Posted on: Friday, September 20, 2002

Two hikers rescued by chopper after spending night in valley

By Rod Ohira
Advertiser Staff Writer

Firefighters yesterday helped two hikers out of Ka'au Crater in Palolo Valley, where they had been stranded overnight.

Christine Alfono, 29, of St. Paul, Minn., and Barbara Kearney, 28, of New Jersey were hungry but not injured. They were taken by helicopter from a Ka'au Crater ridge to Palolo Recreation Center field at 6:12 a.m.

Alfono called 911 with her cellular phone Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. to request assistance. Because of hazardous weather conditions and the fact that the women were not injured or in danger, they agreed to stay in the valley overnight, Fire Department spokesman Capt. Richard Soo said. A fire rescue specialist was airlifted to their location at 5:45 a.m. and assisted the women to a higher location, where they were picked up by helicopter.

"We are so grateful to the Fire Department, police and EMS for what they did," said Alfono, who is working on her doctorate in fisheries and wildlife at the University of Minnesota. "They were so nice. I called (fire dispatch) a couple of times during the night."

Alfono, who has been in Hawai'i for two months working with Western Pacific Fisheries, is leaving Sept. 30 for Antarctica.

Kearney, who arrived last week for a vacation, and Alfono decided to hike into Palolo Valley at noon Wednesday. "The trail is very rocky and steep and you're scaling up a waterfall," Alfono said. "Once we got to the top it started raining really hard. We tried to hike out by a different route, but it was too muddy and dangerous."

Alfono said she always carries a cellular phone because she does a field work in remote areas. "We were told that it would be treacherous for them to get us, and we agreed to spend the night. It was really cold."