There and Back Again on the Kalaupapa Trail

The Island of Moloka'i is famous (or infamous) for being home to the leper colony established in the 1860s when the Kingdom of Hawai'i (then Republic, then Territory, and finally the State of Hawai'i) forcefully exiled persons suffering from leprosy (a.k.a. Hansen's disease) until 1969.  The colony was located on the Kalaupapa peninsula isolated from the rest of Moloka'i by the tallest sea cliffs in the world.   The only land access to the colony is via the Kalaupapa trail.  To visit the settlement one must take a guided tour; visitors are not allowed to roam around on their own.  Visitors can either hike or ride a mule down the Kalaupapa trail or fly into the tiny airport on the peninsula.

We woke up early to catch the sunrise from our rental house

We hiked down the trail but had to start early to avoid being stuck behind the mules (and the mule poop).

View of Kalaupapa from the top of the trail

The three mile hike consists of 26 switchbacks with drop of over 1600ft.

Along the way we encountered wild goats

It took us about ninety minutes to reach the bottom, walking at a very relaxed pace.  By the time we got to sea level our legs were shaking from the steep decline.

We hiked down that cliff

The only way to explore the colony is through a prearranged tour (if you miss your tour you must hike back up).  We boarded an old school bus which first took us into the town of Kalaupapa for two shopportunities.  The town has about 100 permanent residents which include the state and the Kalaupapa National Historic Park employees and about 10 former patients.

We saw a monument to Father Damien

The monument, a Celtic cross was erected in 1893 

and visited a church with Father Damien and Mother Marianne mosaics and stained glass,

The peninsula has its own air strip with its own TSA agents.  For those who doesn't want to come to Molokai, there are direct flights from Oahu.  You can also fly into the peninsula from "topside", which is what the locals call the rest of the island.

Kalaupapa Airstrip

The tour continued to the town of Kalawao, where the original leper colony was established but later abandoned in 1932 when the colony moved to Kalaupapa due to its more favorable weather conditions.

View from our lunch spot, Judd Park

In Kalawao, we visited St. Philomena Church where Father Damien's right hand is reinterred in his grave. In 1936 his body was returned to his home country, Belgium, but his right hand was given back to Kalawao.

Unfortunately the tour guide was not very good (she was a different guide than the one mentioned in the Trip Advisor reviews) and did not provide enough background information.  The scenery was beautiful, though, and we had a lovely nap under a tree after lunch.

At the end of the tour we had to hightail it up the trail to again stay ahead of the mules

Going up was surprisingly easier on our legs and only took us about an hour. We had read that this trail was extremely difficult and treacherous but did not find that to be the case.  It probably helped that it was dry.

Back at the top we enjoyed one last view of the peninsula

While we were in the nearby Pala'au State Park we walked over to Phallic Rock.  Legend has it that if a woman sleeps below this rock she will wake up hapai. Nobody was able to tell us what happens if the woman is already pregnant.

After the hike we drove around looking for a place to cool off.  The recommended beach had brown runoff water after a recent rainfall.  We ended up sharing a small beach with a local family (who claimed that the beach belonged to their uncle).  After turning down an offer of pakalolo, but not beer, we learned about the pace of life on Molokai and the unofficial ways people receive supplies from Maui.

We picked up dinner from The Paddlers Inn and a pint of Dave's ice cream to eat back at the rental cottage, which we enjoyed while watching the Olympics. (A vacation treat since we couldn't watch them at home.)