Along the Trail
The Hawaiian Trail & Mountain Club Newsletter
January - February - March 2006
RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP
DUES ARE DUE!
Annual dues for 2006 are $20, additional family member dues are $10, and for $400, you can be a life-time member. Please make your checks payable to HTMC and mail to HTMC, PO Box 2238, Honolulu, HI 96804. Please be sure to update your address and phone number. We are also asking you to provide a cell phone number if you have one. Cell phones provide us with an important method of contacting lost or injured hikers. Renewals are due by March 1, 2005. The annual membership phone directory will be mailed with the second quarter (April) newsletter. If you would prefer your phone number not to be listed, please check the box on your renewal envelope or email the membership committee at htmcmembership@yahoo.com
WARNING FLAG!
Warning flags have long been used to communicate potential problems to others. We are raising a flag for HTMC hikers to warn them that some of our hikes and trails face an uncertain future.
Our inventory of hikes has been significantly reduced due to land owners limiting public access. Some of the great trails effected by these restrictions include: Poamoho, Halawa, Kipapa, Lulumahu, Konahuanui, Kawainui, Opae'ula, Haiku Stairs, Windward/Castle, Sacred Falls, and Ma'akua Gulch. While HTMC has never had much political clout, individual members have been able to mitigate or reverse some of these losses.
Because of the loss of these trails one might expect HTMC to maintain our current inventory of trails and even expand it. Sadly, we are faced with exactly the opposite situation-the number of trails we hike and/or the distance we hike them is actually being reduced. There are many loop hikes we no longer schedule and the upper sections of a number of ridge hikes we no longer clear. Examples include: Aiea Ridge, Godek/Jakulski, Ka'aumakua, Kahuku, Lanihuli, Malaekahana, Manana Ditch loop, Ohulehule, Onikiniki/Waimalu loop, Papali Uka loop, Tripler/KeahiaKahoe loop, Wa'ahila/ Waiakeakua loop, and long sections of the Koolau Summit Trail. Reducing our clearing efforts at this time seems counterintuitive given the exclusionary attitude of some landowners and the privatization of many trails; however, there are a number of reasons for this reduction:
REASONS FOR REDUCTIONS:
- The clearing workload has increased considerably. We used to hike 51 Sundays each year but now have an additional 25 Saturday hikes.
- Clearing our trails is much more energy intensive (even with weed whackers) thanks to some very wet winters triggering enormous overgrowth and a significant wave of aggressive grasses.
- The number of strong clearers has diminished just as the average age of the crew has increased. This problem has been compounded by a decrease in the number of volunteers willing to assist the crew.
- Individuals that opened new trails and assisted the clearing crew during weekdays has been significantly reduced.
POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS:
- oEncourage more participation in clearing trails by HTMC's membership. For example, we might suggest that members consider assisting in one clearing for every five club hikes they do.
- oReduce the clearing effort so that a narrow, minimally cleared trail all the way to the summit is cut saving only the worst sections for the weed whackers. In other words ? "lop and chop to the top".
- oForm another, smaller crew to work on Saturdays and/or a weekday.
TWO ALTERNATIVES:
What it boils down to is a trade?off that members have to face:
- Either we reinforce our clearing efforts with member contributions of time and labor,
- OR
- We accept that we cannot always completely open a trail and that many of our longer, more difficult hikes/loops will not be scheduled.
If you have ideas or suggestions or a willingness to contribute your energy in assisting the clearing crew, call Mabel Kekina at 488-0044.
CLUBHOUSE RESIDENT VACANCIES
Clubhouse residents are club members who are approved to reside at the clubhouse for extended periods beyond the usual seven-day visitor limit each month. These residents perform the important role of providing security and tend to other routine duties affecting the day to day operation of the Clubhouse.
There is an on-going need for residents, so if you are interested please contact Tom Mendes, our clubhouse committee chairman, at tjmendes@ hawaii.rr.com or call him at 259-8668.
CLUBHOUSE RENOVATION
The renovation committee continues to make progress on this project as mandated at the last annual meeting. This is an important issue for the Club, which requires careful consideration, and input from any members who desire to contribute. Since it's important to insure a consensus from the entire membership before proceeding with any option, the committee will not be recommending any expenditure of funds for construction, including reroofing, until after the membership votes on the issue at the 2006 annual meeting. Well before the annual meeting, the membership will be mailed extensive information on the committee's findings and recommendations. If this is an important issue for you, please plan to attend the annual meeting on Sunday April 2nd, 2PM at the clubhouse.
If anyone would like to participate in the meetings that the renovation committee is conducting, please contact Mike Algiers at 422-1048 or malgiers @ worldnet.att.net. The next meeting is planned for early next year. If you're interested and have opinions about what should be done, your participation is encouraged.
CAMPING STOVE WARNING
Dave WebbI just want to take a moment to warn everyone out there who may be flying to a neighbor island to camp and/or backpack. When I recently returned from a camping trip on Kauai I discovered that my camping stove had been removed from my luggage by TSA or Homeland Security or whoever. This particular stove is one that screws onto a Coleman propane bottle so there is no reason whatsoever why it should have been removed. I took great pains to remember to not pack the propane bottle itself, and I made sure to leave my lighter with my friend on Kauai as well. I had no idea that the stove was missing until 3 days after I arrived home when I finally got around to unpacking my bags. Thankfully, it happened on the way home, after our trip was pau. If it had been confiscated on my way to Kauai, I could have been in deep kim chee with no stove. This was with Hawaiian Airlines and I am in the process of making a claim to see what recourse I may have, if any.
I have taken this stove with me to and from neighbor islands numerous times since Sept 2001 with no problem, so to have it taken came as quite a surprise. There was no notice placed in the bag indicating that anything had been removed either. Just call it discrimination towards campers I suppose. Chalk up another win for the terrorists.
TRAVELING THE PATH BEST
Another day during Maui's period of eating, Sticky Eyes said, "There is a story of a chief who made a great path of stones in Tahiti. Do you know it?"
"Loke has told me every story there is," Maui said, still eating. "I must know this one. It is about a chief who makes a stone path in Tahiti."
Sticky Eyes waited, then began again. "The stone path ran the length of the island, from the beach across the mountains to the other side. The stones were smooth and even, and the path wide enough for three men to walk abreast. When the last stones were stamped flat by his workers, the chief said he would give his daughter to be married to the man who traveled the path best. Men came from every island to try for the prize. Some walked on their hands, the entire path, some rode wild pigs with flowers tied to the tusks. Some men walked on bamboo stilts. Most wore fine feathered cloaks and helmets, but one man tied live birds to himself with strings and walked in a cloud of fluttering plumes. Some carried fire in bowls, or spun it on the ends of long spears, or strewed the path with red coals and walked upon them. Some sang songs, long beautiful chants composed to honor the chief and the wonderful path he had built, chants that began with the first step and closed with the last one, at the chief's home. Some danced the whole way. But all of the men, when they reached the end, complained about a large pile of wood lying across the middle of the path.
"The chief said he was saddened that anything on his new trail hindered the travelers. After most of the man had arrived they sat at a feast and watched the stragglers come in. One of the last to arrive, a man who wore only a loincloth and a small feathered shoulder cape, and who did not sing or walk on his hands, came in with a woman. No woman was allowed on the path, and the feasters exclaimed in anger.
"'I found a pile of wood on the path,' said the man. 'When I began to clear it away, I found this woman underneath.'
"'She is yours,' said the chief. 'She is the daughter I promised, and you have won her. For whoever makes the path easier for those who follow him has traveled it best.'"
From Maui The Demigod by Steven Goldsberry. Used with permission.
The preceding is offered as an appreciation for all those who spend so much time and energy maintaining the trails for the benefit of the Club and the hiking community.
MEMORIALS TO CLUB MEMBERS
John HallAs I stated in our last newsletter, I have always thought it ironic that the club has erected memorial plaques on our trails to Geraldine Cline, and Steve Becker, but have failed to recognize people who have done so much for the club and the community, such as Dick Davis, Thelma Greig, Broder Lucas, Dick Booth, Dick Davis, Harry Whitten, Joe Neilson (who is still with us), and others. The reason is obvious, of course. Geraldine and Steve had the misfortune to pass away while they were still young and actively hiking, so that they were well known to a great many Club members. Old-timers, who have lived long beyond the age where they could participate in hikes are no longer known by most of the members by the time they pass on.
There is one old member that I really think should have a memorial, however - Luciano Pena, the young navy man and Club Director who saved a guest from drowning off Manana Island in 1939, on a Club outing, and then returned to the water in an unsuccessful attempt to save the member who had brought her, and drowned himself. Luciano is the only member that I know of who gave his life in the service of the Club, and yet, after nearly 40 years as a member, I was not even aware of his existence until I began to do some research on the history of the Club. I do not think it reflects well on our group to so forget this young man. Whether we build a new clubhouse or renovate the old one, I firmly believe that the project should include a good bronze plaque in a prominent location, in remembrance of Luciano, with a brief statement of what he did for the Club on it.
NEWSLETTER SUBMISSIONSALONG 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):
email: richard27@hawaii.rr.com
FAX: 293-2554
Phone: 293-2554
Mail: Richard McMahon
57-531 Kamehameha Hwy
Kahuku, HI 96731CHECK OUT THE HTMC WEB PAGE
[http://aditl.com/htmc]
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
orhtmc (at) aditl (dot) com