Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1917-05-26
By ARTHUR &. RIx5Y

1t is one Of the unforgettable scenic
! glories | have laid eyes on. God was
in a mood for creating masterpieces
when He fashioned this tremendous
mountain.
dice you have seen that awesome
crater. the memory Of its majesty
will remain with you the rest OF your
life. if your heart and soul are big
enough
Haleakala is not an active volcano,
but its terrible impressiveness as it
lies vast anC silent below you makes
the world and its little cares and sor-
rows seem far away.
Big Brother of Grand Canyon
All of this introduction is simply
for the purpose OF letting the Star
| Bulletins readers know that one of
its reporters considers Haleakala not
only one Of the greatest natural won
ders in the islands, but in the world
as we'll. The crater might be called
big brother Of the Yosemite. of the
Grand Canyon, Of the Yellowstone, OF
Mont Blanc
Invent over to Maui last week to see
the island and incidentally to climb
The Mountain" as everybody on the
Valley Island calls Haleakala. have
returned to Honolulu with my memo
ries of that tremendous crater over
shadowing everything else.
Leaving Honolulu on the Inter-Isl-
and's little but comfortable Claudine,
| arrived at Kahului about 5 a. m. and
paid 20 cents for the ride to Waikiki
on the Kahului Railroads $40 train.
The engine looked like a Civil War
wood-burner. but ran better than that.
After registering at the Waikiki
Hotel inquired from Mrs. G. K.
Trimble. who runs it to everyone's
satisfaction, where I could locate that
Maui booster and expert on Haleakala
lore, Worth o. Aiken. She replied
that he and his family lived at the
hotel.
Worth Aiken Arranges Trip
told Aiken | wanted to join party
making the climb up Haleakala. He
replied he knew of no party forming
Just then, but that If could find no
one going up, he himself would ar
range it.
Aiken kept his word and two days
later, in the morning, told me to put
on my heavy clothes and get ready
for the trip. l did so and we started.
The Maui man, who seems to know
everybody on the islands, from the
Baldwins down to the Japanese plan
tation laborers, took me in his car
from Waikiki through Kahului, past
Spreckelsville, around Paia, and up to
Makawao All the way up, past as
lovely a panorama of sugar cane, pas
ture land, mountainside and sea as
ever hope to see again, he told me in
teresting anecdotes Of the island and
it's people.
Start Made From OIinda
We reached the place where a new
county road to Olinda begins, when
Aiken stopped the car and looked up
toward his summer house a couple of
thousand feet and a few miles further
on. He said his Japanese guide, Ari-
zumi, would soon show up with the
horses. He did so in few minutes.
Aiken then left me and went back to
the bank at Paia.
Arizumi is little, strong Japanese
with a sunny disposition and a grand
knowledge Of the Haleakala trail We
rode up through the pasture lands to
Aiken's summer home, where We ate
lunch.
Climb Through Clouds
About 1870 in the afternoon, we
started the real climb. 1t began to
rain after few minutes. We stopped
and put on oilskin slickers. Then I
had the weird experience Of climbing
m hnr fnk@ h4 oil u, -
was so thick could hardly see $50
feet ahead Of me. Trees. rocks, shrub
berry were ghostly in the extreme.
Herds of COWS mooed and beloved
around us. One wraith-like white COW
with black rings around her. eyes
doomed out of the fog and looked as
though she wanted to push US off the
trail, but she changed her mind and
blended into the clouds once more
Air Grows Colder
After about an hour of this, with |
our sure-footed mounts passing safely
across slippery lava gulches where a
misstep would have meant broken |
bones or worse, We passed through |
the clouds and caught our first
glimpse of the summit. The air had
occu SoItluS COluST dIl Ino Tune, anu
when We stopped at about the 5000 |
foot level to gather wood for the rest |
house stove, my hands were so numb !
could hardly break up the branches. |
Wind Keen on Summit.
About 4:45 we gained the summit,
some $500 feet above sea level at the
rest house. The wind was sharp and
keen, and l shivered with cold at the
contrast to Honolulu's climate. The |
crater was filled with fog so that we
could not see down into it.
I went into the big concrete rest |
house with Arizumi and helped him |
start fire in the stove. He wentSout !
in about 20 minutes and when he |
came back remarked: Can see now;
fog no more"