Evening star., 1936-01-05

by the time we returned to our start.
ing point.
After a hurried picnic lunch under
koa tree at Five Tanks we began
our long climb at o'clock Saturday
afternoon. We rode through an old
koa forest and grassy country on into
kiave bushes and then to fields Of
lava o. prehistoric origin. Climbing
all the while-lava, lava, lava. Smooth
pahoehoe lava and black, broken
clinker-like aa lava. Hard on the
horses feet, harder on our nerves. and
the saddles cramping our joints each
step of the way. Night came on just
as we reached the Rest House,
tiny rangers cabin situated in the
middle of supposedly extinct cinder
cove at an altitude of 10.100 feet,
where the winds were blowing cold
blasts into our tired faces. Our
watches showed 1t was Sis pm.
The rest house consisted of a large
room with a tier Of hunks and q
small space for the kitchen. Fortu-
nately, there had been rain a few
days before and there was enough for
the horses. A ranger was preparing
supper and let us use his kerosene
stove to heat our coffee and steaks,
which were already cooked and packed
in thermos. We rested until z, left
one exhausted pack horse and started
out again. The cold night was ex-
Quisitely beautiful-the stars seemed
just out of reach in wonderfully
clear sky as We rode toward the red
glow.
THE great red flow, however, was
no assistance in keeping to the
trail, as it blinded us and the horses.
The trail is over various kinds Of
lava, the most difficult being the
rough, black "a. mentioned earlier.
We stumbled along slowly, as the
newly cut trail was almost impossible
to find at night and was also dan.
| gerous, even more so than we realized,
until we saw it by daylight on our
return trip. Several members Of
our party grew so saddle weary that
they tried walking. but falling into
lava blisters waist deep soon dis
couraged them. Many times We found
ourselves of the trail and had to
reconnoiter with Our one fiashlight
until we found it again
/ The jagged lava was like bed Of
metallic clinkers and the monotony
Of the climb and the clink of the
horses feet on the glistening volcanic
rock put our nerves on edge. AS We
drew nearer to the top we were able
to see the flows again, tearing down
the mountains in all directions. Our
horses broke through old lava blisters,
smoke curled around their legs and
made them nervous, and the Hawaiian
cowboys became alarmed. They said
it was unsafe to take the horses
nearer. Actually. we suspected, they
feared Pele, the Hawaiian goddess Of
fire, who has lived on all Of the
islands and has taken up her last
abode on Hawaii. When a volcano
erupts it is an expression of her
anger.
We urged them on and continued
climbing until we felt the heat from
the volcano on our faces. This was at
IL o'clock. We were forced to lead
our frightened horses the last quar-
ter-mile. The wind was blowing a
terrific gale, the temperature falling
at a distressing rate, we we're numb
with cold and every joint ached.
RUT-there beside us, at an altitude
~ of $4,000 feet, the volcano was
sending forth what looked like molten
gold-into the sky o hundred feet or
more. Fantastic designs shot from the
fountain Ike dreamland fireworks
Dante's Inferno-another world. Riv.
ers Of gold flowed and one, more
furious than the others. suggested the
speed of an express train at night.
1t was too great to describe in
words, and when we had suffered as
much cold as we could bear we found
a hole In the rocks, slightly pro-
tected from the wind, threw blankets
down, crawled in, pulling more blan-
kets over us up to our noses and
watched what the Hawaiians call
"Pele's anger" until ealy Sunday.
Our en-hour horseback ride down
was even more painful and monot-
onous than the climb up, but the
experience was the greatest Of my
life,