Palehua - Palikea Trail

Saturday June 2, 2012 was the Tree Hugger's finale outing for the school year and it was awesome! Uncle Anu from Palehua Ranch led the hike, giving his mana'o about the trail, the history of the mountain range and surrounding areas, and Hawaiian culture. Uncle Anu met us at the gate and, very handily, removed a fallen tree from the road with his chainsaw. Thank goodness he had it so we could drive all the way to the trail head.

After the oli and has Uncle Anu chanted us in towards Mauna Kapu the wind was strong and and intense as we got our first peak at Nanakuli, one of many gorgeous views of the day.

Auntie Aurora came on the hike to share all her botanical skills with us. It was great having her along to help us identify native plants.

Andrew felt the papery leaves of the a'ali'i.

The lehua were in bloom and looking beautiful!!

We went off trail on to Ka'aikukae Trail to check out some amazing weathered pohaku.

Uncle Anu shared the legend of Maui and Pu'u Heleakala.
Snails were abound, too.

At the end of the trail we could see the sea in all directions.

It was a beautiful view and Andrew and his mom enjoyed it while eating lunch.

But, we made sure to get a picture of the group with Mililani in the background.

See you next school year!

Palehua

On Monday April 23, 2012 the Tree Huggers, along with many honorary members and members-to-be traveled to Palehua Ranch and learned a lot from Uncle Anu, the forest ranger who resides at the site. Auntie Kehau from Mokauea Fishermen's Association has been working with Uncle Anu and invited us to visit the site to do some service learning, learn about the site, and do some hiking.

The view from Palehua is beautiful. Uncle Anu said on a clear day you can see all the way to Mauan kea on the Big Island of Hawai'i.

Although we had to hold off on the hiking until another date due to time constraints we were able to learn a lot about the Honouliuli Ahupua'a and Palehua as well as remove some invasive Christmas Berry (Schinus terebinthifolius Raddi) and Lantana sp.

Palehua was likely a site where warriors trained in the martial art of Lua. Palehua means "lehua enclosure." Lehua were highly respected as the first warriors to die battles and the enclosure we visited was likely a training ground for those warriors. Although lehua tends to be used as a name for females it was traditionally a name for males.

 


The corner stones of the enclosure represent the cardinal directions of North, South, East, and West. They, and other stones, when lined up with geographical markers, stars, the moon, and the sun, were useful in telling time, marking seasons, and as indicators of knowing when it was time to voyage to other islands in the Pacific.

There are also stones within the enclosure that may have been used to learn about navigation around the island as they are shaped like and may be representative of islands in the Hawaiian archipelago.

This was a great day with a great group of students and we cannot wait to return! Hopefully our next hike will be with Uncle Anu in May.

Wiliwilinui Trail

On Saturday February 25, 2012 the Tree Huggers hiked Wiliwilinui Trail, the ridge above Kalani High School.

All Clean

 

 

At the top...all muddy

This was arguably the dirtiest The Huggers have gotten at an event and it was an opportunity to live up to the Tree Hugging name. Many participants hugged trees and ferns and/or the ground on this "official" hike---"official" meaning most everyone slipped in the mud at one point or another. Nina took the prize for the filthiest hiker of the day. The 'Ohi'a lehua trees were doing their best to gather or 'ohi the moisture in the air as we hiked through the mist and clouds.

Chester walking through the cloud

Sky using the rope to pull herself up the steep slope

There were many beautiful examples of native plants along the trail, too.

Some of the girls even took advantage of the opportunity of a free mud facial.

The day started out a little misty and rainy but by the time we all arrived at the top of the Ko'olau Mountains the clouds broke so we could get a little peek at Waimanalo as well as a view of the Honolulu side, especially on our way back down.

I'm very proud of all the participants who made it to the top. The trail and ropes were slippery and muddy but everyone stepped up to the challenge and had an awesome time. Good job, I hope the mud washed out of your clothes, and see you next month!

Leeward Community College Visit

Thursday, February 9, 2012 a few Tree Huggers took a trip to Leeward Community College to help folks from the Wai'anae Mountains Watershed Partnership collect Pili grass (Heteropogon contortus) seeds.

Pili grass is an indigenous clumping grass that grows well in dry and moist conditions. It is now commonly used for erosion control but has been historically used for thatch. In Hawaiian, pili means to cling or stick. The seeds of pili grass twist, cling, and stick to each other in clumps. When the clumps get heavy they fall towards the ground. Using the spearhead or harpoon-like tips on the seeds, pili grass digs itself into the ground to start new growth. The seeds look a little like they are dancing as they dig themselves into the ground.

Since pili seeds have a six month dormancy, the seeds we collected today will be stored until they are ready to be planted in six months. The pili will be grown and used around the future site of the Mililani Middle School greenhouse as well as in the Wai'anae mountain range.

The Tree Huggers also got to see the greenhouse at Leeward Community College where many other native plants are growing, like this Alula (Brighamia sp.), an endagered and endemic species from Kaua'i and Ni'ihau.

The native pollinator of the Alula plants has gone extinct and people must hand pollinate plants in order to propagate the plants by seed.