In the Jungle

One of the unique things about the islands is the geology.
I mean we're fairly new here, as far as land masses go, in fact I don't think you can even call the islands a mass.
Okay, maybe the Big Island, so named because it's like, well, big.
I believe Hawaii still qualifies as one of the most remote places on Earth.
Suddenly, I feel sort of lonely.
Anyways, the vegetation here is made up of distinct zones.
You got your shore line, the low lands including wetlands and marshes, the lower forested zone and the upper forested zones.
I think there are more, but that's all I can remember.
Oh yeah, there's what we call upcountry, or high elevation plains.
All these zones make for some diverse plants and environments.
You can go from beach to rain forest literally in minutes.
So anyways, up bright and early today, early enough to catch the sun burning the morning mist off the mountain tops:




Now those mountain pictures are just not for show.
On the windward side of the island, that's what the mountains look like. They've been eroded and cut up by the relentless trades.
Oh, and I think the whole windward side of Oahu(most of it anyways,) was like a giant volcano that collapsed into the sea, that's why it's sort of flat.
Anyways, on the leeward side, the mountains look more like mountains, sort of hillish, rolling and all that.
Except there are valleys.
Lots of valleys.
The valleys were where you would find the settlements for there was fresh water. That means each valley has a stream.
Okay, I'm really over simplifying this, but you get the idea.
Well to get the goods we need, we have to go deep, deep, deep into the valley.
I guess you can call this double overhead canopy for there are like trees and trees above the trees:



The sunlight filters down here and there, but there are places immersed in eternal twilight, like the bamboo trail:



As you can imagine, it rains here quite a bit. Okay more than quite a bit, more like everyday.
A small bridge thingy:



Looking upstream:



Looking downstream:



Now this stream holds a special place in my heart, for I grew up a couple of miles downstream, and the this is what my back yard looked like.
Okay, not really.
It was like a hundred feet or so away, but the stream was pretty much my playground.
When it rained really hard, I'd sit at the window and wait for the inevitable flash flood.
You learn to respect the water here, both inland and ocean.
Believe it or not, there are still water rights issues here, especially in agricultural areas.
The sugar plantation folks diverted water via aqua ducts that are still in use today.
So anyways, a little hot jungle action for you folks who thought it was all sand and surf here.
Well it is, two miles makai, that means toward the ocean. Two miles mauka, toward the mountains, it pretty much looks like the images above.
I've been thinking about taking my bike up further into the valley, just to see what I can find.
Like wallabies.
That though, is another story.