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Mama on the Move - Hawaii Hiking to Petroglyphs
By MudslideMama | June 3, 2008
Like millions of other Americans, I recently saw the new Indiana Jones movie, and I’ve been feeling a little ‘adventure-y” ever since. Looking over my map of the Big Island in Hawaii, I saw the perfect hiking 
opportunity to satisfy my outdoor adventure jones (no pun intended) by exploring the Puako Petroglyph Archeological Preserve, very near the luxury resort area in South Kohala. Now, the Big Island of Hawaii has the most – and best preserved – petroglyphs of any in the state. Visitors can park in the Holoholokai Beach Park lot and make it part of a day in South Kohala. Petroglyphs, for the uninitiated, are sort of like the hieroglyphs of ancient Egypt, except they’re primitive carvings into stone. Each represents something, such as warriors, chiefs, and important births.
The Malama Trail leads right up from Holoholokai Beach, and the fun starts in less than a quarter mile. Now, this is no lush, green part of Hawaii. It’s hot, dry, and arid; you’ll sweat standing still. I found sunblock to be a must, at least initially. After passing some well-tended to petroglpyhs, the intrepid explorer (me!) heads down a tree-covered path, with virtually no other archeological adventure type tourists around (I passed two couples total). Crossing a fire road, I was happy and excited to hear nothing but tropical birds, and see nothing but trees, lava, and occasional, scattered petroglyphs. The iconic theme music for Indiana Jones bounced around my head: There I was, the rugged explorer, in a land that has been remarkably unchanged for 1,500 years (the estimated age of the first petroglyphs in Hawaii). Sure, instead of a fedora, I’ve got a baseball cap. And my weapon is not a whip, it’s a compact digital camera. So what? Look at me, I’m tromping around the underbrush just like my hero-slash-mad high school crush.
The hiking trail isn’t the most clearly laid out – all the better for adventuring – but you can’t get lost unless
you try. I made a few detours and “discovered” prehistoric lava tubes. When the Polynesians landed on the Hawaiian islands, these lava tubes served as perfectly good homes and places for meetings of local chiefs. The entrances were mostly a little too cobwebby for me (sorry, Indy!) but there was one that I crawled into and was able to fully stand in without banging my head. At least not much, anyway. Ouch.
The proper trail ends quickly, in less than 2 miles. It’s here that we get to the star of the show: The Puako Petroglyph Preserve, with over 3,000 drawings in a flat rock field. The Polynesian and Hawaiian appreciation for lines through generations of families is laid out, in stone as it were, from right to left. The oldest and most simple petroglyphs are to the right, with stick figures representing canoes, animals, and important people of their day. As we look towards the left, we see the evolution from simplicity to more complex carvings that have triangles and squares for male and female torsos.
It’s inspiring to step back, and consider that a hundred generations of Hawaiian families trekked to this very spot to carve their place in history. No one knows for certain what all the symbols represent anymore – their meanings have been
lost to time. And no one knows exactly why the Hawaii natives stopped doing this, either. Some suggest it’s because of the missionaries who came later, others say it’s because the ancient Hawaiians were concerned about running out of space on the stone field to carve important glyphs, and wanted to save room for their future generations. Walking lightly among the thousands of thousand-year old stone carvings, I know that not even Indiana Jones, archeologist of my dreams, could have the answers to these age-old questions. And I feel that we are all part of something larger than ourselves and our day to day worries. We are part of the lines of our own families, stretching back, and forwards, in time.
Topics: Adventure Travel, Destinations, Eco Travel, Family Travel, Luxury Travel, The Cookie Jar |
TravelMuse
June 3rd, 2008 at
I really enjoy your Hawaii series. Definitely a keeper for me. When I get a chance to fulfill my vacation dream, this will be really useful for us.
I’m so green with envy.
June 3rd, 2008 at
These petroglyphs sound a bit like the Aboriginal rock carvings in Australia. We saw some several years ago, in the Ku-Ring-Gai Chase National Park … and everyone we’ve spoken to since say they’ve ’seen better’
June 3rd, 2008 at
I need to check this out when I’m in Kona again. It must’ve been a surreal feeling to see these historic sites up close.
June 3rd, 2008 at
Sounds thrilling. What a coincidence that in this week’s New Yorker there is a cartoon in which one cave wife tells another, as we see her husband drawing petroglyphs all over the cave wall, “Whenever he finishes a novel we have to move.”
June 4th, 2008 at
Wow, I want to go hike there! I think it’s amazing that those drawings or symbols have lasted all these years.
June 4th, 2008 at
Fantastic post, Mudslide. I’m glad you finally made it to the petroglyphs