The Pu'u O'o trail is one of my favorite trails on Hawaii Island. Here you can see native plants and birds, away from the urban crowds. my friends and I often make a day of it, packing a simple bento lunch to eat up in the mountains. Here we can enjoy the fresh open air and getaway from the urban world for a while. We usually find a quiet place to eat and to rest for a while before heading back down to Hilo. We often chill out and relax in the cool mountain air, with only the native forest birds to sing to us.
This cache is located off the main trail in an area just outside the third kipuka, (an forested area bypassed by lava flows. ) You can either go in before you reach the third kipuka, or after on the other side. A little bushwacking my be required, but it shouldn't be that hard to reach it , if you are in good shape.
Follow the marked trail through the first kipuka until you see the meadow, then follow the trail through the meadow through the second kipuka, as it thins out, ohia trees start to get further apart, here you will see a lot of Akala or Hawaiian raspberry plants, as well as strawberries. From there, about a 50 yards from the third kipuka is where you can enter. You need to walk parallel to the kipuka to an field with smooth pahoehoe lava. It's not easy, but the cache is where we had our last lunch. From this area, if you look towards Mauna Loa you can see the trail markers of the marked trail, about 100 yards away.
This is not an easy adventure, so only try it at your own risk. I do not recommend doing this alone.Take some time to relax and enjoy Hawaii's nature....become one with the 'aina....take a nap!
Please replace the cache exactly as you found it, and please, NO SPOILERS in the cache logs.
As always when caching on the Saddle, come prepared for weather for it can literally change in minutes, and bring water.
Have fun and be safe....Aloha!
Mahalo to Wholagal.....FTF! Oops she did it again, great job.