Ocean
Watch
Monday, April 1, 1996
No fooling - government must
make trailheads safe
LAST week, after several frustrating computer crashes,
I decided to treat myself to a hike at Kaena Point Nature Park. I drove my
car to the end of the road where I parked in a clean, paved stall.
As I got out of the car, a police officer patrolling
the area on a bicycle greeted me.
Quietly, we discussed the beauty of this exquisite
wilderness. Moments later, I started my hike with a feeling of gratitude
that such a serene place exists on this otherwise frenzied island.
APRIL FOOL!
Here's the real story: Last week after several
frustrating computer crashes, I treated myself to a hike at Kaena Point
Nature Park.
When I arrived at the trailhead, I felt even more
depressed. Broken glass lay everywhere in the pitted, dirt field.
Motorcycles and four-wheel-drive vehicles charged unrestrained around the
so-called gate, creating such a racket that I had to shout to a friend
standing right next to me to be heard.
IT took more than two miles of walking to get away from
the dust, smoke and noise. We returned to the car a couple hours later,
covered in red dirt - as was my car. The dirt was so thick, I couldn't see
through the windows to drive. After a pathetic attempt to clean them, I
grumped home, both car and driver filthy.
"It's just the weekend," I rationalized.
"I should only go out there on weekdays, when it's quieter."
So I did, a few days later. It's true there were fewer
trucks and no dirt bikes barreling around inside the gate. This time,
however, I came back to my car to find that I could see out the window
just fine - because it was gone. So was every single item in the car.
I drove home in a sea of broken glass and called
police. They wouldn't come to my North Shore house. Why?
"You wouldn't believe the number of break-ins like
this that happen out there. We can't possibly come for each one," I
was told.
Uh, isn't there a clue there? I wondered out loud. The
officer sighed and I knew what was coming: not enough money; not enough
officers.
THE good part of this wretched story is that on both
hikes, after I got through the vehicular battlefield and before I found my
car trashed, I fully enjoyed myself.
At the far end of Kaena is a true pot of gold. This
small section of preserve lies behind a real barrier, not a pretend one,
and holds a wonderland of native plants and animals.
What was once wasteland now blooms. I watched a monk
seal snooze on the beach there and saw courting Laysan albatrosses dance.
Just offshore, baby humpback whales entertained me with playful breaches.
There's no arguing that Kaena Point is a jewel, a
marvel of rebounding nature. But how can residents or visitors enjoy it?
People here on the North Shore just shake their heads when I say my car
was vandalized at Kaena Point.
"You left it THERE?" they say. Then they tell
me a worse story of what happened to their car at some other trailhead.
THIS is the third car hit in my family in a year and a
half. The worst two were at trailheads. What do we do now? Stop hiking?
Rent a car when we go on a hike? Hire a guard? Not one of these ideas is
reasonable.
What is reasonable is for government agencies to work
together to enforce gate rules and make trailheads safe. I know funds are
tight. But what good does it do to spend money on pseudo-barriers when
people can easily drive around them? And how can we taxpayers justify
spending money to maintain nature parks that we're afraid to use?
I am appalled at how many people pointed out how lucky
I am that the brick was thrown at my car window instead of at my head.
Clean, safe parks and trailheads on Oahu should not be
an April Fool's joke.
