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The Hawaiian Trail & Mountain Club Newsletter July - August - September 1999 |
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The Hawaiian Trail & Mountain Club Newsletter July - August - September 1999 |
SACRED FALLS TRAGEDY Grant Oka
May 10, 1999 - Aloha to all.
What a shock to learn of the loss of life and injuries at Sacred Falls yesterday.
We all hike for personal reasons that are known mostly only to ourselves. The risks involved in hiking Hawaiian trails are numerous. I suspect that the risks we face while hiking are not as great as the risks involved in other pastimes (including sitting on the couch watching TV).
Nature is wild, beautiful, inspiring, and awesome. I feel intimately connected to something greater than myself whenever I experience nature, like somehow nature and I are both offspring of the same parent. Nature, however, is unfeeling, random, and totally without prejudice. Nature is oblivious to how each individual feels or what each individual experiences. It is beyond the realm of nature to know the difference between someone communing with a higher spirit or someone bleeding and dying on the trail. Nature makes no judgements.
My thoughts and prayers go out to all those people who were at Sacred Falls yesterday and their families.
CLUBHOUSE WISH LIST Alex Broadfoot
The Clubhouse needs the following new or used donations:
1. lawn mower (urgent)
2. garbage cans
3. fans - table or floor types
4. stackable plastic chairs
5. extension ladder
Please phone Alex, our property manager, at 945-3973 if you are able to help us out with any of these items. Mahalo to Ralph Valentino, Jim Yuen, Frank Lopez, Bill Jarrell, Rob Geer, Steve Becker, Peter Lindhout, Dotti Rosinsky, Maryan Gianantoni, Ken Ferster and Marie Mankhof for recent donations of much appreciated items.
T-SHIRT EXTRAVAGANZA Grant Oka
After a 4 year wait, HTMC T-shirts are now available. Thanks to Joyce Tomlinson for all her efforts in this project. Let's all support our club by mailing in the order form and purchasing a Tee or Two. Hopefully, the wait won't be so long for the next T-shirt sale.
Print the T-shirt Order Form and send it in with your check.
DISCOUNT ON HIKING BOOTS Grant Oka
Red Wing Shoe Store is offering a 15 % discount on any pair of Vasque hiking boots to members of the Hawaiian Trail and Mountain Club. Just show your HTMC Membership card to receive the discount. The staff at any of the three Red Wing Shoe Stores (Aiea, Honolulu, Kahului) will properly fit you for trail hiking, backpacking, or mountaineering. Vasque is one of the few boot manufacturers that offer boot sizes in wide widths (a necessity for local luau feet).
BRITISH COLUMBIA HIKING Steve Brown
(I thought the following might be of interest to HTMC members)
We are now living in the region of the Kootenays, British Columbia and last summer, we discovered the great possibilities for hiking, biking, kayaking, canoeing and climbing that are available here. The Kootenays have more than 800km of established trails and 3 of the most beautiful parks of British Columbia: Valhalla, Kokanee Glacier and Purcell. These parks are remarkable for their trails, and spectacular views of valleys, mountains and glaciers. Any one interested in bird watching, geology, wild flowers, and old growth forests will be more than pleased. Anyone who has done the Chilkoot trail in Alaska/Yukon will like the Earl Grey trail with its gold/silver miners past: 61km of pure enjoyment with mining sites, cable-cars, big cedars and glaciers. Starting this summer, we offer soft expeditions and day treks with visits to museums, historic sites and attractions such as hot springs. It would be a wonderful way of discovering a unknown paradise. The Kootenays are just one day driving from Vancouver or Calgary. We have a web site (www.netidea.com/walking) explaining our services and calendar 1999. We can also send our brochures to HTMC members. If you need more information, don't hesitate to contact us. Best regards,>>Pierre De Souve and Francine Desmarteau, 404-622 Front street, Nelson, BC, Canada, V1L 4B7. Tel & fax: (250) 505-2135. E-mail: walking@netidea.com>Web Site: www.netidea.com/walking
THE AINAPO CHALLENGE Patrick Rorie
(In March, Patrick Rorie, the club's Corresponding Secretary and Clubhouse Chairman, traversed Mauna Loa using the newly opened Ainapo Trail. In this 3-part series, he describes his experiences on the "Long Mountain." --Editor)
The Inspiration
Having witnessed footage last year on the Discovery channel of a competition dubbed "The Eco-challenge", an intense combination of activities including nocturnal mountain climbing and paddling through rough seas, I was inspired to participate in something similar here in Hawaii.
The Challenge
On Thursday, March 18, I received an e-mail message with the subject "wanna challenge?" from Gene Robinson inquiring about my availability in late April/early May for a backpack trip up Mauna Loa (lit. "long mountain" and the largest volcano in the world) via the Ainapo (lit. "darkened land") Trail. I didn't know much about Ainapo, but as Gene filled in the details my desire to conquer the route only increased.
The Ainapo Trail - A Brief history
During the past two centuries several trails have been used to ascend to Mauna Loa's summit. The oldest, now known as the Ainapo Trail, extended 34 miles from the old village of Kapapala at 2000 feet elevation, up the shortest and steepest flank to the southeast edge of Mokuaweoweo. This trail was used in 1794 by Archibald Menzies of the Vancouver Expedition to make the first successful ascent by a non Hawaiian.
These earlier routes fell into disuse after 1915, when a segregated company of black soldiers of the United States Army constructed the Mauna Loa Trail, which stretched from the present location of Volcano House up to and along the northeast rift to the summit caldera. Lower portions of the trail were widened and improved for vehicles, and in 1936 the CCC built the last increment of the road from Bird Park to near the site of Camp Bates at 6,650 feet elevation. The road has since been paved, and most hikers start their trip at the upper end of this road.
The Story
On Friday, April 30, Gene's girl friend Julia dropped us off at the airport and we caught the Aloha Air 12:15 PM flight to the Big Island. Upon landing in Hilo, Gene's backpack didn't arrive, and rather than wait for the next plane (after 2 PM), we picked up the rental car and headed for Walmart to purchase propane and other last minute items. It was a nice day in Hilo with puffy white cumulus clouds filling the blue sky and bright sunshine.
As we approached the entrance to Walmart I noticed a man with only one leg. Gene commented,"Whoa! That's the second one legged man I've seen today! Bad omen?". If Wing Ng had been with us he surely would have promptly returned to Oahu! After returning to the airport and securing Gene's pack, the two of us drove from Hilo to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Along the way we passed through the village of Kurtistown. When Gene and I stopped at the HVNP fee collection booth I thought about claiming Hawaiian ancestry, thus saving the $10 entry fee. If the Ranger gave me a hard time I would simply state that I was a rare albino Hawaiian named Paka. For some reason and probably for the best, the idea never came to fruition.
Arrived at the Kilauea Visitor Center (elev. 3,974 ft) at 3:05 PM and commenced the permit process with Ranger Jay Robinson (same last name as Gene, a good omen!). During the thirty minute procedure, Gene mentioned that we would be ascending the Ainapo Trail. Almost immediately, Jay's facial expression changed to one of bewilderment. The Ranger then began eye-balling our shoulders and chests as if conducting some sort of crude physical evaluation to ascertain our skill level. Gene also asked if he could use sticky red tape he had purchased from Walmart to mark some of the more confusing sections of the trail. Jay replied, "Absolutely not! Its against the law. What if it blows off? It could lead future hikers astray!". Not one to argue, Gene accepted the rebuke and patiently completed the forms needed to obtain the backcountry permit.
From the visitor center, the two of us traveled to nearby Volcano House and checked into a standard ground floor room in the Ohia Wing ($85.00 a night). We sorted through our stuff to decide what to store in the car, then, at 4:30 PM, drove 14 miles to the Mauna Loa lookout at the top (end) of Mauna Loa Road (elev. 6,662 ft) to leave the vehicle for our get-away upon exiting the mountain. A few minutes after 5 PM Gene and I began jogging down Mauna Loa Road. The lovely koa-ohia forest and almost continuous conversation made the miles fly by. Gene, an avid runner (the 1980 Boston Marathon among his accomplishments), glided along with ease like a gazelle in the African plains. While exhibiting good form, I struggled to keep pace due mainly to my hiking boots (I had forgotten to bring running shoes). Once we had gone ten miles and reached Rte 11, I started to run out of gas. We shaved off half a mile by cutting through the Kilauea Military Camp, passed by a few active steam vents, veered onto the wide Halemaumau Trail and stopped for a breather at the Kilauea Caldera overlook.
Pressing on, Gene and I accomplished the final stretch to the Kilauea Visitor Center as darkness set in, arriving there at 7 PM. We hydrated, using the water fountain, then studied the miniature model of Mauna Loa. At 7:06 PM the two of us approached Volcano House, entered the Ohia Wing and took showers. Fulfilled 8 PM dinner reservations enjoying delicious meals inside the rustic Volcano House Restaurant. I consumed fried chicken ($9.90) while Gene dined on linguine, and we both ordered a bowl of clam chowder ($4.50 per serving). After dinner I relaxed briefly in the Ohia Wing lounge complete with two chairs and a couch, each covered with dark red satin, a fire burning in the fireplace. Entered our room and found Gene carefully organizing his pack for the next day's journey. I made some adjustments to my gear as well. Before hitting the sack, Gene (a medical doctor) gave each of us half a tablet of diamox to help our bodies cope with high altitude. Lights out came at 11:11 PM.
(In the next installment, Pat describes the ascent to the new cabin on the Ainapo Trail)
MYSTERY MARKINGS IN THE FOREST
Richard McMahon
On May 11, George Shoemaker and I headed off to the back of Kahana Valley to explore a possible trail connection to the newly furbished Waikane Trail. When we got to the far end of the existing trail (map point H on page 156 in Stuart Ball's book), instead of the obscure upper trail he refers to, we found a recently widened, cleared trail, with bright orange circles painted on trees, numbered orange ribbons (not the usual red or pink), and a line of hip chain along the trail. Hip chain, George told me, is a thin, biodegradable string that unwinds from a hip-mounted spool, measuring distance as it unwinds. He also said he encountered exactly the same markings and string along the Wahiawa Hills Trail with the HTMC the previous Sunday.
Intrigued, we gave up our original plan, and decided to follow this newly improved and well marked trail. The route rose gradually, generally following the ridge on the north side of the stream, until it reached an open hill top, about a mile of travel. Here the markings and the hip chain stopped, although the original trail continued. We followed it for a while, but the trail became more obscure and seemed headed off to the side, rather than the back of the valley, so we retraced our steps.
The next morning, I called Curt Cottrell of Na Ala Hele, and asked him if he knew what was going on. He informed me that there were exactly the same markings recently made in Ma'akua Gulch, including the hip chain, and he had no idea where they came from. Neither his office, nor any other in Forestry had anything to do with it. I then called the Board of Water Supply and found they had nothing to do with it either.
The next day I posted this information on the OHE listserv. Fred Boll replied that he had seen the same markings in the Pahole Natural Area Reserve, and Stone Brandon mentioned he saw them on the Hau'ula-Papali Trail.
To summarize, someone or some agency is:
1] clearing existing trails,
2] marking them permanently with bright orange circles painted on trees along the route,
3] measuring the route using hip chain,
4] placing numbered orange ribbons at selected locations along the route. The numbers are not consecutive.
Does anybody have any idea what this is all about? If so, I'd appreciate a call at 293-2554, or email Richard27@prodigy.com
SUPERHIKE 4 Dayle Turner
On Saturday, March 27, thirteen club members joined Pat Rorie and I for Super Hike 4. We met at the community park in Laie at 8:00 a.m. and shoved off soon thereafter. Cloudy conditions along the summit prompted us to warn the group to be attentive to landmarks and ribbons at key junctions along the summit trail to avoid going astray.
A good deal of the Malaekahana segment of the outing was familiar to most, since the club has hiked it, albeit not all the way to the summit. The weather improved as we moved upslope, and the day turned into a fine one for ambling in the Koolau, with high clouds and brisk, cooling breezes helping us along. The fastest hikers reached the top of Malaekahana Ridge in two hours and change. Many commented about the excellent condition of the trail. Kudos to Mabel and the trail clearing crew for doing nice work.
The legendary Koolau Summit Trail was a mud bath, as it tends to be, and everyone was coated chocolate brown from the knees down by day's end as a consequence. Our lunch spot was the foxhole at the Laie trail summit. The lead group reached there around 11, while the main body of hikers arrived around noontime. After lunch, we headed down the Laie Trail and the descent went without incident. Everyone was back at the cars by 3:15.
I will recommend to the club's schedule committee that Malaekahana to the summit be made a club hike. In recent years, club hikes have gone only as far as the junction with the trail down to Malaekahana Stream. Since the entire ridge route is now wide open, we should continue hiking it, else the good work of the trail clearing crew will be lost.
NEWSLETTER SUBMISSIONS
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):
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FAX: 293-2603
Phone: 293-2554
Mail: Richard McMahon
57-531 Kamehameha Hwy
Kahuku, HI 96731-2128
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Hawaiian Trail & Mountain Club
P.O. Box 2238
Honolulu, HI 96804
Clubhouse: 41-023 Puuone St
Waimanalo, HI 96795
Phone: 259-5443
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