Teacher, and long time resident Pete Morton remembers working to help maintain this trail with a machete in decades past. As we followed the trail through a young 'Ohi'a forest, he talked about the fight to maintain access to the ocean here as a classic struggle between private business interests and Native Hawaiian gathering rights.

Historic boundary walls rebuilt over time trace segments of the ancient Ala Loa, or "long trail", which follows the Puna coast to Hilo and spanned much of the entire island's coast in old Hawai'i.

HAAS seniors exploring Ha‘ena bay.

Every day, several million gallons of brackish water flow from the spring fed pond at Hā‘ena into the shallow lagoon. There are even a few springs that bubble up from the sand at the lagoon’s edge.

Cold, freshwater springs fed by rainwater bubble up from the sand at the lagoon here at Haena. Since the flow is considerable, the sand is lie quicksand and if you step near a spring opening you will sink down into the disturbed sand.

The lagoon

Learning about the sea creatures present in the area.

The loko ‘i‘a at Ha'ena is an ancient fish pond and most of the fish here were reserved for ali'i in old Hawai'i. In 1918 Herbert Shipman began using this pond as a breeding area for Nene, Hawai'i's endangered native goose, which he introduced from the wild, His birds were successful and you can still see the descendants of these Nene here, but we were not so lucky on this trip.

Green Sea Turtles (Honu) frequently haul out here at Ha'ena because it is the only accessible beach for miles along the coast. It serves as a haven for these endangered turtles to rest and to escape predators.

Learning about the site's hydrology.

Another sleeping Honu

This plant is called Star of Bethlehem. The milky sap is poisonous and can cause blindness. Good to know.