Editing Mauna Loa (section)

==Human history==
===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>

=== European summiting attempts ===
[[James Cook]]'s [[third voyage of James Cook|third voyage]] was the first to make landfall on Hawaiʻi island, in 1778, and following adventures along the North American west coast, Cook returned to the island in 1779. On his second visit [[John Ledyard]], a [[corporal]] of the [[Royal Marines]] aboard {{HMS|Resolution|1771|6}}, proposed and received approval for an expedition to the summit Mauna Loa to learn "about that part of the island, particularly the peak, the tip of which is generally covered with snow, and had excited great curiosity." Using a compass, Ledyard and small group of ships' mates and native attendants attempted to make a direct course for the summit. However, on the second day of traveling the route became steeper, rougher, and blocked by "impenetrable thickets," and the group was forced to abandon their attempt and return to [[Kealakekua Bay]], reckoning they had "penetrated 24 miles and we suppose [were] within 11 miles of the peak"; in reality, Mokuʻāweoweo lies only {{convert|32|km|mi|0|abbr=on}} east of the bay, a severe overestimation on Ledyard's part. Another of Cook's men, [[Lieutenant]] [[James King (Royal Navy officer)|James King]], estimated the peak to be at least {{convert|5600|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} high based on its [[snow line]].<ref name="earliest">{{cite journal|url=http://evols.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/handle/10524/599/JL25059.pdf?sequence=2|title=Earliest Ascents of Mauna Loa Volcano, Hawai'i |publisher=Hawaiian Historical Society, Honolulu |author=Walther M. Barnard |hdl= 10524/599 |journal=Hawaiian Journal of History|volume=25 |year=1991}}</ref><ref name="measuring">{{cite journal|url=http://evols.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/handle/10524/359/JL25077.pdf?sequence=2|title=Measuring the Mountain: the United States Exploring Expedition on Mauna Loa, 1840–1841 |publisher=Hawaiian Historical Society |author=Roberta A. Sprague |hdl=10524/359 |journal=Hawaiian Journal of History |volume=25 |year=1991}}</ref>

[[File:Archibald Menzies 1754-1842.jpg|thumb|The Scottish botanist and naturalist [[Archibald Menzies]] was the first European to reach the summit of Mauna Loa, on his third attempt.]]
The next attempt to summit Mauna Loa was an expedition led by [[Archibald Menzies]], a botanist and naturalist on the 1793 [[Vancouver Expedition]]. In February of that year Menzies, two ships' mates, and a small group of native Hawaiian attendants attempted a direct course for the summit from [[Kealakekua Bay]], making it {{convert|26|km|mi|0|abbr=on}} inland by their reckoning (an overestimation) before they were turned away by the thickness of the forest. On a second visit by the expedition to the island in January of the next year Menzies was placed in charge of exploring the island interior, and after traversing the flanks of [[Hualālai]] he and his party arrived at the high plateau separating the two volcanoes. Menzies decided to make a second attempt (above the objections of the accompanying island chief), but again his progress was arrested by unassailable thickets.<ref name="earliest"/>

Menzies made a third attempt to summit Mauna Loa in February 1794. This time the botanist consulted King [[Kamehameha I]] for advice and learned that he could take canoes to the south and follow the ʻAinapō Trail, not knowing of its existence beforehand. Significantly better prepared, Menzies, Lieutenant [[Joseph Baker (Royal Navy officer)|Joseph Baker]] and Midshipman George McKenzie of ''Discovery'', and a servant (most likely Jonathan Ewins, listed on the ship's muster as "Botanist's L't") reached the summit, which Menzies estimated to be {{convert|4156|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} high with the aid of a [[barometer]] (consistent with a modern value of {{convert|4169|m|ft|0|abbr=on|disp=comma}}). He was surprised to find heavy snow and morning temperatures of {{convert|-3|C|F|0|abbr=on}}, and was unable to compare the heights of Mauna Loa and Kea but correctly supposed the latter to be taller based on its larger snow cap.<ref name="earliest"/> The feat of summitting Mauna Loa was not to be repeated for forty years.<ref name="earliest"/>

The Hawaiian Islands were the site of fervent missionary work, with the first group of missionaries arrived at [[Honolulu]] in 1820 and the second in 1823. Some of these missionaries left for Hawaiʻi island, and spent ten weeks traveling around it, preaching at local villages and climbing Kilauea, from which one of its members, [[William Ellis (British missionary)|William Ellis]], observed Mauna Loa with the aid of a telescope and ascertained it and Kea to be "perhaps 15,000 to 16,000 feet above the level of the sea"; they did not, however, attempt to climb the volcano itself. It is sometimes reported that the missionary Joseph Goodrich reached the summit around this time, but he never claimed this himself, though he did summit Mauna Kea and describe Mokuʻāweoweo with the aid of another telescope.<ref name="measuring"/>

The next successful ascent was made on January 29, 1834, by the Scottish botanist [[David Douglas (botanist)|David Douglas]], who also reached the summit caldera using the ʻAinapō Trail. By the time Douglas reached the summit the environment had put him under extreme duress, but he nonetheless stayed overnight to make measurements of the summit caldera's proportions and record barometric data on its height, both now known to be wildly inaccurate. Douglas collected biological samples on the way both up and down, and after a difficult and distressing descent began collating his samples; he planned to return to England, but instead several months later his body was discovered mysteriously crushed in a pit beside a dead wild boar<ref name="measuring"/>

Isidor Löwenstern successfully climbed Mauna Loa in February 1839, only the third successful climb in 60&nbsp;years.<ref name="earliest"/>

===Wilkes expedition===
[[File:Wilkes campsite.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Sketch of Wilkes' campsite by ship's artist [[Alfred Thomas Agate]]]]

The [[United States Exploring Expedition]] led by Lieutenant [[Charles Wilkes]] was tasked with a vast survey of the Pacific Ocean starting in 1838.<ref>{{cite book| title=Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition |author=Charles Wilkes |year=1849 |volume=IV |pages=111–162| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lbMNAAAAQAAJ| publisher=G. P. Putnam}}</ref> In September 1840 they arrived in [[Honolulu]], where repairs to the ships took longer than expected. Wilkes decided to spend the winter in Hawaii and take the opportunity to explore its volcanoes while waiting for better weather to continue the expedition. King [[Kamehameha III]] assigned American medical missionary Dr. [[Gerrit P. Judd]] to the expedition as a translator.<ref name="measuring"/>

Wilkes sailed to [[Hilo]] on the [[Hawaii (island)|island of Hawaiʻi]] and decided to climb Mauna Loa first, since it looked easier than [[Mauna Kea]]. On December 14 he hired about 200 porters, but after he left he realized only about half the equipment had been taken, so he had to hire more Hawaiians at higher pay. When they reached Kīlauea after two days, their guide Puhano headed off to the established ʻAinapō Trail. Wilkes did not want to head back downhill so he blazed his own way through dense forest directed by a compass. The Hawaiians were offended by the waste of sacred trees which did not help morale. At about {{convert|6000|ft|m}} elevation they established a camp called "Sunday Station" at the edge of the forest.

Two guides joined them at Sunday Station: Keaweehu, "the bird-catcher" and another whose Hawaiian name is not recorded, called "ragsdale". Although Wilkes thought he was almost to the summit, the guides knew they were less than halfway up. Since there was no water at Sunday Station, porters had to be sent back ten miles (16&nbsp;km) to a [[lava tube]] on ʻAinapō Trail which had a known supply. After an entire day replenishing stocks, they continued up to a second camp they called "Recruiting Station" at about {{convert|9000|ft|m}} elevation. After another full day's hike they established "Flag Station" on December 22, and by this time were on the ʻAinapō Trail. Most of the porters were sent back down to get another load.

At the Flag Station Wilkes and his eight remaining men built a circular wall of lava rocks and covered the shelter with a canvas tent. A snowstorm was in progress and several suffered from [[altitude sickness]]. That night (December 23), the snow on the canvas roof caused it to collapse. At daylight some of the group went down the trail to retrieve firewood and the gear abandoned on the trail the day before. After another day's climb, nine men reached the rim of Mokuʻāweoweo. They could not find a way down its steep sides so chose a smooth place on the rim for the camp site, at coordinates {{coord|19|27|59|N|155|34|54|W| type:landmark_region:US-HI| display=inline}}. Their tent was pitched within {{convert|60|ft|m}} of the crater's edge, secured by lava blocks.<ref name="focus">{{cite web| author=Russell A. Apple
|url={{NRHP url|id=74000295}} | title=Wilkes Campsite Nomination form | work=National Register of Historic Places | publisher=National Park Service |year=1973}}</ref>

The next morning they were unable to start a fire using friction due to the thin air at that altitude, and sent for matches. By this time, the naval officers and Hawaiians could not agree on terms to continue hiring porters, so sailors and marines were ordered from the ships. Dr. Judd traveled between the summit and the Recruiting Station to tend the many who suffered from altitude sickness or had worn out their shoes on the rough rock. Christmas Day was spent building rock walls around the camp to give some protection from the high winds and blowing snow. It took another week to bring all the equipment to the summit, including a [[pendulum]] designed for measuring slight variations in gravity.<ref name="focus"/>
[[File:Moku-A-Weo-Weo.jpg|thumb|right|Sketch of Mokuʻāweoweo from Wilkes' journal]]

On December 31, 1840, the pre-fabricated pendulum house was assembled. Axes and chisels cut away the rock surface for the pendulum's base. It took another three days to adjust the clock to the point where the experiments could begin. However, the high winds made so much noise that the ticks could often not be heard, and varied the temperature to make measurements inaccurate. Grass had to be painstakingly brought from the lowest elevations for insulation to get accurate measurements.

On Monday, January 11, Wilkes hiked around the summit crater. Using an optical method, he estimated Mauna Kea was {{convert|193|ft|m}} higher, while modern measurements indicate a difference of about {{convert|125|ft|m}}.<ref name=maunakea/> On January 13, 1841, he had "Pendulum Peak, January 1841 U.S. Ex, Ex." cut into a rock at the site.
The tents were dismantled and Hawaiians carried the gear down over the next three days, while Wilkes enjoyed a [[lomilomi massage]]. He continued his measurements at lower elevations and left the island on March 5. For all the effort he did not obtain any significant results, attributing gravity discrepancies to "the tides".<ref name="measuring"/>

The Wilkes expedition's camp site's ruins are the only known physical evidence in the Pacific of the U.S. Exploring Expedition.<ref name="focus"/> The camp site was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] on July 24, 1974, as site 74000295,<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2009a}}</ref> and is state historic site 10-52-5507.<ref>[http://hawaii.gov/dlnr/hpd/register/reghaw.pdf Historic Places in Hawaii County] on official state web site</ref>

===Today===
A summit shelter was built with some of the stones from Wilkes' camp site and mortar in 1934. In 1916 Mokuʻāweoweo was included in [[Hawaii Volcanoes National Park]], and a new trail was built directly from park headquarters at Kīlauea, an even more direct route than the one taken by Wilkes.<ref name="nrhpinv2"/> This trail, arriving at the summit from the east via Red Hill, became the preferred route due to its easier access and gentler slope. The historic [[Ainapo Trail|ʻAinapō Trail]] fell into disuse, and was reopened in the 1990s. A third modern route to the summit is from the [[Saddle Road]] up to the [[Mauna Loa Observatory]] which is at {{convert|11135|ft|m}} elevation a few miles north of Mokuʻāweoweo and the North Pit trail.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.mlo.noaa.gov |title=NOAA Mauna Loa Observatory |publisher=[[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]] web site |access-date=July 4, 2009}}</ref>