Slow weekend

This past weekend Katie and I volunteered with Oahu Invasive Species Committee.  We both met Cary and Erin from OISC and they briefed us on what we were targeting when we went out in the field.  Ardisia virens and stromanthe tonckat were the two plants we needed to pull.  The plants are only located in the Lyon Arboretum and are targets because if they were ever to escape the grounds they would be highly invasive to the forests.  We combed a hillside and a gulch to find hundreds of plants.  Most were immature and didn't bear any fruits while some had fruits.  The plants with fruits were taken by the field crew to burn later on.  Lots of precautions were taken when handling the plants with fruits.  After the long day pulling weeds we scrubbed down our tools, shoes, and gloves just in case there were any straggling seeds on them.  This helps prevent the spread of these highly invasive plants.  Here are a few pictures from our work day. 

Here is Erin checking out a mature stromanthe plant for fruits. 

Mature plants produce these red seeds. 

One of the volunteers helps loosen the soil around the plant.

The group checking the area for any other plants. 

Cary scrubs her tabis at the end of the day to prevent the spread of seeds to other places. 

The next day I decided to take Katie and few of our friends to a place that they had never seen.  It was one of my greatest adventures when I first started hiking.  You can read about it here.  This day was a totally different day from the day I first went on this hike.  The sky was clear and the stream was dry most of the way.  This time around I was paying more attention to the cliff sides for some cool plants.  On the way we passed a few.  I found out they were a type of Cyrtandra called haʻiwale, or kanawao keʻokeʻo.  They were adorned with white flowers and big leaves that sort of resembled a plumeria leaf. 
After 35+ stream crossings we found the waterfall that I remembered so vividly.  This time it wasn't thundering and wasn't ominous.  The side chute before the main waterfall wasn't flowing either which was a good sign.  The falls flowed down the rock face into a chest deep pool.  Emma took a quick dip to cool off while the rest of the group sat around and talked.  We hung out at the pool for over an hour which was nice.  The sun came out and there was a nice breeze while we were there.  I hope to do this hike again soon. 

Near the start of the hike. 

The group walking through a grove of mango trees.

Most of the way the stream bed wasn't filled. 

Ribbons and numbers approximates how many stream crossings you've done. 

I spotted some plumeria like leaves and some white flowers.  This is a species of cyrtandra.  The name is haʻiwale.

This cyrtandra had the flowers growing out of the branch of the plant.  This is a different species than the one pictured above. 

This is what most of the hike looked like.  Big boulders and crystal clear water. 

My new Olympus OMD captured this with an ultra light tripod.  I was impressed with it. 

The waterfall flowed into a greenish pool. 

We sat around and talked for over an hour.  Quite the lunch spot. 

I wondered what's above this, maybe one day I'll get to see it. 

Matt kicked back and enjoyed the view. 

Throwback to five years ago.

Happier times, five years later. 

Slightly blurry but the full waterfall shot. 

Kaipapau Falls summer 2014 from Ryan Chang on Vimeo.