Along the Trail The Hawaiian Trail & Mountain Club Newsletter October - November - December 1998

THE CLUBHOUSE NEEDS A VOLUNTEER Grant Oka	As you may know, the Hawaiian Trail and Mountain Club has a Clubhouse in Waimanalo for use by its members for rest, recreation and socializing. Members have often volunteered to live at the Clubhouse as caretakers in order to provide security and also to provide minor maintenance on the property. The caretakers will also manage Clubhouse activities to a small extent but the member who is using the Clubhouse is responsible for leaving it in as good or better condition than it was upon arrival. Currently, Robb Geer resides at the Clubhouse as a caretaker and Patrick Rorie is performing duties as Clubhouse Chair and residing at the Clubhouse part time. Also, Alex Broadfoot is performing duties as Property Manager and often stays overnight after a hard day's work. Patrick has decided that he would like to pass on his caretaker duties to another member. The Club is looking for a member to volunteer to reside at the Clubhouse as a caretaker. This person should, of course, be a member in good standing and also posses a personality compatible with the somewhat eccentric lifestyle at the Clubhouse. There is no pay involved (HTMC is a strictly all volunteer organization) and caretakers still pay an overnight fee ($60 per month). If any member is interested in residing at the Clubhouse as a caretaker, please call Grant (674-1459) or Robb or Patrick (259-5443) for more information.
TRAIL BUILDERS NEEDED Reese Liggett	The Sierra Club needs volunteers to help complete the trail building project at Maunawili Falls. The club has passed the halfway point in the construction, and hundreds of hikers are already enjoying the trail improvements put in by volunteers since the startup in May. Volunteers need no previous experience, and all tools are provided. Trail builders meet every Sunday and every other Saturday at the locations below: 8 AM - At the back lanai of the Church of the Crossroads, 2510 Bingham Street, where car pools are available, or 8:30 AM - At the bus stop at the corner of Auloa Road and Kalanianaole Hwy [third stoplight after exiting the Pali Hwy tunnel, windward bound]. Come out and help build a super trail complex that will provide the best access possible to beautiful Maunawili Falls and swimming hole. Men, women, teens 14-18 [accompanied by an adult]--all are welcome. Refreshments are served. Call 538-6616 for more information.
ATTENTION PEOPLE WHO WOULD LIKE TO HIKE MIDWEEK John Hall	Over the past year or two I have been contacted by a number of people who are interested in hiking during the middle of the week. There is a midweek hiking group, the Over-the-Hill-Gang [OTHG], that was founded about 20 years ago by four old-timers from HTMC, but one of the reasons they started this group was that they felt that our Sunday hikes were becoming too popular, and they wanted to hike with a smaller group. As a consequence, the membership of the OTHG is jealously limited, and new hikers are only welcomed when an old one drops out for some reason, and then only if they are considered compatible by all members of the existing group. From the number of inquiries about midweek hiking that I have received, I think Oahu could support a second, open membership, midweek hiking group. The organization of the OTHG is very simple, yet seems to work very well, and could serve as a model for a second group. We have no offic-ers, no dues, and no schedules. The group meets every Wednesday at the trailhead at 9:30 AM for the day's hike. At the end of the hike, they discuss where to go next, and decide on the next week's excursion. The main requirement is that there must be a nucleus of regular hikers who go almost every week, so that people who miss a week know who to call to find out where the next hike will be. While I enjoy hiking with OTHG, and plan to continue to go out with them frequently, I am willing to organize another midweek hiking group to serve the many people who are not members of OTHG but would like to hike. If this applies to you, call me at 377-5442 and leave your name, phone number, and the days of the week you would prefer to hike, if you are not free every day [speak S-L-O-W-L-Y please]. If there is sufficient interest, I will call you to set up a meeting time to try to launch the organization.
NEIGHBOR ISLAND NOTES Richard McMahon	In the last newsletter, I reported that the Division of State Parks had closed camping at Hanakoa on the Na Pali Coast Trail, due to sanitation problems. I suggested that a solution might be to construct a composting toilet at Hanakoa. Apparently, the state parks folks were ahead of me. After the newsletter came out, I received information from two different groups of HTMC members who had hiked into Kalalau informing me that a brand new composting toilet was in place at Hanakoa, and that the eyesore of an old shack near the stream crossing had been removed. However, according to the State Parks Office, camping at Hanakoa is still not prmitted.
SUPERHIKE REPORT	[On June 20th New Membership Chair Dayle Turner and new Board of Directors member, Corresponding Secretary and Clubhouse Chair Patrick Rorie led an HTMC "Superhike" for members only, that hiked up Manana, crossed along the Pali ridge line, and descended Wamano. Below is Dayle's account of that adventure.] Today, Pat Rorie and I led an outing dubbed a "Super Hike," the first of its kind for the Hawaiian Trail and Mountain Club. Completing the by­invitation, members­only hike were Hiroshi Sakae, Ken Suzuki, Carole K. Moon, Lita Komura, Mike Algiers, Rob Geer, Wing Ng, Steve Poor, and Carl Crimbring. Dr. Torrey Goodman, a non­member (she plans to join soon) hiking on an unofficial status, was an energetic and welcome addition to our group. Ken, Carole, Lita and Wing wanted to begin a little earlier than the rest so they met me at the Waimano trailhead at 6:30 a.m. and I transported them to the head of the Manana trail where they began hiking at 6:45. It was raining in the mountains when they departed, but skies were blue over Pearl City and further makai so we had hopes the weather bureau's prediction of brief morning showers followed by mostly sunny conditions would be correct. After seeing them off, I headed down Palisades and back to the end of Waimano Home Road where I waited for the arrival of Pat and the others. By 7:50, the rest of us had assembled, signed in, listened to a pre­hike briefing by Pat, and jumped in my Cherokee and the Pat­mobile for the rideup to Manana. We were hiking by 8:10 under continuing gray skies. The ascent of Manana went without a problem, with the cool, drizzly weather minimizing the need for water consumption (Wing and Rob told me they didn't drink at all until reaching the summit). As we had agreed beforehand, Pat stayed with the front group of hikers while I manned the sweep position. Pat and I also maintained periodic contact via his 7­channel, 2­way radios. Great communication tool. Hiroshi, Carl, and Pat blitzed up the trail and by 11 all three had summited Manana, turned right on the crest, and advanced past Eleao and the junction where hikers often proceed down the wrong ridge. At justpast 11, Wing and I were the last to complete the Manana ascent and waiting for us there were Torrey, Steve, Mike, and Rob. Ken, Lita, and Carole had departed the summit clearing minutes before to begin the crest crossover section. At 11:20, Wing and I began the crossover, with Torrey, Steve, Mike and Rob a few minutes ahead. The summit winds were blowing with moderate force but not as strongly as last week's 35­50 mph blasts. As we approached Eleao around 11:45, the cloud cover lifted for 15 minutes, allowing us clear views of Waihee Valley below and Kaneohe Bay beyond it. Earlier, I had promised Ken, Carole, and Lita that the clouds would relent and my promise was fulfilled, albeit briefly. Unlike last week, today there was no going off on the wrong ridge because we had heavily marked the go­astray junction at last Sunday's trail clearing. At least half a dozen pink ribbons presently mark this spot (courtesy of Ken) and today I even planted a metal stake (actually a piece of a bicycle frame pump) as a more permanent marker so future hikers hopefully won't go the wrong way. Past Eleao, clear skies gave way to socked­in conditions. And then camethe rain accompanied by increased wind gusts. Wind­whipped rain in one'seyes while carefully negotiating the precipitous summit crest makes for interesting hiking conditions, to say the least. But we all completed the crossover without a problem, Wing and I being the final ones to reach the Waimano terminus, arriving there at just past 1. Everyone else was waiting for us there, save for Hiroshi and Carl, who had reached the Waimano summit at 11:45 or so and continued on to the trailhead together. After a lunch/rest break at the Waimano summit, the last of us were Waimano­trailhead bound at 1:30. Although long (7.5 miles), Waimano is gentle and I promised myself to take the descent easy to lessen the pounding on feet and joints. Fortunately, no one was in a big hurry on the way out, and for the most part we hiked together, enjoying each other's company. Wingo was in especially fine stead, hiking with energy I have never seen from him in the past. Even though his pants were ripped from crotch to ankle, a result of a gymnastics balancing maneuver on the summit crossover, to his credit he good­naturedly endured our playful teasing about his tattered attire. A few minutes before 5 p.m., Super Hike 1 of the Hawaiian Trail and Mountain Club was history, with all participants completing the outing without injury or incident. Mahalo to Mike for giving Pat and I a lift back to our vehicles at the Manana trailhead, to Ken for post­hike refreshments, to the trail clearing gang for their work on the summit section (several hikers today commented favorably about the swath on the crest), and to everyone who turned out today. Super Hike 2 will be Konahuanui to Olympus. Pat and I look forward to leading another successful adventure for the club. [ We hope to have Dayle's account of the second Superhike in the next newsletter.]

HTMC members and any other interested parties are welcome to submit articles to ALONG THE TRAIL, the HTMC Newsletter. Submissions may be sent in any of the following ways (E-Mail preferred):

E-Mail: KPHC66A@prodigy.com

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FAX: 293-2603

Phone: 293-2554

Mail: Richard McMahon
57-531 Kamehameha Hwy
Kahuku, HI 96731-2128