Crater Spinout

I spun out on the drive up the crater last weekend. Rain or maybe ice made the road slick and coming around a sharp turn near the summit my tail end swung wildly to the left then back gripping the road once again as I corrected gently with the steering wheel. Well, that woke me up! Luckily there were no cars in the oncoming lane. I drove a little slower for the next several curves until I reached the area by the observatory at the top of the skyline trail. There’s a sign next to the trail head reading “Skyline trail” and showing drawings of a hiker and a biker and an ATV in a circle with a line through it. Next to it was a new sign. “NO TRESSPASSING, Violators will be prosecuted”. WTF? I parked by the side of the road anyway and got myself geared up for my run. A car coming from the observatory slowed and the driver asked me if I knew I was on private property. I told him I was going for a jog down the trail and he told me people were now being ticketed for going down there. Two tourists just yesterday were nailed. No more skyline trail above the gate at Poli Poli. I was so angry I almost cried as I drove back down to the visitor center to jog down Sliding Sands trail instead. There is a plan to build a 14 story telescope on Haleakala. I don’t think a final decision has been made regarding the ATST (Advanced Solar Technology Telescope) but obviously someone thinks they are going to win and is preparing the public to be banned from the area. Now my favorite high altitude training run is no more. Part of my cathedral has been taken over by the government. It’s supposed to take 7 years to construct the beast. What about loss of wilderness, visual and noise pollution and losses to populations of endangered species? What about traffic delays due to cement trucks slogging up crater road, miles of tourists lined up behind trying to get to the park? What about the sacredness of the site in the Hawaiian culture, in my personal culture?


I was mad as hell as I jogged down Sliding Sands trail into the clouds. Visibility was about 50 feet. I ran hard, pounding out my frustration. About the time I started calming down the clouds pulled out to reveal an astounding vision of cirrus clouds along the rim of the crater. Chukars trotted along the trail in front of me. I didn’t see another soul the entire run down or up, folks having been scared away by the rain. Back at the top I grabbed my coffee and toast from the truck, scrambled up the hill above the visitors center and settled on a perch in the lee of some rocks to watch the sun climbing above the mountain and contemplate the beauty in front of me. At least they can’t touch my park. I hope.