Date: Mon, 26 Mar 2001 14:06:26 -1000 From: nota yahoo <notayahoo50@hotmail.com> Subject: Waikau overnight After hiking down the Halemauu trail I turned left on the unmaintained trail that leads across Koolau gap to the old Waikau cabin site and up to re-join the Halemauu trail near Bottomless Pit. This trail makes lots of twists and turns through the very rough lava fields. With the normal situation of hiking in the clouds it is very easy to lose your sense of direction and even to lose the trail. One area was covered by what looked like a lichen(?) forest. All the lava was covered by the gray stuff, which was from one to three inches high, and occasionally green. I was looking for some large pine trees I was told were at the cabin site but found they had been blown down long ago. As I set up my tent it began to rain lightly, after I was all set it rained more heavily and began to get dark. I was snug in my tent, having put on dry longjohns and enjoyed my dinner. Later that night I had to go out despite the cold and the prospect of putting on wet shoes. I was rewarded with a clear night sky and as I gazed at the beauty of the stars I momentarily forgot that I was standing in freezing cold weather with wet freesing cold shoes on. In the morning I was not able to light my Esbit fuel tab. I had left it out all night and it seemed to have absorbed moisture and frozen, also my lighter ran out of fuel. So I decided to pack up, hike awile and have a cold breakfast. The puddles around my tent from the rain at night was frozen and the tent floor had to be broken free, this required my hands to be re-warmed a couple of times as I folded up the tent. Again the trail was unmaintained but now the sky was clear with the lava formations looking like castles & other impressive structures against the back drop of the early morning lighted walls of Haleakala Crater. At Mamane hill I stopped to dry out my gear & eat breakfast, just relaxing in the quite & solitude. Once back on the main trail I exchanged good mornings with hikers headed in to the crater. At Holua I had a snack and while trying to enjoy the quiet I was diturbed by some loud yahooing in the distance. Since I was annoyed I decided that this is where the derogatory term Yahoos came from. I then decided not to be annoyed, that these Yahoos were just expressing their appreciation for the beauty of the wilderness. I then proceeded up the old switchback trail. This was a first for me and a good work out. The bottom portion is completly wiped out so it is a straigt up affair. The switchback portion is littered with large rocks and goes up at at a good angle almost all the way to the parking lot. I tryed to memorize the junction so I can take it down next time. This was a great short trip and I look forward to some longer explorations of this area.
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