Editing Mauna Loa (section)

===Pre-contact===
The first [[Ancient Hawaiian]]s to arrive on Hawaii island lived along the shores where food and water were plentiful.<ref name="nasa-outrigger">{{cite web|title=Final Environmental Statement for the Outrigger Telescopes Project: Volume II|url=http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/Outrigger/finalDocuments/fullDocument/OTP-FEIS-Volume-II.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090421000952/http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/Outrigger/finalDocuments/fullDocument/OTP-FEIS-Volume-II.pdf|archive-date=April 21, 2009|publisher=[[NASA]]|access-date=September 4, 2012|page=C–9|url-status=dead|date=February 2005}}</ref> Flightless birds that had previously known no predators became a staple food source.<ref name="haw-culture">{{cite web|title=Culture: The First Arrivals: Native Hawaiian Uses |url=http://www.hawaii.edu/maunakea/5_culture.pdf |work=Mauna Kea Mountain Reserve Master Plan |publisher=[[University of Hawaii]] |access-date=September 2, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121011113028/http://www.hawaii.edu/maunakea/5_culture.pdf |archive-date=October 11, 2012}}</ref> Early settlements had a major impact on the local ecosystem, and caused many extinctions, particularly amongst bird species, as well as introducing foreign plants and animals and increasing erosion rates.<ref name="ps-1982">{{cite journal|last=Kirch|first=Patrick V.|title=The Impact of the Prehistoric Polynesians on the Hawaiian Ecosystem|journal=[[Pacific Science]]|date=January 1982|volume=36|issue=1|pages=1–14|url=http://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/handle/10125/406|access-date=September 2, 2012|publisher=[[University of Hawaiʻi  Press]]|hdl=10125/406}}</ref> The prevailing lowland forest ecosystem was transformed from forest to grassland; some of this change was caused by the use of fire, but the main reason appears to have been the introduction of the [[Rattus exulans|Polynesian rat]] (''Rattus exulans'').<ref>{{cite journal|last=Athens|first=Stephen|author2=Tuggle, H. David|author3=Ward, Jerome V.|author4=Welch, David J.|year=2002|title=Avifaunal Extinctions, Vegetation Change and Polynesian Impacts in Prehistoric Hawai'i|journal=Archaeology in Oceania|volume=37|url=https://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst;jsessionid=C6A3E763540A70D4D8429AF57BF5D92C.inst1_1a?docId=5002488775|access-date=September 4, 2012|issue=2|pages=57|doi=10.1002/j.1834-4453.2002.tb00507.x|archive-date=June 5, 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120605041612/http://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst;jsessionid=C6A3E763540A70D4D8429AF57BF5D92C.inst1_1a?docId=5002488775|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Ancient Hawaiian [[Hawaiian religion|religious practice]] holds that the five volcanic peaks of the island are sacred, and regards Mauna Loa, the largest of them all, with great admiration;<ref>{{cite web|title=Information on the Mauna Loa Volcano in Hawaii|url=http://traveltips.usatoday.com/information-mauna-loa-volcano-hawaii-13725.html|work=[[USA Today]]|access-date=January 27, 2013|author=Caitlin Kelly}}</ref> but what mythology survives today consists mainly of oral accounts from the 18th century first compiled in the 19th. Most of these stories agree that the Hawaiian [[Volcano deity|volcano goddess]], [[Pele (deity)|Pele]], resides in [[Halemaʻumaʻu]] on Kilauea; however a few place her home at Mauna Loa's summit caldera Mokuʻāweoweo, and the mythos in general associates her with all volcanic activity on the island.<ref>{{cite web |author=Ken Hon |author-link=Ken Hon |title=Hawaiian Oral History related to Geology |url=http://www.uhh.hawaii.edu/~kenhon/GEOL205/Legends/default.htm |access-date=January 27, 2013 |publisher=[[University of Hawaii at Hilo]]}}</ref> Regardless, Kīlauea's lack of a geographic outline and strong volcanic link to Mauna Loa led to it being considered an offshoot of Mauna Loa by the Ancient Hawaiians, meaning much of the mythos now associated with Kīlauea was originally directed at Mauna Loa proper as well.<ref name="USGS-dw">{{Cite book|year=1987 |title=Volcanism in Hawaii: papers to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Hawaii Volcano Observatory |editor=R. W. Decker |publisher=United States Geological Survey |volume=1 |series=United States Geological Survey Professional Paper, 1350 |url=http://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1987/1350/pp1350_vol1.pdf |access-date=September 2, 2012 |display-editors=etal |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121010062038/http://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1987/1350/pp1350_vol1.pdf |archive-date=October 10, 2012}}</ref>{{rp|154–155}}

Ancient Hawaiians constructed an extensive trail system on Hawaiʻi island, today known as the [[Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail]]. The network consisted of short trailheads servicing local areas along the main roads and more extensive networks within and around agricultural centers. The positioning of the trails was practical, connecting living areas to farms and ports, and regions to resources, with a few upland sections reserved for gathering and most lines marked well enough to remain identifiable long after regular use had ended. One of these trails, the [[Ainapo Trail]], ascended from the village of Kapāpala over {{convert|3400|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} in about {{convert|56|km|mi|0|abbr=on}} and ended at Mokuʻāweoweo at Mauna Loa's summit. Although the journey was arduous and required several days and many porters, ancient Hawaiians likely made the journey during eruptions to leave offerings and prayers to honor Pele, much as they did at Halemaʻumaʻu, neighboring Kilauea's more active and more easily accessible caldera. Several camps established along the way supplied water and food for travelers.<ref name=nrhpinv2>{{cite web|title=National Register Of Historic Places Inventory – Nomination Form for Federal Properties – Ainapo Trail|url=http://www.pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NRHP/Text/74000290.pdf|author=Russell A. Apple|publisher=[[National Park Service]]|access-date=January 27, 2013|date=August 20, 1974|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120929071811/http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NRHP/Text/74000290.pdf|archive-date=September 29, 2012}}</ref><ref name=nature-2005>{{cite web|title=The Proposed Mauka Trails System: The Roles and History of Trails on the Big Island|url={{NRHP url|id=74000290}}|publisher=[[The Nature Conservancy]]|access-date=January 27, 2013|author=Rick Warshauer|date=October 2005}}</ref>