Troop 1131 Hawaii High Adventure 2006

Hawaii Journal #2

We're on the island of Oahu, staying at Boy Scout Camp Pupukea on the north side of the island. This is where the surfing waves are the biggest in the winter months. Our trip to Hawaii has been a lot of fun and we have had many adventures. We have been to three islands: a week on the Big Island of Hawaii, another week on Maui, and now we will finish the trip after 12 days on the island of Oahu.

The Big Island has two 13,000+ foot mountains (volcanoes - Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea); we stayed at Kiluea Military Camp, KMC, in dormitories and a firehouse. KMC was out base of operations, it's about 4000 feet in elevation so the weather is cool, especially at night. We explored lava flows, and lava tubes, and we saw more stars. The closest town was Hilo, on the east (rainy) side of the island. We also went around the island to Kona, on the North West side (sunny). We swam at lots of beaches, all different. The most interesting trip was to South Point, the southernmost spot in the United States. The currents are intense, and fishermen we all around the rocky coast line. We saw what looked like a Mahi Mahi fish (dolphin fish), easily three feet long, in a tide pool. One of the fishermen told us that the dolphin fish was bait for a much bigger fish. We hiked to the famous Green Sand beach, about four miles away. It was very hot and dry, and while everyone had water with them, we were really dehydrated by the time we got back. However, the beach was incredible. We had to climb down a cliff wall to get to the green sand and the water.

We went to other beaches on the Big Island. Most of the boys did not like the black sand beach, but all of us liked the white sand beach near Kona, Hapuna beach. We also visited a really neat snorkeling beach near Hilo, where some of the fish were interesting, but there was not much coral. One of our disappointments was not finding the road to hike up Mauna Kea; we looked for some time, asked directions, saw it on the map, but could not find it even after many attempts. The best thing we did on the Big Island was hike to the active lava flows after dark. It was a tough hike using headlamps and flashlights, and we did not get back to camp until around 1:00 a.m. The lava flows under the side of the volcano and comes out into the ocean. During the day, all you can see is large steam plumes, but after dark, the red fires glow brightly.

We headed for Maui on a 30 minute flight out of Hilo. Two of our party, Marilyn and Chris Myers left us and headed home. We now had 18 people in our group, including 12 scouts. Our original plan was to initially camp at the Hosmer Campground in Haleakala National Park, but after checking with the Maui Council, we got permission to go directly to Malihea Scout Camp.

We had to stay in tents the first night as Summer Camp had not ended. The next day, we got to move into a 20 person cabin with bunk beds. Maui Council also gave us permission to use the camp dining hall and kitchen, and told us we could eat whatever was left over from their camp season. The freezer had pancakes, and French toast, that we used liberally. We also bought food and made dinners and lunches for ourselves.

On Maui, part of our group took a two day trip into Haleakala Crater. Twelve of us stayed in the Holua cabin for two nights. The hike involved a 1400 foot change in elevation, from over 8000 feet down to 6600 feet. The cabin was actually very civilized. It did not have electricity, but it did have running water, a propane stove and wood burning stove. We had to boil the water before drinking. The cabin had six bunk beds and a long table with benches. All in all, it was very comfortable. We brought freeze dried food with us, and our meals were very good. On the second day, we hiked to a couple of spots deeper in the crater. One of the places we visited was called the Silver Sword loop trail, a section of the crater where a unique plant grows. The silver sword is a plant that grows for about 50 years, sends up a stalk, flowers, disburses seeds and dies! The silver color is from fine hairs on the leaves that catch moisture and dew. The roots are shallow and we were warned not to walk too close, lest we kill the plant. The other place we hiked was called the bottomless pit, but it was not bottomless, and it was not really a pit. The most interesting part of the hike though, was seeing the multitude of colored rocks and pebbles. We easily saw ten different colors: purple, white, tan, black, red, green, orange, yellow, pink, and gray. We woke up early, 5:30 a.m., to hike out of the crater, and made it in under three hours. We had expected the hike to take five hours, but, like at Philmont, hiking in the cool of the morning, really helps.

While we were in the crater, the rest of the group visited Haleakala by road, and traveled along the Hana Scenic Highway. The next day, we drove to Lehaina on the north east (sunny side) of the island to swim, and to visit the Whaler's Museum. In Lehaina, we arranged to go on a bike ride down the mountain, and a boat trip to Molokini. Eight of us did the 40 mile, downhill, mountain bike trip, the rest took the boat trip. Cycling downhill for hours at speeds up to 50 mph (or more) is quite and experience. Our guide was a Hawaiian named Laura; she was very good, but a little concerned about having so many Boy Scouts in her group. At the end of the trip she congratulated our boys on how well behaved and disciplined they were. The boat trip did not work out quite as well as the seas got rough and people got sick, in fact, they did not get to snorkel around Molokini as planned. The remnant of a tropical storm was the problem.

One of the interesting places to visit in Hilo was the Pacific Tsunami Museum. Only three of us got to see the place. Hilo has been devastated by tsunamis several times, and is overdue for another hit. In the museum, we learned that the meteor that struck the earth 65 million years ago near Yucatan, generated a tsunami over 1000 feet high, and that water from that tsunami covered Texas, Louisiana, and New Mexico! The meteor is also supposed to have generated a cloud of ash and dust so thick that the sun was hidden and the earth cooled down into an ice age that killed off the dinosaurs and lots of other animals and plants.

So after Maui, we boarded another inter-island flight to Oahu. We spent the first night at a youth hostel near the University of Hawaii. The hostel was very clean and comfortable. It had a community room with a TV, and people were asked to take their shoes off before entering. The adults had separate rooms, and the boys were in two dorm rooms. The hostel was a temporary place to stay until we could go to Camp Pupukea on the north side of Oahu. Summer Camp was ending as we arrived. We got to check out the facilities and arranged to stay in four small cabins, one for the men, one for the women and two for the scouts. Again, we had free use of the dining hall and kitchen where we are preparing most of our meals.

Yesterday, we took the group to the Polynesian Cultural Center. It's run by Brigham Young University, and is a living show case of Polynesian societies. There are demonstrations, and exhibits, canoe rides, an IMAX theater, and lot's of other interesting things. We had a luau dinner with entertainment. The pig was roasted in a traditional Imu fire pit. At the end of the day we got to see a great show with Polynesian dancing and singing. The finale was an incredible fire dance where the principle star threw flaming batons all over the place, catching them and twirling them really fast. It was a great show.

That's it for now, I hope to finish the story before we head home next week. We have a number of other special things we plan to do, like climb Diamond Head, and visit a Coast Guard Station.

So there's a lot more to d keep us busy, and we'll tell you about it later.

Phil