In the early morning darkness, brittle ʻaʻā lava rock cracks, then crumbles beneath my feet. Navigating my way toward Hawaiʻi Island’s rugged western shoreline, there is barely enough light to see the path ahead. I stop briefly and gaze at the infinite spread of glistening stars, the same twinkling lights early Polynesians used many centuries […]
On the front lawn of Hilo Public Library rests the Naha Stone, a wide, 7,000-pound chunk of volcanic rock. Legend says that whoever could overturn the stone would be granted the power to unify all of Hawaii. King Kamehameha the Great, who eventually conquered the Hawaiian Islands, was believed to have overturned it. Recently, I
Driving down a one-lane road with no cell signal, I worry that I may have rented the wrong car for this adventure. I’ve already taken two wrong turns (thanks to Siri) and am now on Upolu Airport Road, cutting through farms on my left and windmills on my right. The airport at the end of
Nestled along the slopes of the dormant Hualalai volcano on Hawaii Island, a traditional stone forno (Portuguese for “oven”) burns with sweet anticipation. Master baker Laurie Westrich, her hair wrapped up in a palaka (checkered) bandana and wearing a matching apron dusted with white flour, rakes the hot kiawe coals heating up the forno’s domed
Greet the sun at Kona Historical Society’s outdoor yoga sessions, held every Friday morning on the tranquil grounds of the Kona Coffee Living History Farm, the only living history coffee farm in the nation. You’ll feel like you stepped back in time to the 1920s, where the historic coffee mill, farmhouse and coffee tree orchards
Waimanu Valley’s ancient green amphitheater streams with white water falling from impossibly high heights. Its star, Waihilau Falls, rains down a series of drops totaling an improbable 2,600 feet. Coveted oceanside campsites in this remote and pristine region—the largest of Hawaii Island’s northern valleys—offer a chance to sleep under a blanket of stars, laze away
Kilauea’s latest lava flow—dubbed 61G, a 5-mile-long flow from Kilauea’s Puu Oo Cone to the southeast on Hawaii Island—has been causing quite a stir. The fiery lava finger points toward the sea within view of two relatively accessible viewing stations in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and Kalapana. Hundreds, if not thousands, have flocked to see
It’s 8:30 p.m., and I’m lying in bed under a mosquito net staring outside the large screen windows that cover the four walls of the one-room cabin. I’m in the middle of the Kapoho jungle, deep in Lower Puna on Hawaii Island. I can’t see anything past the dark shadows cast by the forest’s large
If you love seeing rare native plants and birds, then you won’t want to miss Kipukapualulu Trail, a 1.2-mile loop through one of Hawaii Island’s last vestiges of native forestland. Located just outside of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park in eastern Hawaii Island, the free-to-access trail is also known as “Bird Park” to area residents because
Chances are good that you’ve never been to Waimanu Valley. The largest of a string of remote valleys along a dozen miles of rugged, windswept Hamakua coastline between more accessible and well-known Big Island valleys Waipio and Pololu, Waimanu is not an easy place to visit. There is only one way in—by foot on the
The smell of freshly baked cinnamon scones wafts from the kitchen and down the front stairway of the unassuming two-story house I wait outside at Kukaiau Ranch, a 10,200-acre working cattle operation in the tiny village of Umikoa on the northeast slopes of Mauna Kea volcano. “Hey there!” calls a voice from the top of
“You didn’t pre-order?” As she says this, the woman behind the counter at Two Ladies Kitchen stares at me in disbelief. A line of customers winds behind me and out of the small downtown Hilo mochi shop and onto the sidewalk alongside bustling Kīlauea Avenue. “You have to pre-order. They sell out,” she scolds, gently.
