For the longest time, and well into the 20th century, there existed a steep, ancient Hawaiian trail that connected Wainiha Valley, at the base of Maunahina Ridge, with the Alakai Swamp at the Kilohana Lookout in Kokee.
I first learned of this trail one day in the summer of 1987.
On that day, I was with my brother, Gregory, and McBryde electric shop supervisor Frank Kiger in Frank’s 4WD truck, while Frank drove deep into Wainiha Valley to check on Wainiha powerhouse supervisor Jackie Kahalolani Hashimoto, who was working at the intake dam some five miles upstream of the powerhouse.
As we passed the base of Maunahina Ridge, Frank pointed there and told us that an old Hawaiian trail leading up to the Kilohana Lookout was used by the Army during World War II but it no longer existed.
The first documented descent of the Maunahina Ridge trail occurred in 1821, when missionaries Samuel Whitney and Hiram Bingham climbed down the approximately 4,000-foot-long trail that angled steeply at 60 to 75 degrees and met Hawaiians who’d never seen white men.
Another documented ascent was made in 1865 by Samuel Alexander, Charles Wilcox, George Wilcox, David Lyman and Kikiko, their guide, when the trail was in fairly good condition.
By 1885, when Sheriff Louis Stolz and his guide, Makukane, made an ascent, the trail had entirely disappeared.
Gov. Walter Frear and his party accomplished a descent in 1907.
Then in August 1911, Dr. Doremus Schudder, pastor of the Central Union Church in Honolulu, and his party, made an ascent of Maunahina Ridge.
Wainiha powerhouse manager Alfred Menefoglio offered the services of two of his employees, Mr. Okazaki as trail cutter and Mr. Uegawa as a packer.
John Hanohano Pa of Wainiha, who’d climbed the trail both up and down several times, was also engaged as a packer.
It took them 7 hours of climbing, a portion of which included traversing a 500-foot sheer cliff, and since footholds were few, progress was often made by hauling themselves up by roots.
The Maunahina Ridge trail no longer exists.
