Hunt On Mauna Loa Volcano, Big Island, Hawaii
Life is such fun, you never know what a day may bring. Himself and his friend went out at the crack of dawn the other day to hike and hunt on Mauna Loa Volcano. Or should I say more specifically, that part of the mountain that contains Kapala Ranch, the Forest Reserve, and Ainapo Trail?! He returned sunburned, tired and covered in dirt, but very happy. He did manage to shoot a small sheep, which I will not share the picture of here, as it is really not the focal point of my story, and who really wants to see such things?! Not me!
Upon their arrival at their starting point, (the first of several gates that you need to pass through at Kapapala Ranch, a privately owned property), they drove for several miles where they finally parked their rig and began their hike. Why they chose to blaze their own trail is anyone's guess, but knowing Himself and his friend, it was probably to see new county. After fighting their way through dense jungle and Koa Forest, the ground growing ever steeper as they gained elevation, they broke out into dryer country, which eventually led them to cross paths with the Ainapo Trail. This is an ancient trail randomly marked by cairn stones, it leads to the summit of Mauna Loa and its crater.
Following along the old trail they hiked for some time, and when about noon they seeing a rocky outcropping some fifteen feet off the trail, they decided to stop and have some lunch before heading back down to their vehicle. As they approached the rock, my husband looked down and saw, with some disgust, what he thought was a beer bottle three quarters buried in the dirt. The law requiring all things packed in to be packed out, he decided to dig the junk bottle out and remove it from the landscape. He asked his buddy to stick it in his backpack, which he did. By the time they had hiked back to the truck, he had forgotten the bottle was in there, so without a thought he chucked the pack into the back of the truck, for the bumpy ride back down the mountain. How this bottle survived bouncing around in the back of a truck for hours is anyone's guess?! When they got to our place he found the bottle still in one piece in his pack, so gave it back to Himself, who was going to throw it in the recycle bin, but on the off chance I could use it he brought it to me to see.
Here are a few pictures they took with their phones, so you will please pardon the quality.
As you can see the road is not something you would want to take your car on. This is at the lower elevation on the Kapapala Ranch, showing lovely Koa Tree's and jungle, and one of many gates passed through.
The size of the Koa tree's were really something, but the Red Akala berries which are a type of wild Hawaiian Raspberry, were rather sour and not nearly as tasty as they looked. They look a lot like Mainland Salmon Berries. This is part of the Koa Forest on Kapapala Ranch, or a bit north in the Forest Reserve.
Here it is my glop-top deep amber fifth of whiskey bottle, found fifteen feet from the Ainapo Trail, at the 6,500 foot level, near that rocky outcropping. It was made sometime in the 1880's and before 1893, when new technology fazed out the glop-top bottle. It was likely to have been made in San Francisco, California, but could also have come from as far away as Germany, or the eastern United States. There it had sat on that spot in the trail for over 135 years through every kind of weather, and who knows how many eruptions?! Then it survived the bumping around in a pickup truck over rough roads with no padding. It sure speaks to the durability of the glass in bottles from those days.
Here is an up close look at the glop-top. The glass bottle was made in two parts, with the top applied to the neck while still hot. This process left a glop of glass, as you can see here.
This view shows how the indent was made in the bottle from the spin mold it was placed in while being blown. The glass blower spun the bottle in the mold eliminating any seam lines. The bottom of the mold had a holding devise which caused the little button and the deep dish in the bottom. The spinning also caused horizontal lines in the bottle which also show clearly here. This enabled the easy application of labels, but also made it impossible for embossing. Thus the bottle without its label makes it impossible to know for certain where the bottle was made or what company filled its contents. This to me is not so important however as the location that this bottle was found.
The fact that this bottle lay where it did, close to the ancient trail of Ainapo, leading to the summit and crater of Mauna Loa, tells me that some early traveler in the late 1800's, left it there. At that time the closest place to stage your climb would have been the old original Volcano House Hotel, near the crater of Kilauea. The very same Volcano House that grt. grandma Anne Elston Krout-Scearce's sister, Mary Hannah Krout visited in 1894 and wrote a chapter about in her book, Hawaii and a Revolution.
This bottle sat in the ground for approximately 136 years, through all manner of weather and several volcanic eruptions, but still managed to come through it all without a nick or a scratch, and to think my husband almost threw it in the garbage recycle. He may have been hunting sheep, but he found something far greater. A piece of history from the old Mauna Loa Volcano days when all manner of people and scientists, came from all over the world to hike up and see the volcano. When roads and trails were far more primitive than today and you would have come to the Island in a tall steamer ship, still attached with sails.
Walking with packs or riding on horseback, some fellow or several fellows in a group, stopped on that very same spot, those many years ago, toasted themselves or each other, dropped that bottle and went on their way to the summit. I wonder if it was the old fellow I did research on, one William Henry Lentz, who helped build the 1877 Volcano House? If only that old bottle could talk!
Upon their arrival at their starting point, (the first of several gates that you need to pass through at Kapapala Ranch, a privately owned property), they drove for several miles where they finally parked their rig and began their hike. Why they chose to blaze their own trail is anyone's guess, but knowing Himself and his friend, it was probably to see new county. After fighting their way through dense jungle and Koa Forest, the ground growing ever steeper as they gained elevation, they broke out into dryer country, which eventually led them to cross paths with the Ainapo Trail. This is an ancient trail randomly marked by cairn stones, it leads to the summit of Mauna Loa and its crater.
Following along the old trail they hiked for some time, and when about noon they seeing a rocky outcropping some fifteen feet off the trail, they decided to stop and have some lunch before heading back down to their vehicle. As they approached the rock, my husband looked down and saw, with some disgust, what he thought was a beer bottle three quarters buried in the dirt. The law requiring all things packed in to be packed out, he decided to dig the junk bottle out and remove it from the landscape. He asked his buddy to stick it in his backpack, which he did. By the time they had hiked back to the truck, he had forgotten the bottle was in there, so without a thought he chucked the pack into the back of the truck, for the bumpy ride back down the mountain. How this bottle survived bouncing around in the back of a truck for hours is anyone's guess?! When they got to our place he found the bottle still in one piece in his pack, so gave it back to Himself, who was going to throw it in the recycle bin, but on the off chance I could use it he brought it to me to see.
Here are a few pictures they took with their phones, so you will please pardon the quality.
Here is the Ainapo Trail in the Forest Reserve. They hiked up to about 6,500 feet or so in elevation, but did not feel the need or inclination to hike to the summit. As you can see it is much dryer at this elevation.
When Himself arrived later that afternoon at my shop door, he looked tired out from his long hike. He handed me the bottle, telling where and how he found it, and that he didn't think it was very old because he thought it had a bit of plastic around its neck. Being an old bottle collector from my childhood, I took one look at the bottle and knew it was very old. I just couldn't believe what he had found. How had all those thousands of people who have climbed up that trail over the years, never spotted this bottle, or if they did, hadn't picked it up and taken it away? I knew that was no plastic piece around its neck, but a glop of glass left over from the glass blowing process.
The fact that this bottle lay where it did, close to the ancient trail of Ainapo, leading to the summit and crater of Mauna Loa, tells me that some early traveler in the late 1800's, left it there. At that time the closest place to stage your climb would have been the old original Volcano House Hotel, near the crater of Kilauea. The very same Volcano House that grt. grandma Anne Elston Krout-Scearce's sister, Mary Hannah Krout visited in 1894 and wrote a chapter about in her book, Hawaii and a Revolution.
This bottle sat in the ground for approximately 136 years, through all manner of weather and several volcanic eruptions, but still managed to come through it all without a nick or a scratch, and to think my husband almost threw it in the garbage recycle. He may have been hunting sheep, but he found something far greater. A piece of history from the old Mauna Loa Volcano days when all manner of people and scientists, came from all over the world to hike up and see the volcano. When roads and trails were far more primitive than today and you would have come to the Island in a tall steamer ship, still attached with sails.
Walking with packs or riding on horseback, some fellow or several fellows in a group, stopped on that very same spot, those many years ago, toasted themselves or each other, dropped that bottle and went on their way to the summit. I wonder if it was the old fellow I did research on, one William Henry Lentz, who helped build the 1877 Volcano House? If only that old bottle could talk!
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