a wilderness journal: Ka Lae

27 November 2015

Ka Lae

The southwestern coast of the Big Island is known as the Kau district. It is sparsely populated and transitions from the forested slopes of south Kona to wind-swept grasslands at the southern tip of the island (Ka Lae) to the volcanic terrain of the National Park farther east.

A wave pounding the southern coast at Kae Lae. Padina and other seaweeds carpeted this great southern tidepool.

Ka Lae.

There is some spectacular coastline at the southern end of the island. A paved road leads from the Belt Highway to Ka Lae, which is the southern-most point in the 50 US states. A rocky shore of black lava is swept hard by the wind and pounded by surf. Tropical seaweeds line the coastal rocks and filled a few tide pools. The overcast sky present over the last few days in south Kona gave way to sun and cumulous clouds at Ka Lae. Looking south, I thought of the thousands of miles of open ocean that stood between this point and the next land to the south, not even knowing which islands would be closest.

Five kilometers to the east of the southern point is Papakolea, a green sand beach, one of only a few in the world. We hiked along the hot, dry, dusty and windy lattice of orange dirt roads that lead from a parking area near Ka Lae to the small cove with the famous green sand. It is a tourist trap of sorts, complete with a small local economy that offers cold drinks to parched hikers and truck/van rides over the rough terrain for those so desiring. Beaches with rugged black lava occurred along the trail. The upland was carpeted in grasses, dancing elegantly in the consistent warm wind.

Volcanic coastline along the route to green sand beach.

Green sand beach and the grey bluffs that form the
east rim of the old volcano.

After an hour or so, we finally reached the cove, an extra wind-swept nook with black lava to the right and a grey striated cliff to the left. At the base of the cove was a short stretch of green sand, comprised of olivine, a light green mineral. The olivine is derived from a 50,000 year old cinder cone that sits right here, a part of one of the rift zones of the massive Mauna Loa volcano to the north. I was swimming in a small relict volcano!