Halema'uma'u Trail Guide
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Halema‘uma‘u Trail Guide Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park Halema‘uma‘u Trail Guide Halema‘uma‘u Trail Guide Journey into Kīlauea’s fuming caldera, where the Hawaiian Trailhead Follow this historic trail and experience is linked to the land. experience the wonders of Trail Guide Trail Stops along this trail reveal the story of changing Kīlauea volcano. life within Kīlauea caldera. The path leads through rain forest to the heart of one of the world’s most Since it was established in 1846, guests of Volcano House have active volcanoes. used this trail to hike into the caldera. Between 1865 and 1924, Halemaʻumaʻu Crater usually held a molten lake of lava. Guests Start: Crater Rim Trail, behind Volcano House would be treated to views of flowing or fountaining lava and often a churning lake of molten rock. End: Kīlauea Caldera Floor Tourists of the era Map: See the center pages Halema’uma’u enjoyed the eruptions Walking distance: 1.8 miles (2.9 km) round trip but showed little to stop 10 and return respect for the local culture. They fried Estimated walking time: 1-1.5 hours round trip eggs on the lava, Descent/Ascent: The trail drops 425 feet (130 m), lit Cuban cigars in hot cracks and return the same route, or via Byron Ledge, Kīlauea Iki and Crater Rim Trail (1 mile longer). scorched the edges of NPS / HAVO ARCHIVE postcards to send home. The Volcano House supplied the eggs Trail rating: Moderate and postcards, as well as guides who kept hotel guests safe while For your safety and health: performing these stunts. stay on the trail Native guide Alex Lancaster (left) avoid cliff edges led hundreds of Volcano House wear sturdy walking shoes guests across the caldera. He rescued carry drinking water dozens more, including the writer take protective gear for sun and rain Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain). As the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory TRAIL CLOSED BEYOND STOP 10 was being established in 1912, Due to high levels of sulphur dioxide gas and the Lancaster was hired as a guide and current explosive nature of Halema‘uma‘u, the general roustabout. His experiences caldera floor is closed and inaccessible beyond close to Kīlauea’s activity made him a trail stop 10. NPS / HAVO ARCHIVE great assistant to the scientists. cover photo: NPS/DAVE BOYLE Halema‘uma‘u Trail Guide Halema‘uma‘u Trail Guide Hawaiian stories, legends and chants The story of Pele and Hi‘iaka documents the reflect the beauty and complexity of explosive formation of the caldera in the late 1400s. 1 the forest and the land. Kīlauea did not blow off its top. It collapsed inward upon itself! According to Hawaiian oral tradition, the caldera formed Within the heart of Kīlauea, a great during an epic battle between Pele, the Hawaiian volcano magma reservoir swells with magma prior to deity, and her younger sister, Hi‘iakaikapoliopele (Hi‘iaka). reservoir inflates an eruption. Pele had sent Hi‘iaka to fetch her lover, Lohi‘au, In the late 1400s however, large volumes from Kaua‘i. Upon returning, Hi‘iaka discovered that of magma erupted or moved elsewhere Kawahine‘aihonua, in the volcano, emptying the magma (Pele, the woman reservoir. who eats the land) Its internal support withdrawn, the top had broken her magma promise and set fire reservoir of the mountain collapsed, accompanied deflates to Hi‘iaka’s beloved by explosive eruptions. ‘ōhi‘a forests. Great blocks of the old summit slumped inward. The gaping depression that To avenge this formed was ringed with stepped terraces transgression, descending to its floor. Hi‘iaka made love to Lohi‘au at the volcano summit The resulting caldera was over 1,600 feet summit of the collapse (500 m) deep and 3 miles (5 km) wide. volcano, in full view of her sister. Late 1400s You are here Pele lashed out in • anger and buried Lohi‘au beneath a KANE TRUST © flood of lava. Driven by remorse, Hi‘iaka dug furiously to recover the body. Rocks flew as she excavated the great pit. Their Look in the distance along the caldera’s rim to see brother stopped Hi‘iaka from digging deeper, for doing so the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory and Jaggar Museum. would surely have let in water and put out the fires of Pele. They are more than 2 miles (3 km) away and offer the best views of Thus the great caldera of Kīlauea was formed. volcanic activity that might be occurring within Halemaʻumaʻu Crater. Halema‘uma‘u Trail Guide Halema‘uma‘u Trail Guide “E nihi ka hele . Hawai‘i’s most wide spread tree is mai pūlale i ka ʻike a ka make.” the sacred ‘ōhi‘a. Its lehua blossoms 2 Watch your step . and don’t let 3 inspire ha‘i mo‘olelo (storytelling) things you see lead you into trouble. and hula (dance). Hawaiian proverb People worldwide In a popular contemporary story, a recognize the cleansing royal couple, ‘Ōhi‘a and Lehua, were qualities of steam. Like once inseparable lovers. Pele becomes other cultures, many attracted to the handsome young Hawaiians believe in prince, ‘Ōhi‘a, and appears to him as going to the house of an enticing young woman. But when their god with a clear she asks for his love, ‘Ōhi‘a remains mind, free from dark true to Lehua and respectfully turns or distracting thoughts. down her advances. Enraged by the Devout believers also © SCOTT SUCHMAN, WOLF TRAP FOUNDATION FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS rejection, Pele transforms ‘Ōhi‘a into hiʻuwai, prepare their bodies by cleansing with a ritual bath in the rough-barked tree. NPS / DAVE BOYLE the ocean or a sauna in volcanic steam, the breath of Pele. Lehua pleads with other gods to turn ‘Ōhi‘a back to his human Where does this steam come from? It is created when rainwater form. They are reluctant to interfere with Pele’s design, but are percolates down through thousands of cracks until it reaches sympathetic to Lehua’s plight. Instead of changing ‘Ōhi‘a back hot rocks. The water flashes to steam, and rises through fissures into a man, the gods transform Lehua into the exquisite blossom to exit the ground at a scalding 140–200° F (60–94° C)! that adorns the masculine tree. In this way, the two lovers are inseparable for all time. The ground surface around a steam vent is often no more than a thin crust that weakly covers steam-filled pockets and deep The ‘ōhi‘a is also cracks. In 1992, a young woman slipped into a nearby vent and believed to be the was scalded to death. “E nihi ka hele” and stay on the trail. embodiment of Passionate songs and Laka, a goddess of constant chatter of the ‘apapane hula. The nodding fill the forest. One joy of hiking of the branches in the forest is hearing the many inspire hula dancers, songs of the ‘apapane. Listen who mimic their for this honeycreeper’s whistles, movements and buzzes, clucks, trills, and squawks. adorn themselves © JACK JEFFREY Its wings whir as it flies overhead. NPS / JAY ROBINSON with lehua blossoms. Halema‘uma‘u Trail Guide Halema‘uma‘u Trail Guide Hāpuʻu tree ferns seem to live Young fronds of the ama u fern forever. The elders nurture the ʻ ʻ display Pele’s fiery red brand. 4 keiki (children) of the forest. 5 Hāpuʻu grow and reach skyward for 50 to 100 years. When its ‘Ama‘u ferns may own weight becomes too great, it crashes to the forest floor. look like their bigger Holding onto life, the fallen giant sends out new roots. Its leafy cousin, hāpu‘u, but the fronds turn upwards towards the light and the hāpuʻu slowly difference is simple continues to grow as a tree. to see. ‘Ama‘u fronds branch only once, The tree ferns around you may live for over a thousand years. hāpu‘u branch twice. “Walking” through the forest, they repeat the seemingly endless cycle by continuing to grow upright after they fall. Look for According to legend, their preexistent trunks at the base of each hāpuʻu. Since they the ʻamaʻu fern is a are no longer needed, the old logs slowly rot away and provide kino lau (body form) moisture and nourishment for a variety of new plants. Mosses, of Kamapuaʻa, the ferns, and tree saplings quickly shroud the rotting logs, vying for pig-man demigod who KANE TRUST their place in the shade. changes his form into © pigs, fish, or plants. Rain and lush green forests are his domain. Hāpuʻu is believed to be For awhile, he and Pele lived as an unlikely husband and wife. a kino lau (body form) of the earth goddess Haumea. Like Hāpuʻu, when Haumea But they did not always get along. In one story, Kamapuaʻa ages, she defies death and is comes to the caldera to woo the goddess, but Pele rejects him restored to youth. Haumea with contempt. In the ensuing also gave unusual birth Look battle, Kamapuaʻa gains to other creatures, each for ‘ama‘u’s the upper hand and nearly emerged from different places fiery young drowns Pele’s fires with his on her body, reminiscent of fronds. They relentless rain. Gasping for life, how plants sprout from the are often pink Pele summons power from her trunks of hāpuʻu. or red, evidence family and focuses it against of Kamapuaʻa’s her antagonist. Smarting from Rest among these forest epic battle his burns, Kamapuaʻa changes elders and listen to their with Pele’s into an ʻamaʻu fern to escape ancient songs and stories.