Back in the Saddle, Again
Posted: Tue Jan 18, 2011 1:40 am
This last Sunday a couple friends and I decided to take a ride over the Saddle Road again, to check out the snow on the mountain. Here's the view from Kamuela of an old Parker Ranch building, snow capped Mauna Kea to the South: 
another view from Kamuela, with Mauna Loa in the distance. We will be riding up through the gap between them. 
About halfway up the mountain, the new pavement starts, in the area around Waikii Ranch: 
Lots of nice twisties for about 10 miles and then we come to the crest, before the drop into the valley. Looking south at Mauna Loa: 
Here's my riding buddies Hap and Jim. Jim rides a '02 Honda VTX 1800 putting out 106hp. 
Hap rides a 1500cc Kawasaki Drifter that's had an Indian makeover. Good looking bike: 
This new highway is a joy to ride... fast! You can see the volcanic haze getting blown east in this photo: 
Next we dropped into the fern forest, the cloud forest above the native forest, with a few spindly Ohia in the background. 
More to come...
another view from Kamuela, with Mauna Loa in the distance. We will be riding up through the gap between them. About halfway up the mountain, the new pavement starts, in the area around Waikii Ranch: Lots of nice twisties for about 10 miles and then we come to the crest, before the drop into the valley. Looking south at Mauna Loa: Here's my riding buddies Hap and Jim. Jim rides a '02 Honda VTX 1800 putting out 106hp. Hap rides a 1500cc Kawasaki Drifter that's had an Indian makeover. Good looking bike: This new highway is a joy to ride... fast! You can see the volcanic haze getting blown east in this photo: Next we dropped into the fern forest, the cloud forest above the native forest, with a few spindly Ohia in the background. More to come...
You can see the white buildings of Hilo on the shoreline. We stopped for a break in the shade of a big Banyan tree on Hilo Bayfront: 
Right across the street is the old town of Hilo, an area that was spared the devastation of the last few tsunamis by being on the north side of the bay. The south side of town was almost completely wiped out! Big open memorial park there now. The S.Hata building, with the red awning, is the home of the second Cafe Pesto, with the Hilo Farmers Market to the left. 
On the bayfront is the old bandstand, now a popular hangout for the homeless in this rainy town. 
From the bandstand you get a nice view of the bay and the Hamakua coastline stretching to the North: 
We dropped down to Laupahoehoe Point, one of the many, nice state parks. This was the location of the rained out motorcycle rally a few months back. 
Again, another view North from the park: 
We stopped at a friends house in Honokaa to check out stories of a "barn find" carriage in somebodys garage, and found this: 
It must have been owned by someone rich and famous, maybe the King himself... Finished off with a nice blast up the hill and home. Hope you enjoyed.
Hey Rob, can you go to 
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