This week’s Photo Challenge is Object. Here’s mine — an object I almost overlooked: the Golden Plover of the Ahu’ena Heiau, the temple that Kamehameha the Great chose as his own when he returned to the Big Island a king of the Hawaiian archipelago in 1812. It perches atop Koleamoku, the god of healing, the tallest of the heiau’s carvings. … Continue reading
Thirty miles north of the tranquil Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park is another hidden gem, the Puako Petroglyph Archaeological Preserve, one of the largest petroglyph fields in Hawaii. Over 3,000 k’i’i pohaku (images in stone) are tucked along the trails of the 233-acre preserve, quite a sight. It all starts modestly enough. From Route 19, enter the manicured Mauna Lani … Continue reading
After soaring over lava, our afternoon in Hilo was a bit of a blur. I remember the rows of colorful, two-story buildings, frayed, but cheerful, many dating back to the sugar boom of the 1920s; the smell of rain over the pavement; and lots and lots of leaves, primordial in their size and hues. Next … Continue reading
With the haunting beauty of Point Lobos behind us, we headed north to the Diablo Range and Mount Hamilton, a four-thousand-foot giant overlooking Silicone Valley. A domed structure crowns the mountain–our destination, Lick Observatory, the oldest mountaintop observatory in the world. Stargazing since 1888, the observatory is a monument to James Lick, an eccentric millionaire who wished to immortalize his … Continue reading
If the cozy views of Carmel-by-the-Sea get too saccharine for your taste, head four miles south to witness “the greatest meeting of land and water in the world,” Point Lobos State Reserve, 554 acres of cliffs, meadows, and forest trails and over 700 acres submerged undersea (a scuba diving, snorkeling and kayaking haven, I learned too late). The quote belongs to Francis McComas, … Continue reading
Our autumn sunrise at the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge ended up among the favorites in the assortment of impressions and memories of the past year. The Refuge is a serene and meditative place in any season, but we especially love it in the winter: Everything is so spare then. Because all the other colors … Continue reading
I was longing for some snow. Serious winter snow. So when our friends proposed a pre-New Year escape to the Blackwater Falls State Park in West Virginia, we signed up. We stayed at the lodge in the park, a comfortable place overlooking the canyon that the Blackwater River has carved over millennia (it is worth the extra … Continue reading
“Lovers of science, lovers of wildness, lovers of pure rest will find here more than they may hope for.” (John Muir, Chapter 8: Bathing in Salt Lake, Steep Trails) Seeing Antelope Island for the first time is like entering a dream, a vision of a Dali landscape, its colors subdued. The largest of ten islands … Continue reading
“My treasures do not click together or glitter. They gleam in the sun and neigh in the night.” (Bedouin proverb) A trip to Assateague, where wild horses graze and shore birds fly over dunes, marshes, shrublands, and forests, all within a 37-mile island shared by Virginia and Maryland, is an early-October tradition. Goldenrods are in … Continue reading
Autumn is in the air. Pumpkins and raspberries are ripening in my garden, the air is cooler, and catalogues already celebrate Halloween and Thanksgiving. Off-season prices are about to kick in: it’s almost time for spontaneous getaways. One of my favorite autumn memories is going to see Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater and Kentuck Knob. We … Continue reading
I am in the midst of two days of meetings in Detroit and Ann Arbor, my first time in Michigan, but my mind wanders further West: Here, a once-forest of burnt Joshua trees in the Red Rock Canyon, only half an hour away from the Las Vegas strip…
Another fond Central Florida memory: paddling along the calm, sleepy waters of the Econlockhatchee River, in the Little-Big Econ State Forest–such a serene experience, and, depending on where you are staying, only 30-45 minutes outside of Orlando. Our guide from Adventures In Florida was wonderful. We began our expedition at 8:30 am in the Forest. The kayaks … Continue reading
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