The rain and storms caused more extensive erosion than usual, said Aaron Lowe, Na Ala Hele's trails and access specialist: "2004 was just a bad year."

Making matters worse, the state's already underfunded trails and access program, Na Ala Hele, found itself short-staffed by 50 percent when a trail technician position sat unfilled for six months in 2004.

Na Ala Hele is responsible for maintaining 41 hiking trails over more than 83 miles islandwide. (An additional 14 miles are considered inaccessible.)

Because of the staffing vacancy, Lowe often found himself away from his Makiki office and out on the trails by himself, chain-sawing fallen trees, hacking away encroaching brush, clearing mud and debris and undertaking more sophisticated trail repairs to ensure safe passage for hikers and other trail users.

"It does seem like the amount of work has diminished," said Dayle Turner, a hike coordinator with the Hawaiian Trail and Mountain Club. "I don't usually go on the more used trails, but from what I've seen, it doesn't seem like they're as routinely maintained as before. It used to be better."

Longtime hiker Stanley Hamada said he's had to cut short a few of his hikes over the last year because of poor trail conditions. In January, he turned back before the summit on the Kuli'ou'ou Ridge Trail because severe erosion had rendered a series of plastic-lumber steps too dangerous to mount. At Manana Trail that same month, he turned an ankle in a deep rut obscured by thick brush.

"It got pretty bad," said Hamada, a Pearl City resident. "You could tell from how overgrown some of the trails got that, for whatever reason, the state wasn't going out as often."

Hamada and other hikers say the speed at which trails fell into disrepair last year underscores the need for more state money to support government and community programs maintaining safe trail access.

"Hikers like to think that when they go out on the trails that it's a rugged, outdoor kind of experience — and it is, to a degree," said Hamada. "But the fact is man-made trails are what enable you to move in and out of nature safely. When you don't take care of the trail, the rain washes it out, trees fall over it, plants grow over it, and it disappears.

"That's more than a lot of everyday hikers are willing or able to deal with."

Creative solutions

Lowe has estimated it would take one person 365 workdays to simply weed-whack all of the trails under Na Ala Hele's purview. And that, simply, won't cut it.

In general, trails need to be cleared at least three to four times a year. Weed-whacking is rarely sufficient by itself. Rocks and fallen trees need to be cleared, ruts filled, soil stabilized, water diverted, steps maintained.

To keep up basic maintenance, Lowe revived an agreement with O'ahu Community Correction Center by which four inmates help.

"The warden said he could get me the inmates, but he didn't have an extra guard to go with them," Lowe said. "So for the first few months, I went over and picked them up myself to take them to the forest.

The low-risk prisoners are now overseen by newly hired field trail technician Jason Masaki. So far they've helped clear the Manoa Cliffs, Manoa Falls, Wa'ahila Ridge, Judd and Tantalus trails.

It's a lot of work, but that's the nature of the job, says Masaki. "It's been really good so far. We can see the impact."

The University of Hawai'i has also provided funding for a volunteer coordinator who works with people and community groups on trail maintenance projects. The Hawai'i Tourism Authority has chipped in with additional money to help maintain popular tourist trails.

"We're pretty powered up again," Lowe said. "I'm really excited about this year. We've knocked out several things that were on the back burner, and we've gotten a lot of great feedback from trail users. Still, it's always a case of so many trails, so little time."

Over the last couple of months, Lowe and his staff have replaced the dangerous stairs at Kuli'ou'ou (using wider lumber to discourage people from walking around the steps) and installed 70 new steps at Wiliwilinui.

Plans ahead call for a water diversion at Manoa Falls, adding more gravel and cribbing to Maunawili Falls, and creating a diversion away from rocks at Kealia.

Trail tenders

Hiking enthusiasts Masato and Eiko Hatakeyama walk along an improved section of the Kanealole Trail. Photos by Bruce Asato | The Honolulu Advertiser

A veteran hiker says that at Manana Trail, he turned an ankle last year in a deep rut obscured by brush. Advertiser library photo • Aug.10, 2001

The club offers weekly day-hikes along a wide range of public and private trails. To ensure the safety of the hikers, Kekina and her crew of 20 to 30 volunteers clear and repair each trail two weeks ahead of each scheduled hike.

Every Sunday, sunshine or storm clouds, the volunteers haul their chain saws, machetes, shovels, hoes, loppers and weed-whacker to their designated trail and set to work.

"(Na Ala Hele) does a good job, but they don't have enough people," said Kekina, who has been clearing trails since 1983.

"Since we use state trails, we clear them when we need them. I have the manpower; the state doesn't."

Kekina said the spread of non-indigenous vegetation — like the aggressive clydemia vine — has made it harder to keep trails clear.

"Almost every trail I went on (last year) was overgrown because of the heavy rainfall," she said. "There are so many introduced plants now. It's not like before."

Ongoing needs

Randy Ching, an outings leader with the Sierra Club, said the state could do more to ease the burden placed on Na Ala Hele and the Hawaiian Trail and Mountain Club to maintain O'ahu's trails.

"Obviously we'd like to see more money put into the trails," Ching said. "(Na Ala Hele) has been underfunded forever."

Ching said charging commercial operators more to bring groups onto Manoa Falls Trail could generate money to pay for a full-time position for someone to maintain and monitor high-use trails.

Ching would also like to see the state make use of volunteer groups, like the Sierra Club, capable of building or re-establishing trails for less cost than professional companies.

Members of the Sierra Club built the now-popular Maunawili trail system over six summers in the 1990s, but have not been called on since.