Tree Tunnel, Maluhia Road, Kaua'i
Location: Highway 520, Kauai, Hawaii
Created: 12/24/2011 7:07:39 am
Camera: EOS Canon 7D
Lens: EF 70-200mm IS USM; f/ 2.8; @ 70mm
Aperture: f/10; 1/50 sec.; ISO 2500
I woke up pre-dawn to get some me time before the wife and kids woke up. I drove towards the beach to the Tunnel of Trees on this day before Christmas. It was early Sunday, so zero traffic, and the god of light was smiling down on me.
I set up the tripod in the middle of the intersection, which would have been impossible to do any other day. The stage was set. No cars, check. No law enforcement, check. Great light, check. I especially liked that odd curve of the center line in the foreground.
The Tree Tunnel is around 175 years old. There are two versions of this planting of trees. One unconvincing description is that there was an excess of 500 left-over Eucalyptus trees donated by Walter Duncan McBryde from the landscaping of his estate at Kukuiolono. However, more likely, due to what a reliable Knudsen family source told me, is that these trees were imported from Australia and planted by Valdemar Knudsen in 1878 to help stabilize the then-soggy road over Knudsen Pass. Also, the tunnel of trees in those days was three miles long, three times longer than the present-day length.
The Tree Tunnel has survived 68 tropical cyclones since 1945. 44% did so during the month of August. On September 5, 1992, the most powerful recorded Hurricane, Iniki, made landfall on the south-central portion of Kauai and moved across the Island in 40 minutes; sustained winds of 100 to 120 mph, and wind gusts were estimated at 175 mph at landfall. There was an uncalibrated wind gust of 217 mph at Makaha Ridge. Iniki wiped out much of Kauai and defoliated most of the trees. Causing around $3.1 billion (equivalent to over $6 billion in 2023) in damage. it was the costliest natural disaster on record in the state, as well as the third-costliest hurricane in the United States.
Thankfully, nature is resilient. Kauai will never be the same as before Iniki; all the scars have been hidden by new vegetation. Nonetheless, for the most part, Kauai has quickly rebounded to its legendary majesty.
