Continued...
My first full day on Maui turned out to be a much longer hike than I
had planned, more than 20mi where I expected 11mi. I headed up the big mountain
to Polipoli Springs State Park to climb a series of minor summits along the SW
spine of Haleakala. The park is located within the large Kula Forest Reserve,
home to a number of non-native groves including a large collection of
that were planted in the 1930s. A fire burned through the forest back
in 2007, leaving most of the redwoods intact but wiping out many other species.
The downfall from the fire is tremendous, making cross-country travel
extremely arduous. There is a 4WD road that goes up from the state park at
6,500ft to the highpoint of Red Hill at over 10,000ft along the spine. It is
open to vehicles only in the lower half above the state park and mostly used
by hunters. The entire route is open to hikers and mountain bikers, apparently
fairly popular with the latter, though not nearly to the extent of the
Haleakala Downhill that goes through the national park and catered to by
numerous outfitters. The state park is reached via the narrow, heavily
switchbacked Waipoli Rd that starts from Hwy377 at 3,200ft and climbs to 6,400ft
in about 6mi. The pavement ends at the top of the switchbacks, traversing the
side of the mountain another 4mi to the state park. I was unable, perhaps more
like unwilling, to drive more than about a mile on the dirt section when the
started to get too big for my comfort level. That added
almost six miles to the hike, the rest added by my extending the hike past
where I'd planned to turn around.
I'd spent the night camped in the van about halfway up the switchbacks, off to
the side of the road. It was both remote enough that I wouldn't be bothered by
Maui Police and high enough to sleep comfortably cool. It rained on and off
during the night, the pitter patter hitting the roof in a comforting,
glad-I'm-not-in-a-tent sort of way. There was a lightning and thunder show that
lit up the sky for an hour or so that was pretty cool and I didn't mind in the
least being woken up by it. When I awoke around 7a it was foggy outside but
not raining and it would be like that much of the day. It rained lightly for
several hours in the morning and then on and off after that, but I had come
sufficiently prepared with rain jacket and pants, a fleece, balaclava and two
pairs of gloves. I would use all the clothing I'd stashed in my daypack to
good effect and was comfortable most of the day.
Polipoli
This summit has the lowest elevation of those I visited, found about half a mile
from the state park campground. I hiked about 3mi to reach this open
that is closed to camping until they upgrade the septic system. It appears
that the previous method of letting it flow into an off-limits area downhill
from the campground was deemed unsanitary. On the far side of the open grass
field is found the start of
that heads off towards my
summit. Unfortunately, it doesn't actually reach the summit, skirting within
about 500ft on the downhill side to the west. I had some serious bushwhacking
up the tangle of the heavily overgrown slope with a light rain falling. All
the while I was thinking how this was great fun though I couldn't think of a
single other person I knew who might agree with me. The area is home to hordes
of feral pigs that roam the forest lands and have created a trail network
through the thickest of it. Unfortunately, I'm not all that capable of
following pig tracks which are generally very low to the ground and difficult
for old and unflexible humans to manage. I broke through stuff when I could,
crawled when I had to, making slow progress uphill until I reached my target.
At the highpoint, buried in the forest with nary a view, was
fixed to the ground in concrete and
holding four metal fins at the top to mark the benchmark that was placed here.
There was probably a foot or more of detritus covering the ground making the
search for the benchmark itself a most unappetizing effort. I left that as an
exercise for future adventurers. I returned to the trail via a slightly
different route for no other reason than to prove to myself there was more than
one way through the jungle. So much fun.
Puu Keokea
Back on the trail I followed it back to a junction that
with the Skyline 4WD route. Less than a mile from Polipoli and also off the
trail is
a quarter mile to the north. Luckily it and the other summits were
all above the forest line and the cross-country over grassy hillocks and low
scrub was no serious challenge. If they had all been as much work as Polipoli
I would never have gotten back before dark, even forgoing the bonus peaks. On
the way to the summit I passed by a fenced enclosure, one of several found
along the way. They seem to be designed to keep pigs out while providing water
for birds with a tin roof collector, storage tank and bubbler.
Kanahau / Kalepeamoa
The next summit
was almost 2mi distance and along the way the
vegetation begins to grow more sparse until there is just grass and lava and not
a whole lot of the former.
is a steep and loose climb from the north
where I ascended it and I slipped countless times in the effort. Only upon
gaining the summit area did I notice a good use trail through the lava rock
from the northeast. There are three possible highpoints and I visited them all
since I couldn't say for sure which is highest. I descended the use trail back
to the road and continued up to Kalepeamoa which was the most uninspiring
summit of the day. The point identified on the topo and Listsofjohn is a flat
lava field with almost zero prominence. Just to the south is a higher rock
outcropping at
of volcanic vent that was more interesting and worthy
of the summit name (though barely, with maybe 10ft of prominence).
Red Hill / Kolekole
I had planned to turn back at this point since I'd already visited the highest
points of Haleakala on my previous visit. But since it was just past 1p, Red
Hill was only 2mi away and I still had something like 5hrs of daylight, I
decided to finish off the Skyline Trail by taking it to its start at the edge
of the national park. I passed through
inside another fenced area, this
one closing off the entire summit area to the pigs. I suspect it's all the
communication installations and stuff at the top where they have a *shitload*
of construction material lying about - seems they are building secret spy stuff
up there. I bypassed Kolekole and headed up the now paved road inside the
to the top of
where there is an enclosed observation
deck for all those folks who flock up for the sunrise experience. There were
several dozen folks here, all in shorts and all freezing their asses off. The
inside of the windows were heavily fogged over, rendering viewing through the
glass
impossible. The temperature was probably close to 40F, maybe lower, there were
clouds below, above, and skirting across the summit periodically. No real views
today. I walked up with all my cold weather gear on (black ninja-style
balaclava as well) which seemed to grab the attention of the other visitors. I
was the only one that was comfortable. After leaving the highpoint, I decided
to pay a visit
just to the southwest about a quarter mile. The area is home to the
(boy does that sound
all cloak and dagger) and shared with the
University of Hawaii. The area was
as closed to the public in no uncertain terms, but I went up anyway. After
finding the highpoint and photographing there, I looked
over to see a gentleman having just spied me about
50yds away. I ducked back behind the cargo sheds and was going to head back
down the way I came when I turned to notice him following me. I stopped and
walked back to meet him. I immediately apologized for disturbing him, my way
of trying to disarm the situation.
He seemed really spooked by my presence (the ninja
balaclava probably wasn't helping). "You're not supposed to be here," he said
rather obviously. "I know, I'm sorry," I replied. He asked what I was doing
there and had a hard time believing someone would violate the Keep Out Zone
for such a thing as photographing a benchmark.
I'm not sure that he even knew what a benchmark was, in
hindsight. He escorted me off the property, all the while his face almost
white and somewhat in disbelief. At least he didn't call the sheriff, or
worse. Bottom line - Red Hill okay, Kolekole not okay.
I spent the next three hours making my way back down the Skyline Trail and
back to the van. I used
the , an interesting
that travels through the forest,
saving a few miles by not returning to the state park campground. It was nearly
5:30p by the time ,
a few minutes before sunset. Not that I had any
view of the sun all day. I was buried in fog once again back at the van and
sunset was announced only as part of the slow dimming of the daylight that
filtered down through the cloud layers. We'll have to see what sort of weather
tomorrow brings...
Continued...