Berry Flats Trail Walk

Last Tuesday, my family and I drove through the heart of Kauai to see Waimea Canyon. While we were in the dense jungle, I was determined to find some fungi for my observations this week. I talked to an expert that knew all the different trails, and they pointed me to the Berry Flats Trail. While the trail was only 0.6 miles long, I walked around for about 45 minutes. The entrance was very narrow and steep at first, but it soon opened up to this forest of redwood trees. It was breathtaking. I wasn't very hopeful that I would be able to find any fungi very easily since I had never noticed them on previous trips and hikes, and it wasn't Hawaii's wet season. However, I found a giant colony of fungi decomposing a fallen tree about five minutes into my walk. As I continued my search, I heard a lot of movement in the bushes. It was startling at first, but then out of the foliage came a big rooster!

When the path opened up more, we were greeted with a large area to explore. There I found two stumps with Fungi growing on them. They were much smaller than the last ones that I had observed, but it looked like the stump was fairly new. I expect there will be more if I visit in the future. At the end of the trail, the path goes further downhill to a much cooler and wetter section of the forest. There I found a massive fungus growing on another dead tree. As we were walking back to the car, my dad noticed a lot of fungi right in front of our car growing on a living tree! Looking for different fungi made this walk a lot more fun because we all had a goal in mind; I didn't even mind that it was 85 degrees out. I can't wait for my next adventure!

Publicado el 10 de junio de 2023 por jacobcoons