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I had dropped Tom off at the Hilo airport in the early afternoon, then spent about 5hrs hanging out at a Starbucks before picking up Eric at the same airport later that evening. His sister and her family live in Hilo where we would stay for the next six nights. She had joined us in Telluride the previous summer for some peakbagging there and seemed to enjoy it as much as any of us. Eric's "Christmas present" to her had been a subscription to LoJ in an effort to get her to embrace the peakbagging bug as much as he had, and she seemed to take the bait hook, line and sinker. On our drives around the island, she took up her position in the back seat of the jeep with her Delorme map book spreak out on her lap, smartphone with the peakbagger app in hand, coordinating road and summit names, satellite views and all manner of approach options. It was glorious to behold.

The weather this week had rain pretty much every day in Hilo, local streams and rivers running to capacity for most of the time. Drier parts of the island could be found, but there was very little sunshine anywhere, not exactly unwelcomed considering we were there to hike, not lie on the beach. From Hilo, we headed across Saddle Rd to the western side of the island, finding the rain had stopped as we went over the large saddle between Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea. Rain would come later in the day to ensure we had at least one good soaking before calling it a day.

Kuainiho

Our first peak was located inside the Pu'u Anahulu Game Management Area found just off the Beltway Hwy. Hunting is allowed on weekends and since today was a Friday, we had the place to ourselves. There are various dirt roads that provide access to the area, but these were closed during the week, requiring us to park at the lot adjacent to the highway. No matter - the roads didn't get us any closer to our summit anyway. It lies less than a fifth of a mile to the east, covered in tall grasses that we would have to wade through in order to reach it. It seemed like such an easy summit, yet proved a bit of a workout. The tall grasses hid loose volcanic rocks lying in wait to trip us up, making for slow going. We took about 15min to make our way across the initial flat area, then more steeply up the side of the old cinder cone before making our way around the rim to the highpoint. We found a reference mark in one of the summit rocks, but look as we might (and we spent far too much time than it was worth), we had no luck finding the benchmark. On the way back, I led us down the northwest side of the summit to get us to the highway, a longer route overall, but less grass. We simply walked along the side of the highway to return to the parking lot.

Pu'u Lili

The next four summits are all located around the Makani Golf Club. We thought this might present some access problems, but found no such issues. The golf club isn't exactly derelict, but it isn't one of the finer properties on the island. Located in the middle of Mauna Loa's northern lava fields, there are no homes along the course and it seems to be underutilized and underfunded. Security seemed completely lacking, allowing anyone to drive past the unmanned entrance station. Pu'u Lili is located on the northeast edge of the golf course, an old cemetery occupying the high ground at the top. A short walk past construction equipment along an overgrown road leads easily to the top. A short rectangular rock wall marks the periphery of the cemetery, overgrown with tall grasses and weeds, a few grave monuments are found and some looking far newer than one might expect.

Pu'u Haole

Located in the middle of the golf course, this one was an unexpected drive-up. We drove past the uncrowded club house to the end of the pavement, then onto a dirt service road used by the groundskeepers. The highpoint was at the top of a knoll just as the road drops onto one of the fairways. We got out to take a few quick photos before driving back out - no need to press our luck as we certainly didn't look like groundskeepers in our bright white jeep.

Pu'u Kalaukela

The lamest of the day's summits, really just a large flat area with no discernable summit. The top has been bulldozed but never developed. It is sandwiched between the golf course and the Pu'u Anahulu Community Association, a local community facility built with funds from the impact fee charged when the golf course was approved in the 1990s. It includes a rodeo arena and picnic grounds, but it was closed and lifeless today. We parked off the highway and walked past the locked but unsigned gate, past the equine center and up the small hill on the backside.

Na Pu'u

This is the highpoint of the golf club, found on the western edge. We drove to the golf club's maintenance area but were told we couldn't access the summit from that location. They did tell us we could use the periphery road that goes around the outside. So we drove back to the entrance, found the dirt road near Pu'u Lili, and drove around the dirt road until we were a short distance below the summit on the east side. A steep, tiring, and thankfully short romp through thick, spongy vegetation led to the periphery fence. Just on the other side of the fence is the survey monument marking the highpoint. It was the only summit on the grounds with actual views.

Pu'u Huluhulu

The Pu'u Wa'awa'a Cinder Cone State Park is located about a mile south of the golf course, adjacent to the highway. It is a popular hiking spot to reach Pu'u Wa'awa'a, a large, grass-covered cinder cone with more than 400ft of prominence. Along the way, an old overgrown road branches northeast to reach to a smaller summit, Pu'u Huluhulu. Our roundabout route was designed to keep the cross-country to a minimum as it looks to be pretty rough in this area, though not impossibly so. Most of our route was along the maintained and unmaintained roads until we were a few hundred feet from the summit on the southeast side. Goat and sheep trails lead up from the road through grasses and brush to the summit, really just the highest-looking point along a north-south ridgeline. Not too much to recommend this one. After returning to the main park road/trail, we turned south with intentions of hiking to Pu'u Wa'awa'a with numerous other parties that were using the trail today. I could see a wall of rain approaching us from the east and was hesitant to give it a go since we'd left all our rain gear back in the jeep. Eric and Ingrid seemed blissfully unaware or unconcerned about the rain, so I didn't say much. As expected, it began to rain and was soon coming down in torrents. We reached the base of the cinder cone and considered how much work there was remaining. I'd already climbed this one on a previous trip so didn't feel any need to reach it today. I was happy when the two of them suggested turning back without much need for prompting on my part. As it turned out, they would get back to this one a week later after I'd already left the island.

Pu'u Iwa'iwa

As we started driving back along the highway, the weather gave us a respite, so we looked for some short ones we could quickly bail on, if needed. Pu'u Iwa'iwa is found adjacent to the highway, a few miles north of the junction with the Daniel Inouye Hwy. It lies on private property, though unsigned for No Trespassing. We went over an unused ranch gate and made a circuit around the small cinder cone's crater rim. A mix of grass and loose volcanic rock made it somewhat tricky. The highpoint is found at the northeast corner of the crater. The whole outing was completed in about 20min.

Nohonaohae

This was the only summit of the day with more than 300ft of prominence. It is located near the junction of Beltway Hwy and Saddle Rd, about 5mi northeast of the previous summit. The area to the east and south of the summit is part of another game management area. This one was closed as well, so we parked at the entrance off Saddle Rd and slipped through the gate to gain access. The entire cinder cone is surrounded by a roughly cleared area (more like some sort of firebreak rather than a road) and a tall fence, the latter designed to keep pigs, sheep and goats outside. This may be part of a replanting effort that has yet to take place or perhaps done in the past, or perhaps just giving the slopes of the cinder cone a chance to recover more naturally on its own. We went over the fence and climbed up steep slopes to the summit in about 20min's time. There are the remains of a survey monument found at the top, the concrete base etched with the name of the summit and completed by the Hawaiian Territorial Survey back in 1938. Nice views from the summit, but not a good day for pictures. We descended the south side for a change of pace, Ingrid and I waiting at the bottom for Eric to join us. He was pretty tired by this time and fell a few times on the tricky slopes, luckily surviving without injury. Nothing a cold beer couldn't take of, anyway...

Continued...


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