The Alakai’i Swamp

We have hiked almost all of the trails on the Island of Kauai.     Koke’e State Park has some of the best trails.     It is located on top of the mountain with many of the trails in the caldera of the extinct volcano (Wai’aleale).     The area inside the caldera is jungle, swamp and a few ridges.     The Alakai’i trail drops into the swamp and uses a series of boardwalks to traverse over to the rim on the east side.    After hiking through the swampy jungle, we arrive on a mountaintop marsh.     The trail ends at a viewpoint overlooking the Napali Coast with Hanalei in the distance.   The open marsh boardwalk is a favorite spot, one we have hiked a few times and we hope to go back to do it again.

Camera – Canon R70 Location – Island of Kauai Date – April, 2014

 

 

Estuary Grasses in the Wind

This photo was taken on hike on a grey late-winter’s day in the estuary area for the South Thompson River near Kamloops Lake.    The area floods during freshet so all plants have to tolerate higher salt concentrations and poor soil.    Below the grasses we can see the black roots of scouring rush in the silt banks.     The wind was strong, blowing the grasses right to left.    Standing above and in the distance was Mount Mara, dark and looking like the prow of a battleship.     I chose not to brighten the background, the foreboding dark shapes contrast with the foreground shapes and colours.

I also captured some video of the grasses in the wind and it will be included as a clip in a video to be published soon.

Camera – Galaxy S22 Location – near Tranquille Date – March 8th, 2024