Hi everyone. This is an account primarily of the first Ho`opono youth Haleakala adventure. The good news is that there have been many other such outings over the years including 2017 to the big island. These trips are made possible thanks to the local consumer groups NFBH, HAB, non-profit the Friends of Ho`opono, as well as agency staff and students.
A walk in the Park
Imagine standing at the start of Maui’s Keoneheehee trail that twists and turns for several miles around and about stupendous multi-colored giant cinder cones as it winds down from its’ 10,023 elevation level to the quietest place on earth, the crater floor of the Haleakala National Park summit area. Next, imagine that you are one of a group of 5 blind youth and 3 blind adults along with a few sighted staff who are about to become the first such group that the Park service has ever sponsored for a four-day service backpack outing in Haleakala’s crater. You gonna have some butterflies?
In the fall of 2005 plans were begun by Ho`opono, Hawaii’s program for blind individuals to take some of the youth that attended agency camps to Maui for an adventure in the park. Week-long stays at North Shore YMCA Camp Erdman where program teenagers hiked a canyon, kayaked the ocean and conquered the high ropes kindled the long-held dream of providing a true wilderness experience. A call was made to a former neighbor park ranger, Ron Nagata, about the possibility. We had not spent any real time together for years but had exchanged greetings prior to or after a few of my numerous treks in the crater. Ron paused a while when broached the prospect and then said, “Well I won’t tell you, you cannot do it. In fact, why not include a day of pulling invasive weeds so that the outing qualifies as an official service project?” There was no hesitation to respond in the affirmative to that suggestion.
Ho`opono was founded back in the territorial days of 1935. The program started out of the back of a local high school before sharing space at a community center. Federal laws expanded rehabilitation training services alongside adequate funding. Several professional staff were added and in the early days of statehood, a state of the art rehabilitation facility was built. Statewide programming included vocational rehabilitation counseling, blindness skills training, business training followed by placement managing. food and dry goods sites at government buildings, and home rehabilitation teaching. The agency adopted a Socratic method of teaching for the acquisition of skills such as cane travel, Braille, home management, computer technology and woodshop.
The structured discovery instruction model was also put to good use when working with youth during their stay at Camp Erdman. Campers had fun on the ropes course, enjoyed kayaking, and learned to navigate trails and accommodations.
Despite such, there was some center-based staff who felt a trip such as the one being planned was foolish at best and dangerous at worst. “No way you should be taking a group of blind kids on a trek like that,” was one counselor’s response. Section supervisor, Lea Grupen responded, “I have confidence in the training the kids have gotten plus BD knows what he is doing.” I was grateful that at least one person believed in the proposed effort but realized the person who spoke was not the only one who felt the outing should not take place.
Ron flew over to Oahu to meet with campers and parents. He shared slides and explained how the crater floor (a valley) sits like a bowl surrounded by mountain ranges with gaps on the east and west side. Five practice hikes with backpacks were held, some of which involved a fair amount of elevation gain. At camp four months prior to the trek, two difficult hikes were completed. Techniques such as using a hiking pole for balance and the white cane to locate obstacles were tested. Some found it practical to use both while others settled on using their white cane only.
Our group flew to Kahului on July 16, 2006. We proceeded to the Jisso center (thanks to arrangements made by Annette Tashiro) to complete getting backpacks ready, and ensure all had appropriate gear. Good thing too as one of the youth had no jacket or even a long sleeve t-shirt. Such was procured at nearby Kaahumanu mall prior to bedding down on the church floor. Early the next morning the bus was in the parking lot and we loaded up. After viewing a short video at the park’s information center, we made our way to the summit and the top of the Keoneheehee aka sliding sands trail. The weather was gorgeous and one could see the isthmus of Maui as well as the big island mountain tops of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. Those two and Haleakala when one includes their base 17000 feet below the ocean surface are the three tallest mountains on earth.
The first day’s goal was to hike 6 miles to Kapalaoa cabin. One million people a year visit Haleakala but only a few hundred venture as far as the crater floor. After the first mile or so of our downhill portion, we only saw our group members. The trail descends 3000 feet over its first four miles, and It took us over 4 hours to get to the floor.
The mix of cinders and sand, especially in the steeper sections made for uneven footing.
All had to be careful not to spill too badly. Once at the base it was a fairly flat and easy stretch to get on over to Kapalaoa. The cabin is one of three built by the depression era WPA workforce. They are primitive with no electricity or indoor lua but do have non-potable running water, wood, and propane stoves. Four three-level bunk beds are situated around a long wooden table in the middle of the main room. Everyone was assigned a team with specific assignments for setup, cooking or cleanup for each meal. The food we ate was all awesome.
The Hawaiian archipelago is the most isolated major group of islands in the world. Twenty-five hundred miles from the nearest continental land mass plants and birds’ pre-human contact if survived the journey only landed ashore by accident. Absent of predators with only the Hawaiian hoary bat as a native land mammal meant species evolved in a unique and defenseless fashion. The Hawaiian Ahinahina aka as the Hawaiian silversword, for example, lives from 3 to 90 years before bursting out of its rosette into full bloom was only found on the slopes and crater of Haleakala. When one ventures into the crater there is a good chance will spot some flowering, and guaranteed will get up and close to Nene goose, the official 808 bird.
Day two we pulled weeds. Outside cabin door of Kapalaoa lies a flat plateau the size of several football fields. Our assignment was to rid the area of Plantago, a common weed which when left unchecked wipes out native species and disrupts indigenous birds’ habitat. The weed is easy to yank out of the ground and the group had fun making huge piles of them. They would be burned later in the wood stove. That night staffer Jon Koki and adult role model Virgil Stinnett delighted in scaring the living daylights out of everybody with their ghost noises. When they finished we could hear native Hawaiian petrels, (`ua`u) making oo-A-oo calls smoothing us to sleep.
Haleakala bubbled up from the sea a million years ago. Subsequent numerous eruptions added layer after layer until it reached its’ present height of over 10,000 feet and status as the world’s largest dormant volcano. Polynesians, the greatest seafaring people of the ancient world reached its’ shore somewhere between 2000 to 1500 years ago. The upper reaches of the mountain, however, were not explored for hundreds of years due to ongoing eruptions. The mountain was sacred. When Hawaiians ventured into the crater they deemed it a special place. Ceremonies and religious instruction took place there. The story of how Maui lassoed the sun to slow its passage over the crater gave birth to the name Haleakala (house of the sun).
The day after pulling weeds we proceeded on the four-mile trek over to the crater’s west side and its Holua cabin. The route goes up the side and in between multi-colored cinder cones as high as 300 feet. Stops along the way included the bottomless pit and Pele’s paint pod. The trail slopes right alongside a cinder cone there with a significant drop-off. Hikers did great. There was some “trippin and fallin” as 16-year-old Leilani said, but no one fell off the trail. The silversword loop a mile from the cabin offered the chance to touch and smell the famous plant. The route through this section of the crater is made up primarily of smooth lava-pahoehoe, or the older rock chunk variety named a’a. It is easy to get bits of a’a stuck inside your shoes.
After a short rest at the “Holua Hilton,” the group voted to have a go at visiting one of the neatest lava tubes ever. It lies about 200 yards from the cabin door off a faint trail. Ranger Ron who had left to return topside the day before watched us proceed to the cave with binoculars from up above. The entrance is approached with caution as the opening is steep. A 12-rung ladder was in place for the final descent to the cave’s floor. It is long with different levels and spots that call for squeezing between boulders the size of a house. Stalactites and columns abound so one needs to protect their head and tread cautiously. It took us half an hour to traverse its length. The darkness was total. Once away from the entrance those who had them turned off their headlamps which resulted in not being able to see even a sliver of light. We made it through with a sense of awe.
The final night found the group about 100 yards east of the Holua cabin in a horse shed area as a mix-up resulted in the cabin being occupied by others. Some slept in the shed and some in tents or under the stars. Thankfully there were no horses present. Staff and role model Katie Keim stayed busy fixing people’s sleeping bag zippers and dispensing foot care. The youth put on a talent show. Their skit consisted primarily of spot-on staff imitations. It was hilarious. That night bedding down outside on the ground the north and south stars both shone brightly in the night sky. It was so still one could hear stars fall.
Renowned environmentalist Gordon (“sound tracker”) Hempton has explored with his sound detection equipment natural spots all over the world. He has found no place as quiet as Haleakala’s crater. The absence of sound makes introspection easy and evokes peace along with a sense of the sublime.
Middle of the night it started to pour. Sam’s tent had a hole in the roof so their two occupants squeezed in with the guys in the shed. I sought refuge with four of our group that were in the enclosed section of the shed. It had two bunks which maintenance crews used on their regular jaunts. Because of the aforementioned mix-up, we had the combination code and those inside were warm, dry and sound asleep. I pounded on the door yelling “let me in getting soaked out here,” but no one heard. Thankfully Katie heard though and let me in the tent she and husband Virgil shared. Due to condensation and tight quarters by dawn they were all wet too.
Final day found us hiking a mile down through an a’a field to the start of the Halemauu trail’s three miles of switchbacks that would take us back to concrete at the 8000-foot level. The switches after the first section are long and gradual. One needs to pay attention though as if miss the curves that signal the trail is changing direction it would be easy to walk off into the void. Volunteer Virgil Stinnett made sure his cane kept contact with the cliff walls. We trudged on slowly and carefully alongside patches of native vegetation including Ohelo and Pukiawe shrubs. Lots of ferns and Ohia too. There is a stretch of fifty meters about a mile from the top known as “rainbow bridge” where if one strayed off the trail survival would be difficult. No wall to tap here but white canes provided adequate feedback to keep everyone on course.
Honolulu Advertiser reporter Christie Wilson walked with us the last mile and interviewed campers and staff. Jolene beamed ‘“My Momma couldn’t do this” and Michael said, “it was kind of quiet”. Shannon noted, “I miss my rice, civilization, and tv.” Volunteer adult role model Virgil Stinnett said “this was real and empowering. It’s teaching them you can really do it.” Braille Teacher Brook Sexton stated “It’s pretty amazing to bring the kids up here and watch them succeed. That was really powerful for me.”
After a little rest and some refreshments, Shannon also told the reporter “I saw probably the most beautiful things I ever saw and heard the coolest sounds. I’m going to look back at this and have a lot of good memories.”
More than a decade has passed since that first Ho`opono journey into the wondrous heart of Haleakala. The youth that participated are now adults living full productive lives out in the world. Some are now serving as staff and volunteers for a younger generation. Doing what they can to ensure others also have the opportunity one day to stand at the end of a wilderness trail and proudly shout, “we did it!"
|
*An expanded version of this write-up is being worked on for the Ho`opono archives. We are looking for more photos from past treks and if any participants have some they would be willing to share please send such to Gavan Abe.
**The quotes in this document and the stepping into a future photo were taken from an article that appeared in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, July 21, 2006. If punch Control and click on the link below that article should pop up.
Here are s few more photos that Gavan Abe took of the 2015 trek
.jpg)
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
No comments:
Post a Comment