Last Saturday we hiked Mt. Alava. We started at the saddle between Pago and Fagasa. It was a great hike. Long, muddy, thirsty, lugging back-breaking sleepy kids. We were rewarded with the excellent view showing us how small our island is.
Now pretend you're at the top of the mountain. Looking left to right, east to west, this is what you see.
That's Mt. Rainmaker above.
Samoan villages are generally small. The picture above shows Utulei on the left and Fagatogo on the right. Utulei contains the sewage treatment plant, BP fuel plant, public library, Samoana High School, and the two tallest buildings on the island: the government office building and the bank. Fagatogo has the port, the post office, the Fono (where the legislature meets), and the farmer's market. The Governor's mansion is the white building on the hill right between the two villages. The picture below shows the tallest peak on the island, Matafao.
The circle shows where we started. We went all along that ridge. The village snaking into the valley is Pago Pago.
This was also at the top.
As with many maintained trails, there was a logbook in a tupperware container for us to sign. We ran into the park superintendent at a lunch a week later and they remember seeing our entry and being impressed. Not that we did anything spectacular, they hike up almost every week.
All that derelict equipment was once a winch used for winching. Melinda heard that it used to carry a trolley across Pago Pago Harbor. Check out this link for more info.
4 comments:
Do the hike from Vatia!!!!
What?! You hiked all that way? That looks far. Like farther than the loop trail of Ko'olau ridge farther. That's far.
And with kids? Ridik-you-louse.
It felt like Laie falls hike, that distance. the pic of me smiling. that's forced. but really it was fun. We've vowed to do it 2-3 more times before you come, mariko, so we can do it with you, and keep up!
mark, we'll have to try it from vatia. what's that like? all we saw was the rope coming up to the faleo'o. is it easy to find the trailhead?
yeah, pretty ambitious to do that with da keiki.
Great hike, and photos! Thanks for sharing.
I stayed for weeks in Pago village, right below your trailhead.
Post a Comment