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This book is intended specifically to let you know where you can hike on Hawaii, what to expect when you hike there, and how to get to the trailhead for each hike. And that, I hope, will help you decide which hikes to take.

This section contains suggestions which I hope will make your hikes even more pleasant, and perhaps better protect you and the environment. Of course, you’re the only person who lives in your body, so you’ll have to judge what’s really appropriate for you. But there are a few things you might want to know before you go—things that may be very different from the hiking you’ve done at home on the mainland.

It’s up to you

No book can substitute for, or give you, five things only you can supply: physical fitness, preparation, experience, caution, and common sense. Don’t leave the trailhead without them.

Don’t spread pest plants

As I mentioned in the chapter on geology and history, Hawaii has been overrun by introduced plants. It’s important to try to control the spread of these plants. One thing you can do to help is to wash the soil, and with it the seeds of any pest plants, you hope, off of your shoes or boots before you leave a hiking area. Note also that you, like any other animal, can carry pest-plant seeds in your digestive tract and deposit them, ready to sprout, in your solid wastes. Either hold it till you get to a toilet or dig your hole deep enough to make it impossible for the seeds to sprout (one foot deep, according to a pamphlet on the subject. I’m just passing this information on. I have no idea how to carry enough equipment to dig a hole that deep when hiking). Pest plants include all the guavas. For more information, call the Hawaii State Department of Agriculture, Chemical Control, 808-974-4141.