Twelve Miles With Hiking Poles
August 15th, 2010A few days ago the husband asked, “Do you want to help me hike supplies into Kapalaoa Cabin for my volunteer service trip?â€
Kapalaoa Cabin, aka “The First Cabin†is located in Haleakala National Park, six miles in from Haleakala Crater rim. The trail starts at around 9800’ and descends to 7200’, with most of the descent in the first half of the hike. I’ve hiked in to and out from Kapalaoa Cabin many times, but never on the same day, so I figured, Why not?
It would give me a chance to take some pictures, and to try out the concept of hiking with two hiking poles.
I’ll admit that in my foolish youth I looked down on hiking poles—until a few years ago when a friend loaned me one on a long downhill slog. I was amazed at the difference it made and I’ve often used one since. But I never tried hiking with two poles.
The first thing I found out is that I cannot hike with a pole in each hand and a camera around my neck. I’ll have to look for a chest pack or something, because I can’t stand the camera banging against me. So I put one of the poles away until I got to the last, and roughest, part of the descent. At that point the camera went into the pack and I set out with both poles in hand.
By this time the husband was far ahead, since I’d been stopping to take pictures. So I set out at full speed—and with the help of those two poles I’m fairly sure I set personal records for the last leg of the descent, and for crossing the cinder flats that follow. Walking a trail through dry cinder is like walking through dry sand. The poles proved surprisingly useful in this situation, since they provided a solid point to push off.
We offloaded the supplies, and hiked out with little more than water and snacks in the packs. Overall, the trip went well—and today I have a good excuse not to work out!
Looking down Sliding Sands Trail from near the top. The trail follows the foot of the crater wall on the right of the photo.
The cinder flats, after the initial steep descent from the crater rim. This photo shows bracken fern on either side of the trail, but the fern soon gives way to a barren cinder area.
Kapalaoa Cabin, built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).
Oh yeah, we have to climb out again! This is a view of Sliding Sands Trail as it ascends to the crater rim.
Posted on: Sunday, August 15th, 2010 at 8:24 am
Categories: Hiking, Maui, Meanderings.
August 15th, 2010 at 10:08 am
Girl, now that I’ve seen your pictures and read your blog I don’t have to do this hike. Ever! Becuase it looks hot, dirty and very tiring, three things I’m not that fond of.
Got a stark beauty to it, though, doesn’t it?
August 15th, 2010 at 10:17 am
It was definitely hot on this day! And the summer has been so dry that the silverswords along the trail were all covered in dust and looked terrible. But on days when the fog comes rolling in, central crater is surreal and extremely beautiful. If you ever do decide to try it, make sure you have reservations to stay overnight at the cabin. You’ll have a lot more fun!
August 15th, 2010 at 1:52 pm
Love hiking in the crater! It was always a favorite thing to do growing up there. Have some great memories from Kapalaoa I need to go home and do that again! Great shots of the crater. Looked like it was a really beautiful day in the crater!
August 15th, 2010 at 1:58 pm
Beautiful but hot! Thank goodness for a cool breeze on the way out.
We love to stay at Kapalaoa because there’s no campground, and no one else around for miles….
August 29th, 2010 at 12:42 pm
And how lucky for us to have you and her husband seated in the shade of the cabin’s eaves and with yellow jackets rocketing about on the day of your hike. We had gathered all of our questions over our days in the crater and were blessed with you both to answer our natural and not-so-natural science questions. We are so sorry not to have asked into the cabin for a cup of coffee or for the shade. Forgive us. Some day we hope to encounter you on the Loowit trail encircling Mt St Helen’s and we will return the favor of answering questions. Thank you both for your years attending to the crater. We climbed out as clouds and dawn flooded the crater, truly mystical as you promised.
Your novel Limit of Vision has great sentences: short and long. Makes for an exciting read. I am a Fan now.
August 29th, 2010 at 1:23 pm
Hi Ann! What a pleasure to talk to you and your husband, and I’m glad to hear you had some interesting weather on the way out. That certainly was a hot weekend! I’m not familiar with the Loowit trail, but I would love to fix that one of these days.
Thanks for checking out Limit of Vision! I’m glad you found a copy.
And please do stop by my blog again!