Ha'ikū Stairs
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The Haʻikū Stairs, also known as the Stairway to Heaven or Haʻikū Ladder, is a steep hiking trail on the island of Oʻahu.
The trail began as a wooden ladder spiked to the cliff on the south side of the Haʻikū Valley. It was installed in 1943 to enable the construction of antenna cables that would be strung from one side of the cliffs above Haʻikū Valley to the other. A building to provide a continuous communication link between Wahiawā and Haʻikū Valley Naval Radio Station was also constructed at the very peak of Puʻukeahiakahoe, elevation at about 2800 feet. These extraordinary antennae transmitted very low frequency radio signals from a 200,000-watt Alexanderson alternator located in the center of Haʻikū valley. The signals could reach US Navy submarines as far away as Tokyo Bay even while the submarines remained underwater.
A popular history of the construction of Haʻikū Stairs is contained in Woodbury, David Builders for Battle chapter XXIII, E P Hutton & Company Inc., New York, 1946.
When the Naval base was decommissioned in the 1950s the United States Coast Guard used the site for an Omega station. In the early 1950s, the wooden stairs were replaced by sections of metal steps and ramps — by one count, 3,922 steps. The station and trail were closed to the public in 1987. Despite the closure, some hikers ignore the No Trespassing signs and continue to climb, contributing to the local community's misgivings about reopening the structure.
Local officials have repaired the trail and the ladders, but the trail will remain closed and patrolled by security until access and management issues have been resolved.
[edit] External links
- Friends of Haʻikū Stairs Pictures and history of Haʻikū Stairs and the Naval Radio Station, later, U.S. Coast Guard Omega Station, at Haʻikū Valley, Kāneʻohe, Hawaiʻi
- Dave Jessup's Haʻikū Radio Station history site Pictures and stories of the Navy's top secret WWII VLF radio station
- Haʻikū Stairs on Backyard Oʻahu
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