Monsieur's Maps · No. VIII
The last place in my soul. This is the Big Island as I keep it — the volcano still breathing at the island's heart, the white summit of Mauna Kea up above the clouds, the falls at Akaka, and Sig Zane down in Hilo, where the aloha shirt is treated as the art it is.
The Volcano
Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park — Kilauea still awake, the caldera glowing after dark, and the steam rising where the island is quite literally still being made.
Mauna Kea
The white mountain — nearly fourteen thousand feet, snow at the summit, the great observatories, and a sky so clear the whole galaxy comes out. Go up for the sunset, stay for the stars.
Akaka Falls
Four hundred feet of water off a fern cliff north of Hilo — a short loop through the rainforest and there it is, roaring into the green.
Sig Zane
The design house on Kamehameha Avenue in Hilo — where the aloha shirt is treated as the art it is, every print rooted in the plants and chants of these islands. My favorite shop in Hawai'i.