In this clip I am talking about a deep ingrained experience into my body’s memory. It was definitely not the only accident with serious consequence for my life, but it was one of the most spectacular ones.
Walking a mountain alone is always risky, of course.
Before this incident I had already been 3 times on the Hualalai. I love this mountain on the Big Island of Hawaii. It is a volcano as are the other two high mountains, the Mauna Loa and the Maunakea. The Hualalai is not such a high peak but a long hike, around 18km, crossing different climate zones, from rain forest-like patches to desert-like areas, from barren lava fields to soft grass with amazing high pine trees.
The Hualalai is a holy mountain for the Hawaiians, on the other hand it is owned by a family. Thus it’s private property you are not allowed to enter, typical American closed for the public. The Hawaiians are extremely upset about this, but helpless, they cannot do anything about it, except breaking the rules.
My dear friend Carli, a true Hawaiian, told me how to access the path to the summit. You climb over fences and you need to be alert in case some rankers show up. Carli advised me to hide behind some bushes to avoid any encounter with these fairly rude guys.
It was a great part due to the fact that I collided with a group hunting rangers that this accident occurred to me. I made several stupid mistakes that in the end led to the accident in October 2018.
Now it’s up to you whether you are interested in getting to know more about this accident. I was lucky to survive. Promised, the story is not boring.