Ka'aha Bay
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Ka'aha Bay

As you get closer and closer to the little bay it looks better and better. Here you see that surrounding the bay is a nice green patch and the surf is nicely feeding any acquatic fare that care to call this place their home.

This picture is taken from an escarpment that rises 60 feet from the beach level about 300 yards inland forming what I would term the first bench of the return pali climb.

It is only when you make it this far that you start to feel the sun as it is able to burn through most of the cloud cover. So you will be anxious to get in the water.


Kalue Trail to Ka'aha

This is the general description of the terrain that you have to negotiate on your hike to the shore. The path is good and easy to travel. It is marked by numerous piles of rock that you see here cascading to the horizon. I would have to put it down as one of the seven engineering marvels of Volcanoes National Park, the tenacity of its rangers to construct in such numbers and on such a grande scale the markers, similiar, that you will encounter on this march. Any more and you could easily walk the tops of them the whole way!

There is an incredible silence to be experienced in the middle of this walk. Near the shore there is a tern that will chirp you away from her nest and nearer the pali and the crickets will speak softly.


Birth Stone on the Trail

I have heard that the ancient royal Hawaiians used to send their pregnant women to a cave when their time came for some royal advantage. Since I do not follow folklore much, I can't tell you why. But as I was traversing this magnificent trail in the exact middle of nowhere, there appeared this cave that you can not miss if you stick to the trail with an unbelievable boulder that has a polished glassy finish to it that is a little hard to believe. The picture does not quite do justice to the glaze of its surface. And the crazy stone is royal purple!

Since the cave is actually large enough for me to crawl into easily on either side of the boulder, please be advised that I am reserving it for the birth of my next incarnation.


Pali View from Ka'aha

As you finally gain your reward and make your assault on the beach, you realize that the greenery that you assumed was grass from your far off reckoning, turns out to be rather a network of succulent vines encircling the area, and except for the man made path, cutting off your retreat.

As you expect though the little bay is nicely protected, sandy bottomed, and has many lagoons, inlets, and arms anxious to be explored. Alas, I can not name anything since there were a few other campers here before I arrived, but I shall long treasure these pictures as the reward for my great march this day.


Ka'aha Bay

As you look up the beach, toward where the volcano must presently be emptying her latest charge into the sea, you take note of those crazy high bluffs that weren't there before. That is, you didn't notice any bluffs as you were hiking down here.

They are just the coastal bluffings and account for the first bench that you must scale if you intend to go back the way you came via the pali trail.

The bay, the bluffs, the sea, and the sky all combine nicely enough here to grace a camping stay, should you so choose. (There is fresh water and a toilet provided by the park service here.)