worst place to encounter cars. After what was literally a death defying backup so a couple of cars could get by (I told my wife to get out of the car
so only I would plunge off the edge...no joke), I will never go past the blow hole again. There's really no need to. If you can guarantee that you won't meet other cars, it's a beautiful drive. But if you meet cars in the wrong place (which we did this year) you will be thanking God that you're still alive before you try to go to sleep..."

"I wouldn’t take grandma, little ones or a pregnant wife."

"What possessed us to take this drive, I may never know. But we woke up early one morning and headed North from our hotel in Kaanapali...the road narrowed down to what I say isn’t even suited for a car, this road is no wider than a bike path in places and at times it’s hanging onto the side of a cliff with no room for error. It was at that point that I lost any interest in wanting any pictures from the remaining drive and all I wanted was to get the heck off this road and back to a road wide enough for two cars and had a yellow middle stripe...If I ever see this road again it will be by plane or helicopter."

Needless to say, we started off happy to see a divided road with a yellow line, and even the frequent road signs to "sound horn" just seemed an ordinary precaution.  The views were breathtaking, as the grey skies had lifted and the sun made the ocean gleam with deep colors. 

While I wondered about the sanity of the many bike riders we passed as we drove along, the road itself seemed no worse than the narrow parts of our Comptche-Ukiah Road, or even Highway 1 around Elk or on the way to Rockport. I asked Helen if she wanted to drive back and she said "What, on this road?" so maybe I am just used to narrow, windy, and dropoff roads.   We passed the Blow Hole at Nakalele Point, but chose not to walk in the stiff winds down to the pool below, observing the misty sea water arise from the hole from the cliffs above.  The winds were so strong that they occasionally blew me a half-step backward, which I figured would not be a good thing when going down or up a cliff path.

A ways past the blow hole was an abandoned, burned out shell of a car nosed head in to a cliff--how long had it been there (a long time it looked), and what was the sad story?  Then, suddenly we were on a road that had narrowed, lacked a center line, and seemed to have a pocked and  cracked surface.  There was a wide pull over on the cliff side, and this seemed the appropriate place to turn around rather than risk achieving the Darwin Award.

We headed home, still alive and now focused on finding a lovely spot for lunch as we passed one lovely view after another heading south.
 

Back to Hawaii 2019!

Liz, Helen, and I arrived in Maui on Wednesday, January 16th at the Kahalui airport.  Our plane had been delayed for an hour on the tarmac in SFO, so we were late getting in, then it took awhile acquiring the rental car, and making the drive south across the saddle, before heading west through Lahaina to Kahana.  We are staying at the Kahana Sunset resort in a condo located a stone's throw (or maybe one of my less well thrown Ellie tennis ball tosses) from the ocean.  The surf splashes up on the steep sandy beach which is mostly water covered at high tide, splashing against the retaining wall of our patio.

On Thursday, we decided to explore the nearby area from Lahaina to Kapalua just to get our bearings.  I drove, and as usually occurs when there are multiple ideas about where to turn and when, at one point I ended up in a cliff side, narrow, unmarked parking lot which required backing out, with two people (one outside the vehicle) giving me opposing instructions.  Luckily (for me), there was a very nice and knowledgeable lady who was watching and stepped in to provide much clearer instructions and I made it out unscathed after several three point maneuvers. 

We had set out to locate "John's Beach" since Helen's son, John, had a favorite island (Maui) and a favorite beach (we think it is on Kapalua Bay).  So, we found this lovely beach (shown below) that has a nice coastal walking trail along it.  From now on, it is known to us as John's Beach--I bet he doesn't know he has one.

Thursday morning was a beautiful day, mostly sunny and clear, but clouds were starting to come in with a small rainstorm predicted for overnight, as the picture below illustrates:

Later we lunched in old town Lahaina, dining at Kimo's right on the ocean.  As the driver, I had a non-alcoholic tropical drink, which was both delicius and lovely to look at.

Today is Friday which found us doing a few errands,  plotting out our plans for the next week and a half, and making some critical excursion reservations (a door-to-door Robert's bus for taking us to Hana and back, and a tour of a local coconut farm.  Then we took a break from all this planning and went out to lunch, this time going to the Whaler's Village where we lunched at Hula's Grill (and I had another beautiful NA tropical drink). We also scheduled out several other explorations, the first being tomorrow as we head north as far as we can safely drive (the road beyond the point we intend to drive to, and turnaround, is not recommended for rental cars as it voids your rental agreement!).