Haleakala and Kilauea 



233 



tain. During the days preceding our expedition I had often studied 

 the long gradual slope of the mountain as it swept upward in an easy 

 curve from sea-level at Kahului. When far up in the blue that curve 

 was intersected by lofty ranks of cumulus clouds, above which the 

 colossal hulk still continued to rise, the beholder gained a rather 

 vivid impression both of distance and of height. There is, in fact, an 

 air-line interval of about fifteen miles between Kahului and Olinda 

 which one is quite content to cover by auto. The distance from 

 Olinda to the summit is another air-line interval of about five or six 

 miles, which is increased to about eight miles by the meandering 

 trail, whose vertical ascent in th^t distance is about six thousand 

 feet. 



After a night spent at the comfortable parsonage of the Makawao 

 Church on the northwestern instep of the mountain we motored to 

 Olinda. Our party was to have consisted of at least four men, but 

 unforeseen occurrences diminished it until only George H. DeKay 

 and myself were left. The first day's trip to the summit, however, was 

 shared also by a Mr. Wedberg. It should be observed that a knap- 

 sack trip in the Hawaiian Islands is very different from one in the 

 High Sierra. A far greater concern than food is an adequate supply 

 of water, which has to be carried in capacious canteens, and is one 

 of the things that taxes a hiker's transportation ability. 



Adjusting our packs at Olinda, we trudged upward along a cattle- 

 trail that disappeared in a bank of clouds about two thousand feet 

 above us. Before long the dense white masses of cumulus were 

 sweeping all about us; the cattle trail, splintering into a dozen paths, 

 radiated into them in all directions, and after some speculation as to 

 the right one it was decided to trust our compass and instinct as to 

 the general direction and make a frontal attack on the mountain. 

 Flurries of rain, alternating with bursts of brilliant sunshine when 

 the trade-wind tore rifts in the cloud canopy, made every moment 

 interesting with a shifting panorama. Far down on the isthmus be- 

 tween East and West Maui could be seen the town of Wailuku nes- 

 tling among sugar and pineapple plantations. Beyond the isthmus 

 Puu Kukui (5788 ft.) , the highest peak of West Maui, held its sum- 

 mit on a level with our early forenoon position, and to the left of it 

 could be seen the deep gash of the famous lao Valley, which residents 

 of Maui like to compare with Yosemite. It is an erosion gulch cut 

 into the flanks of the West Maui Mountains by the heavy rains which 



