1978 Climb to
the Top of Pu’u Kukui
By Jim Scott
Puʻu Kukui is the highest peak of the West
Maui Mountains (in Hawaiian: Mauna Kahalawai or Halemahina). The summit height is 1,764 m (5,788 feet) and rises above the
40 km² (9,881 acre) Puʻu Kukui Watershed Management Area
set aside by the Maui Land and Pineapple Co., Inc. (ML&P). In 1994, ML&P entered into a conservation easement with
The Nature Conservancy of Hawai`i (TNCH). The Partnership facilitates ML&P’s application of the value Ho`ohanohano
(conducting oneself with distinction within a community). Three full-time ML&P employees who work to prevent the introduction
and establishment of alien species that threaten the integrity of the Preserve’s sensitive vegetation and soils currently
accomplish conservation management of the Preserve1.
We
were fortunate enough to obtain permission from the ML&P to climb unaccompanied to the high point in 1978 before this
unique and very fragile ecosystem was closed for its protection. Only scientists studying this very wet and unusual environment
now generally visit it. Public access is now permitted only during supervised trips, which protects the area from any unintentional
damage. Only twelve people a year that are fortunate enough to be selected in a drawing sponsored by the Kapalua Nature Society
are guided through this unique environment. The cost (in 2007) is $1,200 for the day2, which includes transport
by helicopter to the beginning of the hike on the ridgetop. It may also be possible to exchange volunteer labor for access
to Puʻu Kukui (see the websites3,4 below).
Arguably the highest rainfall recorded anywhere on Earth in a single year
(17 meters or 670 inches) was once measured here by a colossal rain gauge on the summit that resembled a large water tank
topped by the standard rain gauge funnel. The average rainfall on top is more than 9 meters (355 inches) a year.
Accompanied by my old climbing buddy Burt Falk and his sons Bret and Steve,
our climb began at the top of a cane field road. We ascended a daunting knife-edge ridge to a flatter, more gradually rising
slope. The route became a long and difficult walk through a peat bog. We often found ourselves hip deep in mud. Today, visitors
can walk through the bog on a boardwalk constructed by ML&P to protect the fragile system.
Our route quickly became very muddy and the temperature dropped rapidly as we climbed.
We saw many exotic plants along the way. A dozen or so plant species are found here and nowhere else.
At last the summit came into view. I recall the remains of a corrugated tin roofed shelter and
the colossal rain gauge. The mists that surrounded us prevented any views below.
Soggy
congratulations were in order (Burt on the left, Jim on the right). The wind-driven rain left us so wet and cold that everyone
experienced the peculiar sensation of being in the beginning stages of hypothermia in Maui in July. We wasted no time in our
retreat from the summit. Our descent ended at D. T. Fleming Beach where we washed off the accumulated mud by walking fully
clothed into the surf.
Web references:
