| Morita Camp Trail | |||||
| This is a nice hike that goes across
emergent ohia forest and through a kipuka filled with hapuu (giant tree
ferns). The trail is mostly cobble so I suggest very hard-soled
shoes. The turn-off from Saddle Road is just before the 16 mile
marker on the North side of the road. There are two turn-offs in
this area and this would be the second one. If you've made the
correct turn-off, you'll immediately see the green storage shack
straight ahead. Continue on past the shack and bear left.
After a short distance, you'll next see a hunter's lean-to where the
hunters leave a piece of clothing for one of their lost dogs to find and
stay next to until the hunter returns.
I you mistakely take the first turn-off, all is not lost. This road leads to a large, open field which used to be a storage area for power poles during the power line installation project. It's now used as a target practice area for hunters. This July, the open area was very good for picking ohelo berries. I have only gone so far as a half mile past the kipuka, but the trail does go all the way to the Wailuku stream for a ~ 5 mile round-trip. Within the kipuka, the avid birder will no doubt get a case of "warbler neck" since the birds are mostly in the canopy directly overhead. But it was here that I first saw a juvenile, forest green i'iwi...
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| Morita Camp Trail Topographic Map | |||||
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| GPS Data Points at ~ 1/2 Mile Intervals | |||||
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| Morita Camp Trail Elevation Profile | |||||
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