Hunting Miconia in Maunawili

If exploring and bashing around off-trail is your kind of thing, consider taking part in a Sierra Club miconia hunt outing one of these months. I did my fifth SC hunt today, netting a nice purple t-shirt from the SC in the process. To set the record straight, I've yet to find a miconia plant. In a way this is a plus because it gives me incentive to continue turning out for hunts. By gee, by golly, by gum, I'll find a damn miconia. Mark my words. We were supposed to start in Maunawili Valley by the Falls trailhead, but a snafu left us on the wrong side of a locked gate, which nixed Plan A which was to truck-pool on a dirt road in the valley to near our designated search quadrant. Plan B had us caravan over to the 'Nalo end of the Maunawili Demo Trail on Waikupanaha Street. There were about twenty of us altogether, including HTMers Charlotte (my idol), Thomas (search master of Maunawili), and Mike (a fairly new member). From Waikupanaha, we climbed up a wide section of the demo trail that was once called Old Government Road. OGR climbed toward the crest of Aniani Nui Ridge, switching back near the top. Aniani Nui, for those not familiar with it, includes the three peaks of Olomana and crowns out at Pu'u Lanipo. It is also the ridge the separates Maunawili from Waimanalo. Right before the crest, we stopped to regroup at a junction by a gap in the ridge. Straight ahead through the gap was the continuation of Old Government Road, which some of us would use as a return route in the afternoon. The demo trail continued up and to the left to contour on the Waimanalo side of Aniani Nui. After several minutes of map reviewing, we pushed on along the Demo Trail until it crested Aniani Nui and then crossed over to the Maunawili side of the ridge. We regrouped again, the main consideration being to determine what areas we'd cover, how many groups we'd divide into, and who'd go where. The outing leaders, Kapua and Joby, asked that the HTMers, plus a couple of others, canvas the steep slopes on the mauka side of the trail (they knew we were able and willing to do this kind of searching). Meanwhile, everyone else would divide into two to three teams to search the slopes and ravines on the makai side of the trail. Charlotte, Thomas, Mike, a mom, her teenaged daughter, and I comprised the mauka team. The daughter was quite a good climber and was doing very well until she took a spill that had her cartwheeling down a steep slope after a lauwa'e handhold gave way. While I enjoy climbing, I'm not a fan of cross-sloping along steep pitches. And when searching for miconia, at times cross-sloping is a necessity. Bah, humbug. The three wahines covered the highest ground while Thomas, Mike, and I covered the the mid- and lower slopes. After reaching a section near a steep, trickling waterfall, Tom, Mike, and I descended back to the demo trail and continued along it to a place where the path made a sharp left turn. Several date-less date palms are situated at this turn, and it was here we sat down to eat lunch (we knew it was lunch time because Charlotte announced on her walkie-talkie that it was noon and she was going on strike). Charlotte, the mom, and daughter lunched at a higher vantage point and later descended back to the demo trail near the waterfall. Since four of the six folks on our team had walkie-talkies, it was easy to keep track of who was where as we searched. Kapua, Joby, and several others on the makai team/downslope team also had walkie talkies, so we were able to follow their progress as well. After lunch, we decided we'd did enough mauka searching, so we followed a fairly distinct trail down a spur ridge. We bottomed out at a finger of Makawao Stream, that fed an old ditch. The ditch system was quite impressive and someone, perhaps area farmers or Luana Hills Golf Course workers, is still maintaining it for the water it provides. Tom and I followed a trail along the ditch, passing an orange pipeline enroute. We continued along the ditch and its slowly flowing, clear water, noting a lack of fish and other stream creatures. Curious, we kept following the ditch and the trail on its bank. We passed a well-used trail that descended a spur ridge to our right and contoured around a lower section of Ainoni Ridge. At one point, a blowdown forced me to slosh in the ditch (Tom opted to duck and weave through the blowdown to keep his boots dry). Not long afterward, we heard a thwaaack below us to the right. The thwaack, we discovered, was the sound of a golf ball being whacked by a Luana Hills golfer. It turned out the ditch trail was seventy meters above one of the fairways of the golf course. So much for the feeling of remote isolation. Just a bit ahead, Tom and I arrived at Ainoni Stream, one of the water sources of the ditch. An elevated wooden trestle, now rotted and collapsed, once stood at the spot. It was here that Tom and I decided to stop and turn back. We backtracked along the ditch trail and upon reaching the junction with the well-used trail down a spur ridge, our sense of adventure told us to check it out. After a hundred meters, the spur trail forked. The left fork descended to the golf course while the right headed back toward Aniani Nui. Right it was. Mapless but relying on well-honed wayfinding skills :-), we pushed forth, reckoning we'd find the extension of Old Government Road at some point. Well, we eventually did, but not before a bunch of bushwacking, bouts with threatening tangles of cat's claw (nasty stuff), and some sloshing in Makawao Stream. We climbed Old Government Road up to the left. After a few minutes, we saw a trail heading up a slope on the right. "A shortcut," we surmised. However, shortcuts, in hiking and in life, rarely pan out. This one was a case in point and took us to a hilltop that revealed we weren't quite where we expected/wanted to be. Ever the optimist, Tom exclaimed, "It's still early. We have all kinds of time." He was right, of course. He also reminded me of the day's mission: "Remember, we're looking for miconia." Yup, right you are, Tom. So we backtracked down to Old Government Road which eventually brought us to a junction. We turned right to continue climbing (I believe if we'd continued straight ahead we'd have descended to the golf course). In a few minutes, Tom and I arrived at the gap junction where everyone had regrouped in the morning. We radioed the others to let them know our location and then hiked back down to Waikupanaha and our cars. Even though I was shutout miconia-wise (someone found two plants early on but that was all for the outing), it turned out to be a good day, exploring-wise. Hiking along the ditch trail was interesting and pleasant, and I think I'll put a bug in Mabel's ear to create a novice/intermediate loop that includes the ditch trail and part of the demo trail with a start from Waikupanaha. We'll see how that goes. Hope everyone is having a pleasant weekend. --dkt