-150- 
Gill, Douglas E , 
1 9 & 
Kauai 
directions. We had gone too far on the road. On the crest of the hill 
above where we had parked is a sign indicating some forest reserve (Noa 
Poli-Kona ? ) and hunting seasons. We went to take the road to the left. 
We cautiously drove down the M^hihi road since it was pretty slick from 
last night's rain. We were only doing this because it was so crystal clear 
that we were sure the road would dry up in a few hours. We couldn't get 
up the grade beyond the first little bridge so we parked there and hiked up 
to the sign which was only about l/2 mile. We followed the road to the 
left which followed the powerline on the crest of the ridge. After about 
l/2 mile the road ended and we took the trail continuation. The trail was 
mostly a wet muddy puddled mess and we finally gave up trying to keep dry. 
We came out to a flat area which iras open around us. We continued on the 
trail which stopped down, across a stream (across which I traded) and up the 
other side. The trail continued to be mostly mud holes. It climbed up a 
ridge through some neat forests. Larry tried to collect another Elepaio but 
l 
failed. The trail finally came up to a broad, topped ridge which was really 
a real soggy grassland with low thick wet bushes. This one common low grotring 
shrub had ohia like blossoms, but had a very rounded leaf. The trail became 
quite obscure but was really just a series of potholes and mudholes through 
this soggy plain. This must be Alakai swamp but was on top of a ridge rather 
than a lowland swamp. The potholes were often obscure with some short tundris 
like grass and I felt up to my hips in one such trap. The entire place was 
very tundris like, especially when it became very misty. There were frequent 
slashes through the thick brush, the entire trail under water or wet mud. 
