Along the Trail
The Hawaiian Trail & Mountain Club Newsletter
July - August - September 2004
ANNUAL MEETING ELECTION RESULTS
For those who missed the annual meeting and those who have not heard the results of the last board meeting, here is a brief update of our officers and board members.
Peter Kempf was re-elected president and Ed Gilman was elected vice-president.
Carmen Craig will be stepping down as recording secretary, and Brenda Cowan and Ena Sroat have been appointed to fill her place. Brenda was also appointed as entertainment chair.
Roger Breton is replacing Grant Oka, who stepped down as Clubhouse committee chair.
Jay Feldman and Patrick Rorie declined to run for re-election to the board, although Patrick will remain corresponding secretary.
Thea Ferentinos and Ed Gilman were elected to fill their seats.
All other officers and committee chairs remain the same as last year.
KLUBHOUSE KOKUA
Peter Kempf
Our beautiful and valued property in Waimanalo is in need of some tender loving care, as evidenced by the related article in this newsletter and in our third quarter schedule. Our property should be a source of pride and accomplishment for all of our members, and we encourage all members to use and enjoy this tremendous asset.
Improvements to our property are ongoing and require not only regular maintenance performed by staff and property management personnel, but the always much appreciated help from our volunteers on scheduled workdays. I encourage all of you who can make the time and have the skills and ability to assist us in these valuable endeavors to come out and join us in making our property an even better venue for our activities. Mahalo.
INTERESTED IN YOUR CLUBHOUSE’S FUTURE?
Thea Ferentinos
The initial meeting of the Clubhouse Renovations / Replacement Task Force Committee will be July 9, 2004 at 7p.m. at the HTMC Clubhouse. The committee will be tasked with carrying out the following motion, which was passed by the membership at the HTMC Annual Meeting on April 18, 2004:
"In view of the recent opinion poll of the membership, in which the majority of those responding indicated an interest in building a new clubhouse, it is moved that the Board of Directors be tasked with creating a committee to investigate the feasibility of such a project, including looking into various plans, designs, building costs, demolition costs, permits and alternatives, upon which the membership can base an informed decision, and that the Board present the committee’s findings and recommendations at the next annual meeting, or possibly at a special meeting."
Can the club financially cover the costs of building a new clubhouse? What design would a new clubhouse have? What would it cost to upgrade the current historic structure, and in what type of structural condition is our clubhouse now? If you have vision, organizational and technical skills, or simply an interest in our clubhouse’s future, we hope you will attend a meeting and contribute to the task. If you have any questions, please call Peter Kempf, President, or any member of the Board of Directors.
CASTLE-OLYMPUS TRAIL
The Board of Directors has received a letter from the State Department of Land & Natural Resources regarding the restoration work which has occurred recently on this trail. The trail is within the State owned Honolulu Watershed Forest Reserve (a Restricted Watershed), and portions of it are within a Federally designated Critical Habitat. Although the original construction of the trail predates the current conservation and environmental regulations, these regulations are still applicable. No work should be done on this trail without first applying to the appropriate State and Federal agencies.
The State recognizes the recreational and management value of restored access along this trail. They understand that this work is not an official Club activity, but ask that the Club utilize its communication network to alert the hiking community that trail clearing at this location must be terminated.
The Board asks anyone who may be working on this trail to comply with the State request.
HALAWA WATERFALLS ACCESS
Richard McMahon
The following article provides the latest information about public access to Moa`lua and Hipuapua Waterfalls in Halawa Valley on Molokai. It was furnished by Curt Cottrell, Forestry and Wildlife Division DLNR.
When local residents began barring hikers from the trail to the falls about ten years ago, Na Ala Hele entered the picture, with a view toward possibly establishing a public access to these popular waterfalls. With residents claiming that hikers were trespassing on their private lands, NAH found that a historic public trail does exist in the valley, but that its exact boundaries and extent could only be determined by a detailed survey.
There are currently 57 property owners in the valley, some of whom are openly hostile to a survey, some concerned with hikers and tourists crossing on or near their land, some who want to maintain the privacy and isolation of their homes, and still others who would like to see the valley restored to a taro lo`i culture. With so many conflicting views and ownerships, it will continue to be difficult to satisfy the desires of all parties.
The most common route used for years to reach Moaula Falls was to go mauka along a short dirt road on the left side of the valley, (once a historic trail but now an unimproved county road), cut across the stream through private parcels, and then proceed on the historic trail along the right side of the valley to the falls.
Curt also points out that both waterfalls and the pools below them are on private property belonging to Pu`u Hoku Ranch, so that even if the historic trail could be defined, it would not afford public access to the privately-owned waterfalls. Even if access agreements can be worked out, a parking area would need to be found, and land is very limited in the valley.
Another important consideration is the history of Halawa Valley. Halawa is one of the first places settled by the original Hawaiians, and many owners are sensitive to intrusion into what they consider to be a place sacred to their ancient culture. They do not look favorably on activities that would bring tourists and outsiders to their valley.
It appears from the above, that there is no easy solution to the problem of access to the waterfalls. Those of us who have visited them in the past have done so by unknowingly trespassing on Pu`u Hoku Ranch property, albeit without open interference from the owner. In reaching the falls, we also may have trespassed on other private holdings, as some residents have claimed. The existence of a historic trail in Halawa Valley does not imply access over private lands, but rather a means of access between such properties. Such private properties might lie in the path of access to the trail today, much as they do here on Oahu to such trails as Schofield-Waikane, Poamoho, Kipapa, DuPont, and others.
With all of the above in mind, for those who are determined to visit the waterfalls, the best solution might be an accommodation with a valley resident, either by hiring a guide or paying a fee.
One way to visit the falls is by renting a cabin at Pu`u O Hoku Ranch. There are two cabins on ranch property, renting for $125 and $165 per night, one accommodating up to 4, and the other up to 8 persons. Guests staying at the cabins are given permission to hike to the falls when requested. For more informa tion call 808-558-8109.
VIAGRA FOR MOUNTAINEERS?
Joyce Oka
According to a news report, Viagra isn’t just for lovers–it’s also for mountain climbers. It turns out that the anti-impotence drug improves breathing at high altitudes. Viagra blocks an enzyme that can inhibit blood flow to the penis. That same enzyme also limits blood flow to the lungs when air is thin. With the enzyme blocked, the improved blood flow allows more oxygen to be sent to all the cells of the body.
HISTORY OF THE HTMC - PART 1
John Hall
[This is the first of a two-part article dealing with the early history of our club by John]
The Palolo Lions Club asked our Trail Maintenance Chair, Mabel Kekina, to give them a talk on current HTMC activities on Wednesday, November 5, 2003. Mabel has been the contact person for the search and rescue operations that the Club has become increasingly involved over the past few years, and I think that the Lions were interested in these. Since I have been a member of the Club since 1962, Mabel asked me to come with her and give a brief outline of HTMC history, as a lead-in to her talk. In preparing for this assignment, I found many episodes in the history of the club that I had not been aware of, but which seemed quite interesting, and I thought that it would be worthwhile to write these up for the general membership.
The Early Years: Power, Energy, and Ambition
The Hawaiian Trail and Mountain Club was founded in 1910 almost as a quasi-official branch of the Territorial Government (I hope that I have added enough qualifiers to that statement). It happened this way: In 1907 a delegation of the Territorial Transportation Committee traveled to Australia and New Zealand to discuss plans to stimulate travel to the Pacific region with the tourism agencies of those countries. While there, the delegation investigated the tourist attractions that these lands had to offer, and found that one popular feature was the network of trails with conveniently spaced rest houses along them that allowed visitors to reach areas of scenic beauty or other value. On its return to Hawai’i, the group recommended that a similar trail system be established in the Islands.
Not much was done for several years, but in 1910, Alexander Hume Ford, who also started the Outrigger Canoe Club and the Pan Pacific Union, called a convention for the purpose of establishing a Club to promote the building of such a trails system. Ford was not one for half-measures and a major effort was made to get the Club off to a flying start. Not only were representatives from each of the major outer Islands invited, but a delegation from the Appalachian Club of New England and another from the Sierra Club of California were in attendance (and remember, this was before commercial air travel). The Panama Canal was not even open for business yet. To come to Hawai’i was a long, serious trip, especially for the New Englanders.
On April 5, 1910, the Hawaiian Trail and Mountain Club was founded with 100 charter members, each paying $5 in initiation fees and $5 a year dues. (Multiply by 10 or even 50 for the equivalent in buying power in today’s dollars). A few years ago, I saw a list of these charter members, and as I recall, they represented the elite of the plantation, business, professional, and social community of Hawai’i at that time. It was mainly a haole elite in those days, of course, but there were one or two Hawaiians of royal blood and a Chinese name or two, probably wealthy merchants who were beginning to make their mark on the commercial scene in the Islands. Plainly, HTMC was considered to be one of THE organizations to belong to if you had any aspiration to social status in Honolulu. (We still consider it one of THE organizations to belong to, of course, and if our current crop of social climbers fails to recognize the fact, we must just struggle along without them!)
It must not be thought that the Club was primarily designed for frivolous status seekers, however. The second objective listed in the Club’s Constitution was to construct and maintain trails and roads leading to objects of natural interest, and rest houses incidental thereto. The members set about achieving this objective with great energy and dispatch.
They were able to command an impressive range of resources for the time-resources that are certainly far beyond our current capacities. Remember that many of the charter members owned or controlled large plantations and had at their disposal a numerous work force. This included crews with much experience in building the tunnels and ditches needed to move water from the windward coast to the sugar cane fields in the central valley, and the trails necessary to reach these construction sites in rugged mountain terrain and to maintain the water works after they were finished. During slack periods on the plantations, these crews were available to build the trail system desired by the Club.
By the end of 1911, little more than a year after the founding of the Club, a major network of trails had already been built. The initial focus of this effort was to create a "grid" of trails behind Honolulu, which meant, at that time, in the mountains extending from Moanalua Valley to Palolo Valley, these being the areas that could be readily reached from the City in the days when few people owned an automobile.
Mrs. C. M. Cooke cut a trail from the Pali Road across the dam of the Nu’uanu Reservoir and up the side of Nu’uanu Valley to the Lookout. (Most of this has since disappeared, although portions of it have recently been found.) At this time, much native vegetation still remained in the Valley. In describing this trail, the Sunday Advertiser in 1911 states: "There are a hundred varied subjects for the camera to catch. The lobelia, of which there are a hundred varieties in the island, stands out conspicuously." What a joy it would be to find the lobelia standing out conspicuously, anywhere, now!
Judge Cooper had a trail built from Woodlawn to the summit of Wa’ahila Ridge, and on to the top of Mt. Olympus. Probably part of this is still in use as the Kolowalu Trail. However, the most ambitious projects were carried out by the first Club president, William R. Castle. I believe that he was responsible for the horse trail that was constructed from behind Punchbowl Crater up Pauoa Valley to the Nu’uanu Lookout, near which a rest house was planned. Parts of this track may now form sections of the Pauoa Woods and Tantalus Ramble trails. He probably also built the "new cliff trail along Manoa heights" (perhaps the Manoa Cliffs/Kalawahine trail) for the Club.
Castle’s most ambitious effort, however, was a long contour trail that began at the end of Mrs. Cooke’s trail at Nu’uanu Lookout. The path ran along the Nu’uanu side of the ridge leading to the summit of Pu’u Konahuanui until it reached a saddle, which it crossed to the Manoa side. At this point, it was cut into the steep wall behind Manoa, at a high level that sometimes reached the Pali crest, to Mt. Olympus where the track joined the Cooper trail. It then descended on switchbacks to the rim of Ka’au Crater to join an old Hawaiian trail, and passed around the rim to the outlet on the far side, where the Club had cut a series of steps and switch backs to the floor of the gulch that leads out to 10th Avenue. A rest house was planned (and perhaps built?) on the rim of Ka’au Crater, and there were plans to dam the outlet and create a lake on the Crater floor-–an interesting idea!
Castle may not have planned to do quite this much work for the Club. Apparently, during this building phase, he was obliged to leave the Islands on business for several months. He expected the trail building to be completed in short order and let Alexander Hume Ford take over supervision of the workers on the project. Much to his surprise, they were still hard at work, and still drawing pay from his office, when he returned. He had not expected it to be such a long job, but apparently did not protest too vigorously.
Much of this trail on the steeper slopes has probably been lost to landslides over the past 90 years.
This trail complex was so well graded, and easy of passage, that it was suitable for what would now be considered trail runners. The Club, in association with the Amateur Athletic Union, planned to sponsor annual hikes along the system, from Nu’uanu Valley to Kaimuki, and maintain records of the times taken to complete the trek. Hikers would begin at the end of the tram line in Nu’uanu, walk 3 miles up the Pali Road to Mrs. Cooke’s trail, follow this to the Nu’uanu Lookout and then take the Castle-Olympus trail around behind Manoa Valley and down to Ka’au Crater and the floor of the gulch leading to 10th Avenue. Another 3 mile walk on roads to the end of the tram line in Kaimuki would complete the event. It was estimated that a reasonably fit walker could compete this trek in 7 hours, and that the young, competitive sports would finish it in something over 4 hours!
In addition to these new projects, many miles of ditch trails were opened for the use of the Club by plantation owners, and prominent citizens offered summer cottages and mountain huts for use as rest houses. James, William Castle’s brother, turned over his trail behind Hau’ula (the Castle Trail in Punalu’u) to the Club for its use, along with the hut on Kaluanui stream (which feeds "Sacred Falls") high in the mountains. It was planned that eventually there would be a rest house every 10 miles along the trails.
The general plan for the rest houses, modeled after those seen in New Zealand, was to have a bunkhouse each for the men and the women, with a lanai in between, where food could be served. In addition, there would be quarters for a caretaker and his wife who would look after the place and prepare the food. How many, if any, rest houses of any description were ever built is not clear to me. Some of the references seem be imply that one or another is in existence at the time of writing; others are mentioned as being under construction. Certainly, some of the buildings were already in existence, such as the hut on Tantalus that S. M. Ballou placed at the disposal of the Club. I do not know of any that were still present when I began hiking with the Club in 1962, but considering that the coast watcher’s huts that the Army constructed along the Summit Trail on the outbreak of World War II were derelict and on the verge of collapse by that time, it would not be surprising if wooden shacks that were several decades older had already disappeared completely, save perhaps for a pile of rusting roofing iron.
Not all the Club activities were focused on trail construction, however. In 1911, 150 members chartered the steamer Likelike and sailed to Maui. Five of them climbed Iao Needle, but were disappointed to find that they were not the first; a rock platform on the top with a bottle containing a register showed that others had already reached this summit.
On the last day of 1914, another excursion to Maui by 129 people took place. The hikers ascended Kaupo Gap to Paliku, crossed Haleakala Crater, and went up the Sliding Sands trail and down to Olinda. The gear was carried by donkeys, but the group was not really prepared for such a camping trip, and at that altitude, the rice burned before it was half-cooked, there were not enough tents for everyone, and in general, many in the party had a miserable time.
After the initial burst of trail-building activity, the pace of the Club’s construction activities slackened markedly. W. R. Castle continued to carry out repairs to the Castle-Olympus trail as late as 1913, but there was already concern that the trail might be responsible for an increase in the number of landslides along its route. There was also a worrisome tendency for Hilo grass, an invasive alien, to migrate along the trail into native forest. Because of these concerns, and fear that people in these mountains might contaminate the water supply, the mountains above Manoa Valley were placed in a closed watershed district in 1922, and further use of the Castle-Olympus trail forbidden. Only after it was discovered that surface water on the mountains took about 3 years to reach the wells supplying the city was this designation down-graded to restricted watershed and limited entry again possible.
In 1914, World War I began. The movers and shakers who were officers of the Club, as well as major figures in the business and political life of the Territory, turned their attention to the serious events taking place in the world at large, with all the potential they had for influencing life in Hawai’i. Not only were no new construction projects initiated, but even hiking and the social activities of the Club dwindled until the organization became essentially dormant. After the years during which HTMC was a vital, energetic force in the social life of Honolulu, the organization now came close to extinction.
[To be continued]
SOME MORE HISTORY
Jay Feldman
[The following notice was published in a supplement to the MID-PACIFIC MAGAZINE, January 6, 1915]
The Hawaiian Trail & Mountain Club
You are cordially invited to become a member of the Trail and Mountain Club, the dues are but five dollars a year and may be sent to the treasurer, Harry L. Strange, care of the Honolulu Gas Co., or paid at Promotion Committee rooms to Gilbert Brown.
The dues for 1915 will be used in repairing trails and publishing the splendid trail and contour map of the mountains and region about Honolulu.
Should you care to join any of the Trail and Mountain tramps or excursions, phone 2345, or call at the Promotion Committee rooms.
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Never go on a tramp without good shoes and a canteen filled with water. It is well, if you wish to become a regular tramper, to keep always in trim, and you can do this at Duncan's Gymnasium on Beretania Street, and if the tramps prove a little too much for you, the most sensible thing to do is to visit the Sanatorium of I. N. Bartholomew in the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, and take the treatment that will put you in perfect shape again.
NEWSLETTER SUBMISSIONS
ALONG THE TRAIL is a quarterly publication of the Hawaiian Trail and Mountain Club designed to inform the membership of club activities and matters of interest to the hiking community. HTMC members and any other interested parties are welcome to submit articles to ALONG THE TRAIL. Submissions must be received by the 5th day of March, June, September, and December in order to appear in the newsletter published for the quarter, and may be sent in any of the following ways (email preferred):
E-Mail: Richard27@hawaii.rr.com
FAX: 293-2603
Phone: 293-2554
Mail: Richard McMahon
57-531 Kamehameha Hwy
Kahuku, HI 96731-2128
Bookmark The HTMC Web Page http://geocities.com/htmclub - or - http://aditl.com/htmc/
Hawaiian Trail & Mountain Club
P.O. Box 2238
Honolulu, HI 96804
Clubhouse: 41-023 Puuone St
Waimanalo, HI 96795
Phone: 259-5443
Comments may be sent to HTMC Newsletter Editor
or HTMC