Pure Speculation

February 7, 2006 | In Hiking, Peaks, History | 9 Comments

On the Kuilau Ridge hike last Sunday, I caught a few glimpses of Mt Waialeale through the clouds. You often hear about how the Hawaiians used to climb up from Wailua once a year to the heiau atop Mt Waialeale, and I realized I was now looking at the possible routes.

Conventional wisdom says they climbed up to the col that the Powerline trail crosses between two points labeled Maheo and Kualapa on the topo map, and then followed that dividing ridge steeply up and over the prominent Pohakupele (Pele’s Rock), a false summit to the upper plateau of Waialeale. This seems plausible, because the Powerline trail demonstrates that it is easy to reach that ridge, and it seems to slope fairly gradually up to the inevitable steepness of Pohakupele.

The rest of the modern story is that this path was last climbed in the 1800’s, once even by a haole (white person), but that a rock slide has since made the treacherous path impassible. Though I’ve heard somebody wonder if the trail was just simply lost to the vegetation. Nevertheless, some people are still intrigued by the idea of climbing to Waialeale from the east side, some are even trying to find that way, and some are also failing and getting rescued.

For those trying to find a way without getting stuck up there (no guarantees), here’s my purely specualtive contribution. Last Sunday, the way the clouds and sun were shining made it apparent that there is a large cleft, 200-300 feet (60-100 m) deep, in the ridge of the assumed path.

Click for unlabled photo.

The height and steepness of the cleft are not readily apparent on the topo map (just above the 3000′ contour label), and I hadn’t noticed the cleft at all other times I’ve had good views of that area. Of course, if ancient Hawaiians or a modern adventure-seeker did manage to reach the cleft, they may have the wherewithal to climb over it or around it. But having hiked in similar places on hunters’ trails, I think it is either impossible or suicidal to attempt without any kind of trail. The cleft looks too steep to climb down and back up, and the cliff face too vertical to allow getting off the ridge.

However, the same view offered me a plausible alternative route that I’ve labeled on the photo. A second ridge also leads up to the false summit that is Pohakupele, generally steeper, but smoother and without any large gaps. It is very steep near the top, but the photo shows the other ridge is just as steep in that area. This alternative ridge begins down near the Wailua river, near the beginning of the Tunnel hike, and is much more direct than following the Powerline ridge to the col. Given the fact that the cleft in the assumed ridge is probably too large to be the landslide that supposedly closed the other route, I speculate this steeper ridge is the old Hawaiian route.

Now all I need is for somebody to tell me if this new route can be climbed.

WARNING: climbing off-trail in the wilds of Kauai is a dangerous idea. What looks like a smooth ridge from a distance is a jagged ridge of crumbly rock covered in dense vegetation that you cannot simply push through, but you can easily fall through with fatal consequences. Exercise extreme caution and proceed at your own risk.