I am back from my trip to Kauai and stayed for 10 days at the cabin in Kokee.
Trout stream level was still quite low. Our Winter rain that normally falls on Kauai to replenish the streams has of this date not returned to normal. I did not check on the trout stream population on this trip.
This trip was more on the subject of a Botany study. You may remember from reading the September blog we had discovered the rear Lobelia glora-montis plant deep in the Alakai swamp, the flowers were out but it was NOT in bloom.
Now, 6 weeks later Basel Mayo and I went back to this small grove of Lobelia plants to see if they were in full bloom.Amazingly, they were. We counted approximately 30 plants in this one small 20 x 20 foot section. Only the adult plants were in bloom.
We also saw very few Apapane birds and NO I’Iwi birds at all! This species appears now to be restricted to only the deepest part of the Alakai swamp where the mosquitos have not yet reached due to the colder environment at the higher altitude.
The only people we ran into on this hike was Dave and his partner Calypso who were checking traps for invasive species. Dave is in charge of the 9 acre enclosure, that is on the rim of Kalalau valley. This is where I frequently to do a “goat Count”. We have gotten to know each other over the years and exchange information on endangered bird sighting. I gave him the GPS reading on the Lobelia plants for his records.
The night time temperature at the cabin did drop to 55 degrees so Winter is on it’s way. I did some hiking on the Water Tank Trail to a location we call the “V-Tree” and cleared the trail of the invasive Ginger plants for the hikers who travel this trail. This trail is common with tourists from the mainland who find this location on their app “Alltrails”. It is really hard to get “lost” on this trail but I constantly find “Day tourist hikers” who are NOT equipped for a hike in the forest. Wrong shoes, no water and no rain gear.
I even found one couple from Texas in a red convertible Ford mustang on the dirt road my cabin is on totally lost and confused as they were looking for “water falls”. Had they gone another 100 feet with that low clearance on their mustang, they would have bottomed out on that dirt road. I got them straightened out and they followed me back to a paved highway. Just another “good deed” to a visiting tourist. I am told I must have a “Special Place in Heaven” well, I’m not all that eager to find out, yet
I hope you find it interesting about our Trout Unlimited chapter does up at Kokee on the island of Kauai.
Mahalo
Deane Gonzalez, TreasurerTrout Unlimited Chapter #403 Honolulu, Hawaii
