Helicopter over Hawaii

We took a helicopter ride to get a better look at volcanoes and waterfall….the overall terrain of the Big Island. It was quite an experience. My seat assignment was in the middle front (seating was three across in the front and 4 across in the back). We made a loop around the island over a two-hour period. A little over half way through we landed at the bottom of a 400-foot-high waterfall. A narrow strip of land divides the waterfall from the ocean. The land is privately owned so not something that can be seen except via a helicopter tour that has obtained permission.

Afterwards we flew up one of the valleys and saw more waterfalls. Some of them were in areas that could be hiked…but they would definitely take a lot of energy to see and, based on my other experience in the rain forest, might be very difficult to see through all the foliage on the ground.

The deep valleys stand out from the air and how neatly cultivates some areas are. Pineapple and sugar cane are no long the cash crops of the island. There are cattle ranches and eucalyptus forests…Kona is known for coffee…macadamia nuts near Hilo. The eye searches for man-made structures to provide scale to the scenes - bridges across deep valleys or the buildings of Hilo. On the lava fields and the shoreline, the edge of the forest provides a notion of scale but the power of lava to change the terrain is evident everywhere. There were tiny areas where flowing lava was visible before it flowed underneath solidified lava through a lava tube.

At the end of the ride – we headed back to the helicopter base….made on an old lava flow. I missed the green already!

Previous Hawaii Posts:

• Getting to Hawaii
• Thurston Lava Tube and Kilauea Iki Trail
• Chain of Craters Road
• Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden
• Lava Tree State Park
• Maunakea
• Akaka Falls State Park
• Puu Makaala Natural Area Reserve
• Punalu’u Black Sand Beach, South Point, and Green Sand Beach

Stony Brook State Park - August 2015

The first and last park we visited in our trek to state parks in New York back in August was Stony Brook State Park. The first time we were in the park was a hot Monday afternoon - and there were lots of people in the water. It was hard to get pristine pictures of anything. We returned during a damp and cool morning a few days later; the only other people in the park were park personnel!

There is a lot of moving water in the park: large falls and little trickles. The gray day made it easier to photograph.

My favorite of the images is a low falls - a little dark with the greens  and mists of late summer framing the water.

I liked the stone bridges

And wooden bridges.

Both had lichen and moss growing on their stone abutments.

There were some leaves that looked worn from summer…getting ready for fall.

There were berries ripening too.

There were a few cairns but not as many as we saw at Robert H. Treman State Park.

Last but not least - there was a spider waiting patiently in a web suspended from hemlock branches full of water droplets.

Taughannock Falls State Park - August 2015

After passing through Montour Falls, we stopped by the overlook of Taughannock Falls. They were renovating the facilities at the overlook so parking was somewhat limited…and thunder was rumbling. We only stayed for about 15 minutes. We had been to the area (both the overlook and the trail at the bottom of the falls) many times when my daughter was living in nearby Ithaca.

The water falls from a great height (on the same order as Niagara Falls…but much less water). The overlook is from several levels.

I walked took the stairs down to the railing in the picture to the above and looked to see the bridge over the river below - part of the hike to the bottom of the falls.

I also zoomed to see the top of the falls. There is a curve in the stream not far from the rim…and I always wander where it goes.

There was one branch of read leaves that stood out in the otherwise green background….fall is on the way.