Waiau Trail Hike

Waiau Trail Hike

Posted to OHE on 15 February 2004 by Joe Bussen

Thinking the HTM hike for today was Waiau, Ruby and I drove to the top of Kaahumanu St. a bit after 8 am. About 8:35, Mabel arrived, thinking the same. Mabel had a pair of sunglasses retrieved by the trail clearing crew, belonging to Gordon K., one of Bob Silva's crew. We listened to the story for a while, and we decided that maybe Patrick was at this very moment leading a hike-in protest at the top of Hapaki St. We drove our two vehicles over there, just in time to see HPD hauling away the limp body of Patrick. Naw, just kidding. All quiet at the fence. Mabel remembered the club is hiking Makua Rim today, so off she went, and we drove over to Kaahele St.

Ignoring the "Keep Out – Trespassers Will Be Prosecuted" signs on the locked gate, we started hiking up the jeep road about 9:20. About 20 minutes in, startled to see a truck approaching, we stepped off the dirt road to let a friendly couple pass, with a well-behaved dog in the back amid coolers. Ten minutes later, two bicyclists appeared, careful in passing us. Ten more minutes brought a big grassy clearing on the right, with three pick-ups and a mini-van parked on the left. One truck had a doggy cage in the rear with the tailgate down. Ten more minutes, 12 to 15 more bikes down the road. Finally, we passed the Hapaki St. connector and entered a beautiful stretch of trail.

Shortly after, we saw an elderly Japanese man sitting alongside the trail, arms wrapped around the neck of a brindle-colored dog. The dog likes to bark, he says, but it is under control. A second very similar dog emerges from the bushes. Both dogs have heavy vests strapped around their chests and trunks. "Da peegs cut 'em up, yeah?" the elderly man says, his boys are in the valley hunting.

We reached the main ridge, with ribbons labeled "Exit to Kaahumanu St", "To Waiau Summit and Halapepe Trails", and even "To Hapaki St." We went mauka to the first hilltop and stopped for an early lunch under an ala he'e tree, with a fairly large sandalwood arching over it. Found just one little four-pointed flower to admire. With a clear view to cloud-shrouded Mt. Kaala, we began hearing chatter from Mike, Dick, Doug, and later Chris and Larry. Tried my little 2-watt Cobra, and Doug answered. Doug mentioned a lot of lobelias budding out, promising flowers soon. As we got up to start our return, I saw our own lobelias gracing our lunch spot—a half dozen right below us and down the slope, Cyaneas, I think. A beautiful spot.

About a half hour into our return, we met Bob Silva and his wife. Bob was full of praise for the efforts of the trail clearers the week before. He also told us the elderly hunter, Shige, is in his eighties. Bob and wife came in via Kaahumanu, crossed over to Hapaki early on, and were heading mauka, planning a lunch stop on Halapepenui Trail. Later, we ran into another elderly hunter, Herman Fergestrum, a Swedish-Hawaiian sporting a very big knife. Herman confessed to being in his eighties himself; looked about 65. Shige, he said, is only in his seventies. Clearly very fit. Herman confessed that he doesn’t scramble around the gulches after pigs anymore. He was wearing open-toed sandals with no socks, recovering from a broken foot. His son and friends killed just one small pig today. Shige's actual son doesn’t hunt anymore; he is off studying "to be one doctor." The young men and six or eight dogs soon appeared and passed us, with one scared puppy afraid to pass intimidating hikers. We didn’t see any pig, but Herman said they "de-bone" it and carry out the meat in their backpacks. They used to carry out the whole pig to the Pig Hunters Assoc. for bragging rights, but no more.

Just before exiting, we met a middle-aged bicyclist and some teenagers off to the left, playing with some sort of "guns," paintballers, perhaps.

—Joseph Omer Bussen