Words of wisdom and instructions for hikers at the start of the Muliwai Trail in Waipi’o Valley. I’m surprised no one has used a finger to scrawl ‘Wash me’ on the signs.
Category Archives: Signs
Signs: Hazardous Area
This sign greets visitors to Mo’okini heiau. The heiau dates back to the 11th or 12th Century when it was an important religious site where thousands of human sacrifices were carried out. A hazardous area indeed. I imagine there were many who would happily have risked climbing the walls in those days.
For more information about the Mo’okini heiau, go to bigislandhikes.com/mookini-heiau/.
Signs: Temporary closure
Back in 2006, an earthquake off the west coast of the Big Island caused extensive damage. One of the casualties was this trail. Part of the cliff it traverses slid into the sea and the path was deemed unsafe. But this wasn’t just some local trail. It’s the Ala Kahakai trail, also known as the King’s Trail, which followed the coast from North Kohala all the way along the west and south coasts to the Puna District in the southeast of the island.
Just beyond this sign is a private gated community and specifically a very large, very expensive house (currently available for 10 or 11 million dollars – it’s been for sale for a while). The trail wasn’t popular with the home’s original owners, who put up a barbed wire barrier (well, I suspect they didn’t actually do the work).
Anyway, the trail has been temporarily closed for 10 years now and, as is the way around here, I suspect it will remain permanently temporarily closed. That is, until the next significant earthquake detaches another stretch of cliff and sends the big house sliding into the ocean. Then, who knows?
Signs: Anything goes
Usually, beach resorts have warnings about anything and everything that might pose a risk to patrons, that and expose the resort to any kind of liability. But on this day, all bets were off.
Signs: Flying shark attack?
Last September, a 13-foot tiger shark attacked a spear fisherman off Upolu Point in North Kohala. Luckily he had friends there and they got him to hospital. En route, he posted photos of his serious wounds on Facebook!
Usually, when there’s a shark attack, nearby beaches are closed. In this case, it’s a somewhat remote area with no beaches so there were no closures. But any time there’s an attack or even a reported sighting, these ‘Shark Sighted – Keep Out” signs are posted. What I particularly liked in this case was that the sign was attached to the fence at Upolu Airport (which is no more than a lightly-used landing strip). Was this something new from the sharks? An air attack?
In fairness, there’s really no better place to post such a sign and the dirt road that runs alongside the fence is the one most people use when heading toward the coast. But I like to imagine that some tourist came by and wondering whether some shark had flown in in this instance.
The sign blew away within a couple of days by which time I expect the shark was also many miles away. Or perhaps not. Dun dun dun dun …
For more information about the shark attack off Upolu Point, go to westhawaiitoday.com/news/local-news/shark-attacks-man-upolu-point.
Signs: What’s for breakfast then?
A favorite sign of mine at a local state park. Among the usual warnings is the draconian limit on drinking hours. I mean, what’s a person supposed to do for breakfast? It will come as no surprise to know that the rule is routinely ignored and I doubt it’s ever been enforced.
Graham's Island 