The View From Up Here
The view is stunning, but you can never escape the concrete. Dual elevated overpasses dominate Haiku Valley.
Story By Cynthia Oi
Photos By Dean Sensui
Star-BulletinThe greens are extraordinary. Luminous new leaves stipple the vigorous, darker tones on the huge trees and brushy shrubs that cling to the vertical sweep of the Koolaus. A white mist haunts the upper reaches of the cliffs that stretch toward the blue, blue sky. The ocean beyond mimics the blue until the boundary between water and atmosphere blurs.
A sign pointing out the view tends to block a lot of it.
Then the grays intrude, snaking a harsh path along the foot of the pali. They bombard the landscape with aggressive geometric sharpness; cold angles press into the earth.The greens surrender to the gray power of concrete.
The views from the 10 miles of the H-3 were ones that until recently few, save hikers and mountain climbers, had witnessed. But on this Sunday, thousands share that common experience, a celebration of man's ability to alter the natural to fit a perceived need on an island where too many people with too many cars want to get to too many places as fast, fast, fast as they can. Among those who pound their feet into the gray are some who shake their heads at the enormous weight of the gray. There are also others who even on foot want to get to the end of the road as fast, fast, fast as they can.
Walkers emerge from the tunnel at the Halawa end.
That the vistas are breathtaking is undeniable. But that bounty comes at a price that is precious.
A few days before the Great Trans Koolau Trek, tourists climb from their tour buses at the Pali Lookout. While the strong winds that tug at their clothes and hair bring giggles of delight, it is the view of the Koolaus and the sweep of green to the shoreline that captures them. They happily take photos of themselves in front of the landscape, not knowing that they are the unlucky ones because they didn't see the greens before the grays sliced through them from sea to slope.
Darcy Shoal and Lori Pang pose for photographer Shannon Miyasato
Still, beneath the grays, the greens lie in wait. On the Halawa Valley side of the tunnels, a seed has found a smudge of earth in a chink of the gray and the permissiveness of rain and sun has teased a shy stem and two delicate, hopeful leaves into being.The greens are extraordinary.
This composite shot made up of three images provides a spectacular wide-angle view of Kaneohe from the H-3, just before the tunnels.
