Poamoho/KST/Castle/Papali Uka -- Keith Palmer

A Koolau Summit Trail hiker from the mainland told me about a water

source he found in the Peahinaia section of the trail, and referenced in

one of Stuart Ball's books. It is on the windward side of the trail at

Peahinaia at a gap. He was able to make a mud dike, stick a straw

through it, and slowly fill a water bottle. For people who might not get

to the excellent water source at Poamoho junction or those studying the

plants in the fence interior and staying thereabouts, decided to pack up

and see if I could find the meager source.

Thursday June 27, 2002

6:05 AM Walk out the door of house with light backpack. Worked the

night before until 3:00 AM and had packed up just before leaving.

6:20 AM Arrive at Hookele and Farrington Highway bus stop.

6:37 Bus #40 "Honolulu" arrives. Pay $1.50, the new higher bus fare, and

get a transfer. Thinned down internal frame backpack draws no comment

from the driver, and I slide it under my bus seat.

7:28 Get off bus at Leeward Community College. Cross to westbound lane

of Kamehameha Highway to other bus stop.

7:56 Bus #62 arrives at stop. Driver says Circle Island no longer stops

at LCC. Drive refuses to take my transfer, perhaps because it is the

first time I have been "bitten" by the change in route.

8:28 Arrive at Wahiawa California Avenue shopping center stop.

Discussion with two ladies about the bus route confirms #52 Circle Island

I tried to catch at LCC has been rerouted now because it has to go up

into Mililani Mauka.

8:49 Bus #52 Circle Island comes. Board, give driver my transfer.

8:58 Dole/Helemano Plantation. Have managed to get from Ma'ili to

Helemano for $1.50 and three bus trips, mahalo to The Bus. Get off one

stop early at the Dole tourist place and walk short distance to the

Helemano Plantation road, the road that serves as access to Poamoho

Trail. The road is now **completely** blocked, not just with boulders

but also with earth that has been pushed up against the boulders. And

the barricade is not just at the end of the Helemano Plantation road but

along it on the north side also, so a four-wheel drive vehicle cannot go

over the bank to the access road. Wrestle on my gaiters at the blockage.

9:15 Start up road. Such a great day, Martha Stewart would be doing her

insider trading outdoors. Bright sun, no clouds, and a cool morning

wind. Living dangerously decide not to dig out sunscreen, not even my

hat, which is handy in the backpack.

11:10 Arrive at Hunter/Hiker sign in station. Sign in as hiking and

camping and "X" off the return time block since do not plan on coming out

on the Poamoho Trail. 11:15 arrive trailhead. Take a long break.

12:15 Start up Poamoho Trail. Take breaks along trail, getting sleepier

and sleepier each time. Past my normal bedtime. The trail is

delightfully cleared, looks like recent Na Ala Hele work. Wide, a real

joy. A guess would be within two months or so ago judging from how far

up the cut Clidemia, Clidemia hirta, and guava, Psidium spp., have shot

up. The clearers have taken pains to clear around native plants that are

growing into the trail, even going the extreme of leaving a few koa

seedlings two to five feet tall. Mental note that they will block the

fine trail if not moved or cut. Guess the Na Ala Hele guys have to be

overly cautious.

2:35 PM Time for a nap. Reached a cleared spot just above the end of

the well-cleared section. Perhaps transition to another landowner who is

not as hiker friendly. Set alarm on watch for 5:30 PM and shove in

breast pocket. Lay down on raincoat next to pack.

6:37 PM Wake up. What happened to the alarm? Must have had my arm over

the watch, muffling the alarm. Too late to continue North on KST towards

my intended overnight at a high grassy knoll just off the trail, so hope

the DLNR cabin at Poamoho has no official users and head there. Arrive

Poamoho water source, a really lovely spot. The open field like area

next to the trail that is such a good campground seems smaller, for some

reason. Just an impression, no doubt. Walk to Cline Memorial. Windy

as usual. The "mop head" Lobelias, Trematolobelia macrostychys, that are

often in such abundance in the wet area just below the junction are

almost all gone by, all the seed bearing arms are brown and naked bearing

their many dried out porous seed capsules. Take a brief look over the

Pali at the windward side.

7:49 PM Arrive at the Poamoho Cabin. Cabin is particularly clean.

Check for the three rattraps left there last year behind the plywood

sheet, still there waiting for anyone with cheese to tie them to a post

below the cabin and control the inevitable rats. Rats kill snails and

native birds, so why not do a little rat control? The traps have a hole

drilled through one end with string through the hole. You tie the trap

to a post or nail with the string so if the trap does not result in a

clean kill, which they often do not, just catching a leg or so of the

rat, you can go out and take a piece of lumber from underneath the cabin

and with a quick blow humanely crush the invasive rodent's skull. Walk

away from the cabin and give the dead rat carcass a good toss. Plenty of

old two by fours under the cabin, no doubt left by ecologically conscious

DLNR carpenters for use in rat control. Make dinner, red beans and rice

for six cooked over an alcohol stove constructed of two soda cans and

perlite, one third of a half pound block of hard goat cheese, Triscuits,

and an apple. Debate setting the traps, but decide to keep the cheese

for myself. Read a few articles in a recent Science News magazine by

headlamp before falling asleep. An unnecessary candle on a tin foil

holder creates a glow for a while over one side of the plywood interior

of the cabin.

Friday June 28, 2002

7:43 Sweep up and leave cabin for Cline Memorial. Heading north, soon

after the KST-Poamoho Trail intersection pass through some fairly dense

Clidemia groves. Pass the long open pali section, which is in need of

clearing and some pickaxe work to clear the slides that create danger by

pushing hikers out to the very edge of the Pali. Innumerable small

landslides above the trail fill in the inside edge, and make for a harder

walk than is really necessary.

Beautiful views south towards windward Oahu. Stop to take three photos

of a misty trail, Pu'u Ohuluhule, and a knob on the trail. Start up a

few knobs where due to lazy hikers or overgrowth of the original contour

trail "cut throughs" have been made that bypass the back and forth

serpentines of the trail. The original trail is choked over with growth

but findable. Some hearty trail-clearing sort could restore the trail in

a couple of hours if there was someone so inclined. Reduce erosion,

create a more pleasant journey free of fear of losing the trail.

Clidemia in a few dense patches. Some of the trail is surprisingly

choked with plants, which grow into the only opening there is, the trail

cut. Overall the trail climbs gradually up. Pleasant walking, and a new

and unique experience on the KST for me, walking in the morning and not

getting soaked.

Every so often encounter a common damselfly of the endemic genus

Megalagrion, probably M. oahuense, flying or perching along the trail.

Pretty animals, dark gray and red. They actually seem to be hanging out

along the trail opening, a good flyway for them in their search for

smaller insects to catch, or a member of the opposite sex to impress.

They move without haste to avoid me as I pass.

10:07 Come upon the fence built by Army Environmental to excude pigs

from 150 acres of Bishop Estate land. This is the Opa'eula Watershed

Protection Project. There is a sign at the first cross of the trail with

the fence with small yellow lettering to let hikers know they are on the

trail, and a crossover stile. The stile consists of two steps on either

side of the fence, the one by the fence higher than the outer. Each step

is made of two two-by-fours bolted together over the top of a piece of

metal fence post. I walk up on the near side, let myself down the other

side. Step on the lower step on the north side and feel it sink about an

inch on one end's support. Put my full weight on it and it sinks another

half an inch. At this point where the trail first crosses the fence the

fence line runs roughly 290 degrees west and the trail 30 degrees east

towards a grassy swale. Having crossed the stile the trail is now inside

the fence. The trail heading north here is hard to follow, and manage to

get turned around. Walk back up towards the ridge and fence. The trail

was lightly marked here to begin with, and with the fence is hard to

follow.

Cross outside the fence again to see if this swale could be the top of

the water source, and walking downhill towards the pali come upon some

large metal helicopter pads that are sitting with grass growing up

through their holes. Look around the pali side of the swale and no

water, nothing really fitting the description of the seep. Walk along

trail again and stop at another stile to take a photo of the fence line

heading along the pali and the trail heading off at an angle a little to

leeward. The fence does not stay on the trail but crosses back and

forth, and due to this makes following the trail a bit of a chore. Due

to the esthetically challenged planning management at Army Environmental

the fence manages to be built on the trail off and on. It also cuts

through native plants along most of its path here. At one point a

certain past president of the Hawaiian Trail and Mountain Club, Pat

Rorie, felt it best to clear some of the original trail to allow less

confusion. Perhaps that and some sort of low-key trail markers could be

put up at intervals along here to so hikers can stay on the trail instead

of following the fenceline and wondering if they are anywhere near the

K.S.T. Some people like my friend from Ohio ended up walking most of

the fence line.

11:07 Reach a notch on the windward side that faces directly east that

looks steeper and more promising than the previous gentle swale. Walk

down it all the way to its pali drop off and find no flowing water.

There are several shallow pools in the moss covered rocky channel, one

about five inches deep with algae growing in it. This must be the place.

Try a sip, no off taste. Fill up plastic bottle with slightly greenish

water. Walk back up towards where left pack and take a photo of the

notch. The photo frames Pu'u Ohuluhule. Whether water is flowing here

must depend on how often and how hard the rain falls. Back on the trail

notice several large bundles of heavy fencing wire left hanging at

intervals along the fence line, leftovers still not cleaned up from the

construction.

Walking along the trail/fence can see the Army Environmental platform

and tent off to the left. When first spy it check it out with

binoculars. Because of the foreshortened perspective and the fact the

tent platform is built on stilts with open air beneath it the whole thing

bears an odd resemblance to a wagon train wagon. Arched or hooped top,

vertical sides, and open beneath. No oxen pulling it though. Closer

inspection shows it for what it is. The tent is up which is surprising,

since the Environmental Assessment issued for the fence construction

specifically states it is to be taken down when the fence line

construction crew is through and between visits by environmental workers

to the site. No one is around working. Walk along, the fence present

for a surprisingly long ways to the side of the trail. Along the fence

find none of the disturbing wire snares that were there earlier, though

not walking the entire 2.3 mile fence line cannot vouch for that for the

whole distance.

12:20 Arrive at a small enclosure, built earlier than Opae'ula, and with

taller wooden stakes instead of metal. The trail takes me to the sign on

the north end of the fencing, which has a created name for the area

"Lehua Maka Nui", with translation of "misty eyed Lehua" bog. The

exclosure area is on a surprisingly steep slope to be a bog, but perhaps

the plant community there is as unique as the signs indicates. The sign

also says to stay out, that the fence was built to keep pigs and humans

from trampling the area. There being no boardwalk or marked path stay

outside the fence. There is a small clearing a little beyond the sign

along the fence that looks like a small campsite.

On the KST eat a light lunch. More cheese and Triscuits.

12:50 Leave lunch spot by fence sign, trail bears a little west of north,

about 315 degrees. Just after starting look down a broad open valley on

the right to see a solar panel and what looks like a rain gauge. Visible

for the next twenty minutes or so along the trail. Above this rain gauge

on the trail come to a spot with pieces of helicopter landing pad shoved

off to the side of the trail. Also in the trail several pieces of what

look like landing pad reinforcement or some very heavy metal, directly on

the trail and speculatively there to prevent the trail from eroding a rut

in the ground.

1:13 PM Come up surprisingly to the junction with Castle Trail.

Recognize the open spot in the trail where have camped before when coming

south on the KST. There is a plastic piece of pipe with three bright

pieces of flagging tied around it. The realization that now most of the

trail after the meeting with the fence has some sort of human

construction visible along it makes a sad note.

1:20 Start down Castle Trail. Overgrown and narrow at places with signs

of some clearing attempt. Not hard to find the trail, but definitely

overgrown. Take a long rest near where the trail cuts into a cliff and

the Broussasia and other natives are pushing out from the cliff edge.

2:30 There is a fork in the trail with a little grass growing. This is

where Dave Waller and I had to guess which way to turn to find water on a

through hike a few years ago. We guessed correctly and went right.

This fork fairly close to the summit of Castle Trail could be the

junction with Papali Uka/Hau'ula Loa described by Dayle Turner in his

OHE post 16 AUG 2002. However, it may be too high up on Castle. Anyone

know this place?? A "Castle Trail" arrow and "Dangerous Trail Leads to

Uncleared Ridges" arrow might be helpful here. If it is the Hau'ula Loa

Trail then it should have a warning sign, since there is no real contour

trail and it is following narrow uncleared ridges.

2:40 On Castle Trail cuts through on the left of a hill, and come to the

small water source. There is a water-eroded channel with small pool in

the concave side of the hill, and the pool is full. Covered by native

vegetation and a few Clidemia. Push aside the surface debris and fill up

again. Futilely rip up a few Clidemia.

3:02 Another trail junction. Take a rest. The right fork is marked with

a small green painted sign that says "TRAIL" and above in black marking

pen in half inch letters is written "Castle". Been told by Pat Rorie

that access to Castle from the trailhead has been cut off, some landowner

not wanting to let folks in, and so it is getting really overgrown. I

decide that it would be nice to take the Castle Trail since have only

been on it once before, and with luck will be able to push through on the

trail cut. Start down Castle Trail.

4:02 Luck runs out. The trail dead ends, with several clumps of flagging

and a Loulu grove directly ahead. Push ahead below and through the Loulu

grove and along the mountainside on the grove's other side, pushing up

and along to find the trail. No trail. Push up, and clinging to clumps

of the native lily Uki-Uki, Dianella sandwicensis, and digging in along

the hillside work back to the trail. What a pain. Walk back to the

junction with green "Trail" sign looking for the trail and not seeing it.

It turns out that Castle does indeed go this way, and if had taken

some time would have found the correct trail, which goes down and crosses

Kaluanui Stream which feeds Sacred Falls.

4:30 Down other trail. Keep looking for the junction to Nipple/

Waiahilahila Ridge and miss it. No marker? Off of Castle instead of

this trail? Lots and lots of native plants. Someone has tied a ribbon

to three or four of the more interesting endemics, there is a Lobelia

with multiple heads, like the T. macrostachys at Poamoho but with more

than one leaf top. Never a good amateur botanist around to clear these

questions up when you need one. Pass three or so inviting openings in

the trail that look like campsites, perhaps left by amateur botanists

exploring the area, or trail clearers camping out for the night. The

campsites begin to beckon. Lots and lots of small birds, introduced

Japanese White Eyes having a convention. Have not seen a single native

bird the whole trip. No Apapanes even.

5:30 Decide to camp instead of trying to push through, perhaps by

flashlight, and brave the bus system after a long day. Set up camp on

an opening on the trail of bivy sack and pink blanket. Eat the last

third of the box of Triscuits have had for dinner last night and lunch

today, and last of the cheese. No need to light an alcohol stove since

do not want to make coffee. Just a few drops of rain at night.

Saturday June 29th.

5:30 AM Up and pack.

6:00 On trail. Misty overcast. Clouds above and in front, some opening

towards the ocean below. The sun comes up, first detectable by the red

tops of the waves off Punaluu.

7:30 Stop and take a photo looking down into Makua Gulch on the left.

Through binoculars can see runners of vines on the other face of Makua

Gulch, which though too far away to identify, look like Smilax

melastomifolia, Hoi kuahiwi. That valley is closed to hikers due to

landslide danger, and I wonder where in the hike I am above. Can see

sheer canyon sides but not the stream.

9:44 Come out at a road with sign saying "Ma'akua Ridge Trail/ Na Ala

Hele/ Ma'akua Gulch Trail Closed due to Hazardous Conditions Violators

Will Be Prosecuted." Walk to Farrington Highway, walk to convenience

store and purchase 16 oz ice tea, twelve oz orange juice, a plastic pack

with two blueberry pop tarts in it, and a bean manapua. Walk over

bridge on Kamehameha Highway, and a couple who look like serious

bicyclists spin by. The lady smiles and waves, at another outdoor

enthusiast no doubt. I refrain from responding for some reason. Cross

bridge to the bus stop and chow down on recent food purchase. Start to

take off gaiters when...

10:40 The bus #55 arrives, Ala Moana. Pay my $1.50 and get a transfer.

Walk on with one gaiter off and the other hanging off my boot. Sit

down, remove gaiter, pack it, and stow my backpack under the seat. Feel

a little embarrassed by the odor of three days of sweat in my shirt and

shorts, but no one takes visible offense. A couple of guys are talking

about how bus fares have gone up.

11:56 Arrive Ala Moana shopping center. Walk to Country Express "C" stop

and wait. Middle aged man who wants to know if he can take the #40 bus

to Waianae and back before 4:00 PM. I recommend the Country Express and

ask if he is on vacation. An attractive middle-aged lady in a swimsuit

looking a little down and out comes along asking people if they have a

match. I offer her a light, digging camping matches out of my pack's top

cover compartment and lighting up her inch long unfiltered cigarette

butt. Despite being a gentleman my conscience forces me to remind her

that smoking is bad for her, saying "You know, that will stunt your

growth." She sucks up her nicotine hit and backs two or three steps,

thanks me and leaves. Good to know I still have that charm.

12:20 "C" bus arrives. Get on, give transfer to driver. Put pack under

a seat. The Waianae sightseer gets on too.

1:50 Get off the bus at the Ho'okele and Farrington Highway stop. Spent

another $1.50 to get from Hau'ula to Ma'ili. Few minutes later...home to

shower, sleep, and go to work in the evening.

REFERENCES

Kawela, Kapua. Environmental Assessment for Opaeula Watershed Protection

Project Oahu, Hawaii. November, 1999. Pub Unknown.

Merlin, Mark. Hawaiian Forest Plants 4th ed. 1995. Pacific Guide

Books.

Polhemus, Dan A. and Asquith, Adam. 1996. Hawaiian Damselflies A Field

Identification Guide. Bishop Museum Press.

Turner, Dayle K. Hau'ula Loa. Fri, 16Aug2002 09:26:30-1000 OHE-L.5079

NOTE

Directions in degrees are crude, using an inexpensive compass, and do not correct for local magnetic declination.