A Little Tour Of A Koa Forest....

spruce

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Hey all...

For those of you who have not made the trip to say "hi" to the koa trees--or for those of you who have visited Hawaii but didn't make it to the higher elevations--here's a little tour of a koa forest on the Big Island...

Koa as thick as hairs on a dog's back:

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A beauty...
All totally protected, by the way:

P1010828.jpg


A windfall, cleared off the road:

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Thank you! Been to the big island a couple of times, but as you said, didn't make it to the forest - the volcano got all our attention. Beautiful to see Koa growing & know that at least some of those beautiful trees may make it into a future uke.
 
Thanks for the pics of the Koa forest.
 
Will it grow in the UK ? as the climate warms up???:D...I have plans for my grandson.:):)
 
I grew up with 3 Koa trees in my yard, used to climb all 3 one of them to get onto the top of the roof which was my "fortress of solitude". There was some kind of disease that killed that one tree, and my dad as he got older got tired of raking the numerous small leaves and flowers that fell so he eventually had them cut down. I was on Maui at the time, and a woodturner so I told him to please save me a log from that last Koa tree. That was about 5 years ago. Both my parents passed away since, and I still have that Koa log which is about 12 inches in diameter and 4 feet tall. I was going to turn bowls from it but the more I think about the more I want to make a 'ukulele from it a pineapple soprano which was my dad's favorite.
 
That would be way cool Ahnko!! And thanks Spruce for the pic's, they really made me homesick.
 
Thanks so much for the wonderful photos. I love koa (I have a gorgeous large jewelry box as well as my ukes). It is nice to see my favorite wood in its natural state.
 
Thank you for sharing these pics. I would have guessed that their bark would be dark. Goes to show what a midwestern knows!!!
 
I grew up with a giant osage orange in my back yard and never knew... gone now.
 
Cool....I've never seen a Hawaiian Koa tree before. Thanks for posting the pics!!!
 
Nice photos Spruce. How much of that windfall fit in your trunk??

Ya know, in days gone by--and if it was legal--that chunk would have been cut up and loaded, and probably be in ukes by now.... ;)

But all the koa in those pics--including windfalls and snags--are protected from harvesting...
Those chunks might still be laying by the side of the road...
 
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