Hawaii Big Island - Caching & Hiking

[+triturtle]

My wife and I are heading to the Big Island in April and looking for some help/hints from anyone who has taking their GPS to the big island.

 

Q1. Is the GARMIN MapSource US TOPO 24K National Parks worth getting? We plan to hike at least one day in Volcano National Park plus I live in Colorado so having the whole west region would come in useful down the road.

 

Q2. I am staying on the west side of the island (north of Kona) but plan to hike all over. I've been kicking around moving from the etrex legend Cx up to the 60CSx. Is there enough tree cover to substantially screw up reception of the satellites?

 

Q3. Any recommended caches on the island?

 

Thanks in advance.

[+Kealia]

You'll have better luck with responses in the regional forums for the West.

 

Quick couple of answers:

 

- You really don't need the topo maps for out there (at least we never have)

 

- Tree cover is not a problem in 99% of the places out there that have caches. The bigger problem is sunscreen and having GOOD footwear that you can use to travel over lava. Sandals and cheap shoes melt and get slashed up pretty good (no kidding)

 

- Kona = nice

 

- Some caches on the Big Island that I recommended before:

 

I'd recommend South Point as well - being at the Southern-most place in the US is just kinda cool. The hike to Green Sands will depend on how much the family wants to hike, though.

 

On your way South (presumably) to South Point, you can also grab a near park and grab at Black Sands beach by hitting Malama 'Aina.

 

More North (beween Kona and the Waikaloa Village) is a lesser known area that will take you to this cache: Blue Lagoon

 

South of Kona is Place of Refuge (GREAT history and and easy grab afterwards): Respect the Refuge.

 

Tell me more about where you will be and what the family will put up with and I can narrow down some more for ya.

 

Lots of history and things to see here.

[+triturtle]

Thanks for the tips. My wife and I are staying at the Marriott in Waikaloa Village. First time to the Island so we are ready to explore. My wife isn't as adventurous a hiker as I am (I will hike almost anything), but game for a good hike. We have a week on the island so can probably use geocaching to explore places we might not normally go to.

[+DavidMac]

If you want to hike in the National Park, don't forget to make the trip out to Hot Rox. Just take lots of water and sunscreen, and be prepared for a long, rough walk with no shade.

 

You said this will be your first trip to the Big Island, but have you been to any of the other islands before? Most of the island is pretty barren with the exception of the area around Hilo (the windward side), but overhead vegetation isn't much of a problem on the Kona side.

[+Team GeoBlast]

My wife and I are heading to the Big Island in April and looking for some help/hints from anyone who has taking their GPS to the big island.

 

Q1. Is the GARMIN MapSource US TOPO 24K National Parks worth getting? We plan to hike at least one day in Volcano National Park plus I live in Colorado so having the whole west region would come in useful down the road.

 

Q2. I am staying on the west side of the island (north of Kona) but plan to hike all over. I've been kicking around moving from the etrex legend Cx up to the 60CSx. Is there enough tree cover to substantially screw up reception of the satellites?

 

Q3. Any recommended caches on the island?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Aloha!

 

I think US TOPO is a good program to have if you do a lot of hiking but you won't need it specifically in Volcanos. All you need to know about elevations in the park, you can learn about at the visitors center. There's very few places there that you can't see for a very long distance there too. So if you are looking for an excuse to pull the trigger.. yes, you'll need it.

 

I've lived here for 20 years and Volcanos is still my favorite place to visit. My suggestions there would be Thurstens Lava Tube for your wife as it is a huge tube that they've put rails and lights in. Now.. depending on how you feel about caves and how patient your wife is.. the second part of the lava tube is totally unimproved and natural. Bring a good flashlight and tell your wife you will be back in about 45 minutes. You will experience a darkness that you've never seen back there. Almost every time I go back there I find some tourist that have gone in there without a flashlight and have to help them out... so when going into a dark 300-400 tunnel, bring light.

 

If the lava is flowing, try to stay down and see it at night. It's worth the adventure. The road back is a doosey at night. We always stay at one of the nice B&Bs in the village because we usually don't come out until 10:00pm or so.

 

As it was mentioned, the Kona side where are staying is pretty much a volcanic wasteland. Of course the resorts are beautiful and green but the caching over on that side is pretty much rock hopping. Head over to Hilo side for the Hawaii you probably have seen in the brochures.

 

I have a night cache The Black Hole very near where you are staying that travels on the Kings Trail, the first trail around the island. It's another chance to see a black that is blacker than any black you've known. I'd suggest contact Kona Gold or Kailuameraid or Escondido 100 and asking for recommendations. They've found most of them there.

 

Good luck.. email me directly if you need any specific information.

 

TGB

Edited March 20, 2007 by Team GeoBlast

[+escondido100]

aloha.....and welcome to geocaching on the big island.....there are some fun geocaches here. team geoblast has a great night cache called the black hole. i have 5 hides here that you can look for....there are also a few new ones here that will be fun. i dont think you will need any special maps......at least i have never felt the need. my garmin has a very basic hawaii map that was included....it basically shows major roads and coastline....that seems to be enuf for the 70 or so caches convenient to the west side. i rarely have problems with tree cover or clouds affecting my sat reception...mostly open lava filelds.....there are three earth caches down at volcano park. have fun.

when here feel free to drop me and email and we can hit a few if you like........

[+StarDoc]

I was there a year ago with a group of my students. Found my first cache ever on the Big Island. Hope to be back there next year...

 

To add to the responses so far, check out South Point. There's a cache at South Point itself, plus take the hike to the Green Sand Beach, where I think there is still a cache. Well worth the trip.

 

Wai'pio Valley has a cache and a great view, but it is kind of out of the way. I seem to remember there is a lava tube with a cache not far from Waimea. I also seem to remember several in the Kailua-Kona area. The virtuals in Volcanoes NP, as mentioned above, are fun, especially the one called Devil's Throat.

 

Hilo has several caches, if you get to that side of the island (about a 2 hour drive from where you will be). I especially enjoyed Rainbow Falls. The north and east side of the isalnd are an entirely different world from the Kona side, with the lush rain forests and all. Laupahoehoe Park is a neat and sobering stop along the northern highway, as is Akaka Falls.

 

Finally, there is a cache near the visitor's center at 9000' on Mauna Kea. The trip up there is also worth it. They set up telescopes there every evening, so stay and look at the stars. South Point and Mauna Kea are dependent on your rental car agreement though (if you are getting one). Several rental companies don't allow you to take their cars on the SP and Saddle Roads.

 

Enjoy your trip there. I can't wait to get back.

 

Disclaimer: Sorry if I misspelled anything.

Edited March 21, 2007 by StarDoc

[+DavidMac]

Forgot to mention this earlier, but as for paper maps, we picked up a folding topo map for about $4 from a visitor center and used it to plan most of our hikes. It has a white cover with blue and green writing and unfolds accordion style with a big map of the island on one side and a placename index on the back. It also shows major lava flows along with dates (I'm sure the family got tired of me announcing that "this flow we're driving through occurred in 1907" after about two days...)