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View From Here - Hawaii Travel Blog - Hiking & Land Activities

Total Number of Entries - 60

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The Mystery at Makapuu Lighthouse

Kim Steutermann Rogers on Fri 10/14/2011

Destination: Oahu

Earlier this week, I slipped out of Waikiki and hiked the trail to Makapu’u Summit along Ka ‘Iwi State Scenic Shoreline. The trail is paved, about 1.5 miles round trip. The hike to the summit is a steady uphill that follows several gentle switchbacks.
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Birth, Life, Death, & Rebirth in Hawaii Island's National Parks

Kim Steutermann Rogers on Thu 9/29/2011

Destination: Hawaii Island

Sitting on Hawaiian Airlines bound for Kailua-Kona, I got stuck in a middle seat between a man wearing a suit and reading legal briefs and another man, sleeping, who looked like he just left the beach, wearing Locals slippahs on feet pasted with sand. Sometimes, I feel self-conscious traveling alone throughout Hawaii. Not this day. Not with these guys. They didn’t bat at an eye at me, traveling alone. The theme of this trip for me was national parks. There are five national parks on Hawaii Island. Five. One island the size of Delaware. Five national parks. I had no idea. Did you?
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Kohala Zipline in Eight Steps and One Warning

Kim Steutermann Rogers on Tue 9/27/2011

Destination: Hawaii Island

These days, there are choices to be made when it comes to ziplines around Hawaii. On Kauai, there are two. On Maui, three. And, now, on Hawaii Island, there are also three. On a recent trip to Hawaii Island, I chose Kohala Zip, primarily, for one reason. Their environmental practices. And, also, because, while the name is different, Kohala Zipline is owned by Hawaii Forest & Trail, a company that promotes its tours as entertaining, educational and responsible. Responsible in this case means clearing just a few trees from the forest to create the course and, then, using those felled trees to build the structures--milled and crafted on-site.
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A Weekend on Napali: Part Three

Kim Steutermann Rogers on Tue 9/13/2011

Destination: Kauai

The camp kitchen had been set up. My tent was barely pitched and not a grain of sand had yet found its way into my sleeping bag when the two botanists geared up, both in long sleeved shirts, long pants and hats, and both toting bulging backpacks. Both, too, wearing studded tabi boots, a kind of Japanese fishing sock meets golf shoe that, apparently, is footwear de rigueur for botanists. I would soon learn why.
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The Quiet Force Behind Lawai International Center

Kim Steutermann Rogers on Fri 8/26/2011

Destination: Kauai

There are some people blessed with the poise of the Dalai Lama. They go through life exuding peace, not even Hurricane Irene could ruffle their feathers. I know two people, both women, like this. Whenever I think about adopting a more peaceful demeanor in my life, I think of Helen and Lynn.
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Another Friday Afternoon at Kilauea Point

Kim Steutermann Rogers on Wed 8/24/2011

Destination: Kauai

It’s just another Friday afternoon at the refuge, and I am blogging from “Birdville,” a.k.a. Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge. The skies overhead are clearing, after a surprising squall provided a bit of cloud clover and respite from the hot sun. Not enough rain fell to clean the windshield, much less soak the soil outside the wedge-tailed shearwater burrows and leach its nourishing bird guano deep into the ground. Funny how Hawaii skies sneak up on you like that.
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The New Hawaii Island is Big

Kim Steutermann Rogers on Fri 8/12/2011

Destination: Hawaii Island

Next week, I head to Big Island. Or “Hawaii Island,” as we are now asked to refer to the newest island, the one on the southeastern end of the Hawaiian Island chain, the one the farthest away from me, the one formerly referred to as “Big Island,” because of its size.
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Two Roads Diverged in Sunny Waikiki

Kim Steutermann Rogers on Fri 5/27/2011

Destination: Oahu

The next night, I found myself outside the Outrigger Waikiki Hotel on Kalakaua Avenue again, and, again, I paused to watch humanity stroll by—a woman, husband, grandmother, runner, dogwalker, child and surfer leaving possibly the same wet footprints as the night before. This time, I turned left, proving you can come back another day and take the “other” road.
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Kohala Coast Getaway, Part 4: Mauna Kea

Kim Steutermann Rogers on Wed 2/16/2011

Destination: Hawaii Island

We met Hawaii Forest and Trail at the King’s Shops in Waikoloa for a journey to the top of Mauna Kea and some stargazing. According to Jon, our guide, the night’s plan would have us traverse Waikoloa Road—with a stop at Waikoloa Village to pick up dinner and, “most importantly, cookies”—and continue to Highway 190. We’d take a left, passing through a one-time native forest and now pasturelands, and then a right on Hawaii (Big) Island’s infamous Saddle Road. We’d climb half way up the mountain, stop, eat, acclimatize, don jackets—really warm jackets—and head for the summit, where the temperature was predicted to be “about freezing,” a full 50 degrees colder than when we’d started out at sea level.
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Kohala Coast Getaway, Part 2: King's Trail

Kim Steutermann Rogers on Sun 2/13/2011

Destination: Hawaii Island

The King’s Trail, also called the Mamalahoa Trail, once ran for 32 coastal miles from the village of Kailua-Kona in the south to the village of Puako in the north. The sign along Waikoloa Beach Road says it was originally built in the mid 1800s by prisoners and Hawaiians who paid their taxes in labor. It was used as a highway, of sorts, for pack animals. As such, it was stretched taut, in a straight line, with curbs of stone built up along the sides in order to keep the horses, donkeys and mules on the right path, just in case their riders nodded off to sleep during their long ride. I would imagine many of these riders set out at night to avoid the heat of the day, because there is absolutely no shade on the trail.
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