KAENA POINT ROAD IN THE WORKS?

[megaprober]

I WAS READING AN ARTICLE IN THE PAPER TAHT WAS ADDRESSING THE RETURN OF THE ROAD AROUND KAENA POINT. WE ALL KNOW THAT ROAD WAS WASHED BACK IN '69 AND WAS NEVER REBUILT. RECENTLY THE STATE HAS TALKS IN PROGRESS TO CONNECT THE PEACEFUL WESTSIDE AND THE BASHFUL NORTHSHORE. ENVIRONMETAL ISSUES ARE BEING DISCUSSED AND A LARGE STATE PARK WILL BE CONSTRUCTED. ISN'T IT WONDERFUL THESE TWO AREAS WILL ONCE AGAIN BE ABLE TO SURF SIDE BY SIDE TOGETHER AS ONE.....AND THE WESTSIDERS WILL BE ABLE TO SEE THEIR GOOD FRIENDS FORM THE NORTH SHORE. WITHOUT THAT BRUTAL DRIVE THAT KEPT EVERYONE AWAY THE WESTSIDE WILL BE JUST MINUTES AWAY....YIPEE!!! ANY THOUGHTS???

[Bud]

If it were up to me, I would not make it happen. although the crowds grow every year, the relative isolatedness of that end of the island still keeps it pretty mellow & pristine. Compared to other areas on Oahu anyway. Likely just a matter of time before it happens

[LGREANZ]

GOD BLESS AMERICA.

I THINK THEY SHOULD MAKE IT A TOLL ROAD.

1 BUCK EACH WAY.

[nobody]

let's see, if i say what i really feel, i'll be dissed. afetr all i am MR> NEGATIVE!!!!!

i say:

1- build the road to connect the country to the westside. the visiting winter surfers could use a taste of the old westside ripoff action. also, the north shore residents are predominately HAOLE, so this will even things out a bit.

2- develop the windward side, it is too pristine and green. we gotta turn this whole island into a mini los angeles.

3- develop the area across sandy beach. arnold morgado would love you fo' dat.

4-NO FREE PARKING ANYWHERE

5- do away with public education. look at what that got us into... make people pay for school. no money=no education. waitaminit, it's already that way, only the rich can afford an education. this KEEPS the poor, poor.

6- legalize concealed weapons to be carried. people will be more polite.

7- invite the whole world to hawaii, so they can share in our islands geographic remoteness and solitude...

[laks-]

i think the westside regulars will be bumming with the extra crowd and the north shore regulars will be stoked with the extra options. Good for me.

[Guest]

Don't build Ka'ena Point road

We are writing in response to the letters by Mr. Hans Kealoha Wedemeyer (June 24) and Mr. Bradley A. Coates (July 6) advocating that a road be built around Ka'ena Point. We would like to make several points in opposition to this recommendation:

From the Office of State Planning Land Use Division's Subregional Land Use Plan: Mokule'ia to Ka'ena: "All shorefront lands from the western end of the Crozier Drive urban district to Ka'ena, all foothills mauka to the top of the cliffs, and all lands westward from Dillingham (Kawaihapai) airfield. These lands would be used for park purposes, forest recreation, or preserved for their natural values and wildland and scenic qualities. ... Uses in this zone should be compatible with the wildland character. Any structures or clearings should be related to enhancing outdoor recreation uses in a natural or wildland setting. Urban uses would not be compatible in this zone and should not be expanded. A paved highway around Ka'ena Point would not be allowed."

The Central O'ahu/North Shore Regional Plan also states that a paved highway around Ka'ena Point would not be allowed.


From the North Shore Sustainable Communities Plan: "Protect the natural resources of Ka'ena Point from potentially damaging vehicular traffic and roadway development."


From the Wai'anae Sustainable Communities Plan: "Preservation of lands north of Kepuhi Point as open-space lands." In addition, while the plan acknowledges the need for another access road, it never suggests a road around Ka'ena Point as an option.


Ka'ena Point is culturally sacred to the Hawaiian people as the place where souls leave this world and enter the next. There are many cultural remains in the cliffsides and down toward the beach. To build a road in this area would amount to sacrilege and desecration.


Ka'ena Point is a federally recognized and protected natural reserve and, as such, is part of the the Hawai'i Natural Areas Reserve System. It is also a state park. Any road would endanger the area's ecosystem.


In the 2000 legislative session (SCR 160), it was determined by the Department of Transportation that it would cost at least $500 million to build such a road around Ka'ena Point. Four years later, the cost probably would be at least a third higher. Bottom line: It could cost at least half the entire state operating budget to build such a road.


There is an entire community on the other side of Ka'ena Point that both letter writers have failed to take into consideration with their support of this idea. They never asked the Mokule'ia community what we think of this idea, which would have a major impact on our agricultural, conservation and open-land policies, as well as our country lifestyle and quality of life.
For all the foregoing reasons, we strongly oppose the recommendation for a road around Ka'ena Point, and we will be monitoring this issue very carefully in the future.

Mike Dailey, Vicky and Kimo Lyman, Kathleen M. Pahinui, Lloyd O'Sullivan, Stewart Ring and Thomas Shirai
Mokule'ia residents

[Guest]

Forget Ka'ena Point road, open up Kolekole

After reading the letters about building a road around Ka'ena Point, I have an even better idea. How about we build a road around the Na Pali Coast? That way everyone could enjoy that beautiful coast.

Come on, people! Some places just don't need a road, especially since Wai'anae already has a road called Kolekole Road. It's time to persuade the military to open it to the public. There are no terrorists in Wai'anae.

— Mark Tamosiunas | Wai'anae

[In summary]

. Urban uses would not be compatible in this zone and should not be expanded. A paved highway around Ka'ena Point would not be allowed."

The Central O'ahu/North Shore Regional Plan also states that a paved highway around Ka'ena Point would not be allowed.


From the North Shore Sustainable Communities Plan: "Protect the natural resources of Ka'ena Point from potentially damaging vehicular traffic and roadway development."


From the Wai'anae Sustainable Communities Plan: "Preservation of lands north of Kepuhi Point as open-space lands." In addition, while the plan acknowledges the need for another access road, it never suggests a road around Ka'ena Point as an option.


Ka'ena Point is a federally recognized and protected natural reserve and, as such, is part of the the Hawai'i Natural Areas Reserve System. It is also a state park. Any road would endanger the area's ecosystem.


In the 2000 legislative session (SCR 160), it was determined by the Department of Transportation that it would cost at least $500 million to build such a road around Ka'ena Point. Four years later, the cost probably would be at least a third higher. Bottom line: It could cost at least half the entire state operating budget to build such a road.


For all the foregoing reasons, we strongly oppose the recommendation for a road around Ka'ena Point, and we will be monitoring this issue very carefully in the future.

[Haoleboy]

IMHO..it would be a crime and a shame to open a road around Kaena. Akin to paving over the Kawaihao Church to make an extra lane on King St. It is a significant religious site. There are people who wept their dead family members into the void, at Kaena Pt..

It would completely devistate a lifestyle that is still "Hawaiian." The Ohana would thin out, and eventually dissappear.
It would not bring anymore tourist $ in than is already there.
It would completely trash historical sites, that the Hawaiian people need to learn about their past, and to keep their past alive.

We need to invest in the people that are already there. Better schools would be a fine start. Low-cost business loans, a police force that gives a shit, safe places for the kids to hang at night...We would all be rewarded a thousand-fold in the end.
Just my Haoleboy 2 cents, li' dat.

[maleko(n.l.i)]

Hey megaprober, do us all a favor and stay up on Punchbowl. if you want to see Kaena Pt., than hike it! ya lazy ass

you should be ashamed of even mentioning your opinion

[maleko(n.l.i)]

You'll excuse Kaena Point for being so kaena. Jutting into the ocean like that, it has every right to be proud, boastful, even conceited. The old Hawaiians, who had a way with naming natural features, were precisely right in naming this rocky point Kaena. It is made of the oldest rocks on Oahu and is the island's westernmost point. A long black lava arm reaches hundreds of yards into the sea, it's length depending on tide. The arm has been incredibly battered by wind and waves for three million years. But it is still there, still flexed, still pointing directly at Kauai, its nearest relative, and still proud.
The point is utterly wild, the most remote place on Oahu. Much of the point area is part of the 12-acre Kaena Point Natural Area Reserve, one of the last habitats for rare Naupaka Mixed Coastal Shrubland. This habitat includes the federally endangered `ohai bush and provides nesting for the Laysan Albatross. Like a lot of local residents, after enduring the hustle-bustle-traffic-dash out of Honolulu, you may have a hard time believing that this lovely area is really part of Oahu. Maui, maybe. Or Molokai. This much unspoiled natural beauty couldn't be Oahu, could it? But it is Oahu, just over an hour from Waikiki. I love the sound of stereotypes shattering. On the trail to Kaena, it is the sound of waves and wind and the ryhthmic fall of boots on rock, and the baritone belch of a spouting horn.

I generally prefer to approach along the Leeward Coast, although coming along the North Shore is especially dramatic during big winter surf. Follow the H-1 west until it turns into Farrington Highway near the Ko Olina Resort. You'll feel the change just past the Hawaiian Electric power plant at Kahe Point. This is the Leeward side. Sunny. Dry. White sand beaches. Uninhabited hillsides. And the bluest water on the island. The pace of life begins to slow. Makaha offers the last outpost of civilization. The market next to Cornet at the intersection of Farrington Highway and Makaha Valley Road offers a deli, snacks and bottled water for the trail.

From the junction of Farrington Highway and Makaha Valley Road, it's about eight miles to the end of the road. Just past idyllic Yokohama Bay of surfing lore, you're there. Park near the end of the paved road.

From the end of either Farrington Highway or Mokuleia Beach Road, it's 2.5 miles to the NAR. Hikers, runners and mountain bikers can go all five miles around the point from one side to the other. Four-wheel-drive vehicles can go only a mile or so from the Makaha side until halted by a severe trail washout.

Instead of starting directly up the trail, go left toward the ocean and follow the rocky cliff for 70 yards to a keyhole in the lava where the ocean surges and boils through a series of labrynthine passages. A cylinder six feet across in the rock fills with water and rises 15 feet in a second or two, then drops just as fast. A very powerful erosion feature. But watch your step -- a slip or trip here could be intensely unpleasant.

You can retrace your steps to the trail head or pick up the trail a few yards further down the coast. The trail, cut between the sea and the sheer clifs of the Waianae Mountains, was built for the tracks of the old Oahu Railroad and Land, which was out-moded by cars and improved highways. The train stopped running in the early 1950s and the tracks and ties are long gone.

On the trail, while the destination is decidedly of the land -- the white lighthouse in the distance marks Kaena Point -- the focus of this hike is the sea. The churning, restless sea is never more than 30 feet below, immediately to your left. With the exception of that washout (bikes can be portaged), it's an easy trail, but rocky and uneven. The only danger is in keeping your eyes on the ocean and not on the trail. Low lava cliffs form cove after cove that alternate with black boulder beaches where the crash of waves rumble and echo. The fresh scent of salt mist drifts up from the rocks.

A few rusted remnants of automobiles dot the coast, some no doubt the result of indiscriminate dumping, others of indiscriminate driving.

Far more interesting is the succession of archways carved in the rock by wave action. There's something about natural bridges that appeal to the eye and to the heart? This is erosion at its most artistic, even architectural. And natural bridges prove that the Earth is like people -- it has soft spots, too. Yet part of the rock, like my friend Henry Loui who faught cancer so bravely and beat it for six years, holds fiercely onto this existence even as life crumbles all around.

A mile or so along the trail, I paused for a sip of water and heard a soft but resonant whooshing, as if a giant was breathing over my shoulder. Naw, couldn't be. Must have been the wind. Or my imagination.

But I jumped when the giant belched over my shoulder. Just below the trail, ocean spray surged through a tiny blow hole in the top side of a lava cliff, at least 30 feet back from the sea. One day hundreds or thousands of years from now, maybe it will have grown as big and wild as that riotous keyhole in the rock back at the start of the trail. But for now, it is just a couple of inches across and supporting a mini-eco-system with its spray.

The trail passes so many dramatic and colorful meetings of land and sea. The further you hike, and the higher the sun rises, the blue ocean looks more and more inviting. But be careful. There are no beaches for easy ocean access, which means no easy way to get out, either. Strong currents and waves prevail.

And as you become increasingly aware, you're all alone out here. This has to be the loneliest two and a half miles of beachfront on Oahu. I passed a family of cyclists, three local fishermen and two other hikers on the trail during a recent visit.

Trails through the Natural Area Reserve are sandy and marked by hand-laid stones. Certain individual plants are also surrounded with rocks for protection. Because off-road vehicles destroyed much of the native vegetation, barriers now restrict access by 4WDs. But careless hiking can destroy the fragile hold a plant has in the dune ecosystem as easily as a churning studded tire. Even in the best of times, life clings desperately to the rocks and sand on the windy point.

It's a strange sensation from the point, looking down both the west and the north coasts of the island at the same time. According to my compass, the last lava arm of Kaena points due west. On this day, the wind whistles directly out of the north. On the northern side of the point and all along the North Shore to Kahuku, the sea is a frenzy of white caps and froth. On the other side, in the lee, the sea is blue and waves are regular and steady, produced by tide, not wind. It's obvious that the lava arm continues to divide the sea well out into the water.

Naupaka Mixed Coastal Shrubland does not have quite the same media appeal or power of description as "rainforest." Although this kind of habitat was once common on shorelines of all islands, it is now far more rare than rainforests. Shorelines have always been the first developed for human consumption, whether for homes, businesses, agriculture, grazing, roads or resorts. Here at Kaena Point, it is making a Naupaka Mixed Coastal Shrubland is making a last stand. And it looks so, well, natural! And wild. With the return of native plants, laysan albatross birds are also returning. A complex ecosystem is a healthy eco-system. Who knows what fellow natives will follow the albatross?

Standing now at the furthest reach of Kaena Point where it slides into the sea, I'm again amazed that this is Oahu. I've fallen in love with this island once more as if for the first time.

As usual, the return trip takes considerably less time than the out-going, probably because I finished the film back at the point and make fewer stops to shoot photographs. About a mile from the trail head, I step onto the side of the path to let a blue rental Jeep pass. A young G.I. and his girlfriend stop.

"You O.K.?" he says.

"Huh?"

"Are you in trouble? Do you need a ride?" They are genuinely concerned, would-be Good Samaritans.

"No thanks. I'm hiking."

They are taken aback. A man who is routinely ordered to march as part of his job does not often consider doing it recreationally.

"How's the road?" he says.

"Fine, until you get to the washout just ahead. The only way to get past is on foot."

Their faces drop in disappointment.

"You mean we can't drive around?" she says.

"Nope."

"I don't know why they just don't pave it all the way around," he says. "They've paved everything else."

The words are barely out of his mouth when they swing back and hit him like a boomerang. He smiles. Of course, that is exactly why they haven't paved the last five miles of road around Kaena Point.

And that has a lot to do with why it's a great walk.

[Guest]

http://starbulletin.com/2002/08/18/news/story10.html

[Guest]

http://www.susanscott.net/OceanWatch1997/feb03-97.html

[maleko(n.l.i)]

"There's something about natural bridges that appeal to the eye and to the heart? This is erosion at its most artistic, even architectural. And natural bridges prove that the Earth is like people -- it has soft spots, too. "

[megaprober]

I WAS JUST WAITING FOR GOOD OLD RELIABLE MALEKO TO BE BE BAITED. TOO PREDICTABLE THAT GUY. ANYWAY I'M NO SHIT TALKER AND THAT WAS NEVER MY OPINION. SOME OF YOU PASSED THE TEST AND WERE ABLE TO READ BETWEEN THE LINES...BE PROUD YOU ARE SMART ENOUGH TO KNOW OPINION FROM BULLSHIT. THE TRUTH FROM THE MEGAPROBER.....WHAT DO YOU THINK? I'M A GEOLOGIST AND HAVE EMPHASIS ON HAWAIIAN GEOLOGY. I KNOW WHAT KAENA POINT IS ALL ABOUT, THE IMPORTANCE ON HAWAIIAN CULTURE (LEAP OF THE SOULS), THE IMPACT ON THE ENVIRONMENT. THE ROAD WILL HAPPEN AND HOPEFULLY THEY DO IT RIGHT, BUT AS A SURFER THAT LOVES THOSE BREAKS IN MOKES OR POINTS NORTH OF MAKAHA MAN THEY BETTER WAIT TILL I'M DONE SURFING CUZ IT'S GOING TO FUCK UP THOSE LAST BREAKS THAT YOU CAN GET IN SOLITUDE.

HERE'S A CHALLENGE
I INVITE ANY OF YOU TO POST ANY GEOLOGICAL QUESTIONS IN REGARDS TO HAWAII ABOUT VOLCANOES, SEA LEVEL, OR ISLAND AGE AND DEVELOPEMENT. IF I CAN'T PROVIDE AN ANSWER OR GIVE AN ANSWER THAT YOU CAN PROVE IS WRONG. I'LL MEET YOU AND BE GLAD TO BUY BEER OR FOOD JUST TO MEET THE GUY WHO CAN STUMP ME. IN FACT I'LL OPEN A WHOLE NEW TOPIC AREA.....THIS ALL OUT OF GOOD SPIRIT.... I JUST LIKE A GOOD CHALLENGE , SO SOMEBODY DO ME JUSTICE AND SHUT ME UP!!!......I'M EAGAR TO LEARN....MALEKO I EXPECT YOUR QUESTION FIRST