Terrain type
General type of area this hike is in. For those hikes that include both coastal and inland segments, this is a judgment call.
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Hike is inland, possibly in the hills or mountains. |
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Hike is along the coast, possibly on a beach or on cliffs above the ocean. |
Distance
The distance is the total distance you have to walk.
Elevation gain
This figure is the approximate cumulative elevation gain; it counts all the significant “ups” you have to walk, not just the simple elevation difference between the trailhead and the destination. It’s the cumulative gain that your muscles will complain about. Some trips are upside-down: you go downhill on your way out to the destination, uphill on your return.
Hiking time
This is based on my normal hiking speed, which is a blazing 2 miles/hour.
Topos
The topo or topos listed here are the ones that cover the area you’ll be hiking in on this particular trip. Topos are strictly optional for the very easy and easy trips but are strongly recommended for the other trips.
Trail map
Only listed if the map cannot be found near the “Description.” As explained in Appendix C, the trail maps are based on the topos wherever possible. However, a number of trails on Hawaii do not appear on any official agency map or on the topos. I have approximated their routes based on field notes and sketches and labeled them “(route approximated).” Some maps are too big for one page and are continued on another page, sometimes at the end of another trip, as noted on the edges of those maps. I’ve allowed a little overlap between those maps to help you follow them from one page to another.
The following figure shows the trail map legend:
Difficulty and suggested shoes
A trip’s difficulty is based first on total distance and second on cumulative elevation gain and rate of gain. Let′s say that the elevation gain is negligible to moderate (it’s never steeper than about 500 feet/mile for any significant distance). In that case:
A very easy trip is 1 mile or less with negligible elevation gain/loss.
An easy trip is 1–2 miles with little elevation gain/loss.
A moderate trip is 2–5 miles and has some noticeable elevation gain/loss.
A strenuous trip is more than 5 miles and has significant elevation gain/loss.
If the trip has a section of, say, a half mile or more where it′s steeper than 500 feet per mile, or if the trail is especially rough or hard to follow, I’ve given it the next higher difficulty rating.
Some trips just aren’t safe if you’re not wearing boots that have soles that grip and which will give you some ankle support. However, only you live in your body, so you will have to be the final judge of what you can safely wear. The standard wording follows:
Tennis shoes recommended
Hiking boots strongly recommended
Hiking boots mandatory—the route is very rough.
Highlights
This gives you an idea of what I think the best features of the trip are. Usually, it’s the scenery—that’s one of the principal things you came to Hawaii for!
Driving instructions
This gives you instructions for driving to the trailhead, usually in terms of driving from Hilo, the county seat. You may be staying anywhere on the Big Island, but Hilo is a convenient reference point. The starting point in Hilo is the junction of Highways 11 and 19; it’s mile zero for those highways, which form the island-circling Hawaii Belt Road.
Some trips simply aren’t feasible unless you’re staying nearer to them than Hilo. Trips like that include:
Longer trips from the Saddle Road (Trips 10 through 13). Stayin Mauna Kea State Park.
Those on the west side of the Big Island (Trips 51 through 58). Stay somewhere on the Kona Coast or in the Kohala area.
Those trips are treated as side trips from a place where I think it’s practical for you to stay.
To savor an extended visit to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, stay in Volcano village or in the park itself if possible. But Hilo is close enough to the park if those places are booked or are priced out of your range.
Be sure you have a good road map of Hawaii to supplement these instructions.
Permit/permission required
Some trips require you to have someone’s permission to camp. This section will tell you what you need permission for, if anything, and whom to apply to. See Getting Permits or Permission and Appendix A in this book for addresses and telephone numbers.
Description
This is the detailed description of the trip as I perceived it. I’ve tried to give you an idea of the more obvious plants and other features you’ll find, where the rough spots are, when you’ll be ascending and when descending, where viewpoints are, and what you’ll see from those viewpoints.
On some trips, the trail is faint to nonexistent, and the agency in charge has attempted to mark the route by tying tags of colored plastic ribbon to plants along the route. You navigate by moving from tag to tag. I found route-tagging on the island of Hawaii to be largely unreliable, I’m sorry to say. Don’t count on tags to get you in and out of an area. Always keep track of where you’ve been by map and compass or by landmarks, as the tags can be misleading or can just peter out.
In Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, routes across lava fields are marked by cairns—piles of rocks, obviously manmade and sometimes quite elaborate, even playful. You’ll also find cairns marking a few of the trails outside of the park. I found the cairns to