Back on the Big Island

It did stop raining, if only for two days, and I made it to the Waimea Canyon. But even if my wishes were granted, Gunnar Hrafn's wont be. That is of course only because I'm an evil person.

Friday was actually nice enough that I went to the beach for a little while, before having lunch at a ridiculous tourist trap claiming to be the nicest little restaurant this side of eternity. Afterwards I made my way to the airport in Lihue to pick up my pal Chris(-topher) who was going to help me with fieldwork in the canyon and surrounding areas. I hadn't seen Chris for a year and a half, but we first met at a conference in Chile in late 2004. By Friday I had been driving around Kaua'i by myself for five days and was showing alarming symptoms of losing my mind (if it hadn't been for "My Life", read by the author, I'd probably be tucked away in some asylum by now) so Chris' company was most welcome.

On Saturday we made our way into the Waimea Canyon and got an incredible lot of sampling done. Even if the heavens spared us rain on Friday and Saturday every little soil pore on the island was full of water and the rivers were still huge. We did make an honest attempt to ford the Waimea river in the canyon but I realized, one step into the river and with water up to my crotch, that it wouldn't be a good idea. Not that it mattered, all the tributaries that were bone-dry last year were raging torrents this time and I got more samples than I ever imagined.

We just made it out of the canyon before dark and soon thereafter the clouds started rolling in. During the night we had the most awesome thunderstorm I've ever been in, the lightnings lit up the cabin and the thunder rocked the ground. Torrential rain accompanied the storm and lasted uninterrupted until I left the island on Monday morning.

By now the biogeochemistry class has begun here on the Big Island and thereby also my official TA duties. Ten of the twelve students have already taken the one-semester long biogeo class that I TA-ed last semester, so I think I'll have a pretty easy time this year. Nice.