Kangaroo Hunt

Sunrays spill over clouds; a city awaits a new day

DATE: 13 August, 2010
TOTAL TIME: 3 hrs
DIFFICULTY: Easy
PARTICIPANTS: “Reef Shoes” Jason, Me
REHIKE VALUE: 10

The hunt begins for Oahu’s kangaroo! In 1916, two rock wallabies escaped from a private collection into the wild and started a breeding colony in the Ko’olau range that still exists today. Some have been captured for study, but released back into the wild as a conservation effort. Over the last century, they have evolved and gotten smaller, and scientists predict they will be declared as a different species altogether in years to come.

I seriously don’t know why I’m looking for these things. I’ve seen real kangaroo when I lived in Australia years back. Probably because I just want to paste it on my blog. We started our search using intel from sketchy reports from Fort Shafter and a news clip very vaguely describing a sighting location somewhere in the back of the Kalihi valley. Fort Shafter is where we started.

Radar hill road junction

Views like this are commonplace atop Bowman Ridge

I was looking for rock faces in the hillside. Then holes in rock as these little fuckers love to live in them. I scouted out some possible areas the day before from my Kamanaiki hike, and this morning’s Kamanaiki hike (read earlier blog), so we could narrow our search.

First of all, we didn’t have that much time. After this morning’s hike and a scouting mission of Piliwale ridge, we had a late start of 1600. That said, we must have walked about five to six miles, either on road or through [fill in the blank] plants. After beating brush (and there were lots of brush) and finding out all the areas we looked at were either eroded washouts or right next to road, we decided that our approach was all wrong. As they said in Spaceballs, “Man, we ain’t found shit!”

Erosion from rain and development

I’m planning on doing this at least once a week till I find them. The little bastards were probably nudging each other making jokes while we walked right by them. Things will have to change for the next time if I’m to have any luck. The search continues…

Coming out of the pine forest

Ground bleeds red in the sunset