Mauna Kapu - Palikea Hike

On Saturday September 26, 2015 the Tree Huggers were taken on a hike by the Wai'anae Mountains Watershed Partnership field crew to check out some native plants and try to seed collect.

It was a really special day with a great group of students and parents. We started out at their base yard, the old Air Force Tracking Station up in Palehua near Camp Timberline. After a quick history of the area and the plants, we got in the cars and drove to the trail head at Mauna Kapu.

Uncle Keoki spoke about the significance of Mauna Kapu as a signalling point. Then, we began our hike along the ridge. The winds were really strong and the weather was nice and cool.

We stopped along the way to check out plants like Maile, 'Ohi'a lehua,
and Ho'awa.

It was a great day for a hike! Mahalo to the WMWP for their help. 

Kohelepelepe - Koko Crater Hike

On Saturday, August 29, 2015 the Tree Huggers went for a hike up the railway that was once used to transport supplies up to the WWII bunker on the top of what is known today as Koko Crater. Historically, the mountain is named Kohelepelepe after the enormous flying female body part that Pele's sister Kapo used to distract Kamapua'a with when he was attacking Pele.

We were greeted with a quick shower and lucked out with some cloud cover to keep us cool part of the hike.

The fastest Tree Hugger clocked in at 19 minutes, and the youngest and slowest took around an hour. Either way, the group had fun and was safe. The same cannot be said for one hiker who seemed to suffer from heat exhaustion. He was treated and released.

The view of Kalama Valley from the top has changed since 1983 as you can see in the photos.

2015

1983

See you next month at Palehua Tree Huggers! Good job!

Goodwill Goes GLAM

On Saturday, July 18, 2015 the Tree Huggers teamed up with the MMS Service Learning Club and volunteered at Goodwill Goes GLAM. The event is Goodwill's annual fundraiser to support their mission of helping people with employment barriers reach their full potential and become self-sufficient.

The opportunity to support such a great cause took us away from the normal tree hugging events but still supported sustainability efforts as Goodwill's programs help to keep 12.5 million pounds out of our landfills every year.

The students helped to put price tags on the items, label the tags with sizes, and sort clothes for the retail event.

Tree Huggers also got a chance to shop at the event, get makeup advice, and meet Kini Zamora, local Project Runway star and the producer of this year's Goodwill Goes GLAM fashion show. We were all starstruck and lucky to have the opportunity to meet such a down to Earth, gracious, and talented designer.

Mahalo to all who shared their photos!

Mt. Ka'ala

On Saturday May 23, 2015 the Wai'anae Mountains Watershed Partnership coordinated a trip up to Mount Ka'ala for the Tree Huggers school year finale. It was an excellent opportunity for the students to see native plants and animals (some of them rare and/or endangered) that live at the highest elevation on O'ahu. We learned about invaders that have impacted the ecology of the mountain and its inhabitants as well as got to see rare treasures like Trematolobelia kaalae and O'ahu tree snails. Mahalo nui WMWP for your support this school year and for this unique opportunity!

Kuaokala Road

On Saturday April 18th the Tree Huggers got a unique and exciting experience be traveling on Kuaokala road from the Wai'anae side of the mountains to the northshore, 4WD most of the way.
While we did not need to do much hiking we got to collect a lot of native seed for the Wai'anae Mountains Watershed Partnership. The seeds will be processed and then planted in the greenhouse back at school until they are large enough to be out-planted.
The views from the trail were breathtaking!