The Path of the Warrior

In 1992, I decided to take a trip back to my parents house on the Big Island of Hawaii. At the time I lived in Honolulu, on Oahu. About 5 of us decided to take this trip on a group flight rate, and rented a car to see the island...I acted as tour guide being the only "local".

Our mysterious events occurred when we disobeyed the rental car rules and took the rental Jeep over Saddle Road. This "un-maintained" road is the shortcut across the center of the island, between the two mountains, Mauna Kea & Mauna Loa, starting in Waimea, closer to Kona, and ending in Hilo.

It is un-lit and pretty rough, climbing up to 10,000 feet above sea level before it goes back down..

We decided we wanted to make it to Hilo, the east side of the island, to see the sunrise. So close to 10:30pm, we started the long trek under a VERY bright, mostly-full moon...which was quite beautiful with the Jeep top off?.

Saddle Road would take us past a military training ground and the state park ranger office. Otherwise, no humans outside of a vehicle would be on that road at that hour.

About 15 minutes into the rough & tumble, we spotted someone holding a lantern, running through the lava rock...I looked very closely and muttered how weird that was... We woke the one person who was managing to sleep through the ride, and told her to look...even though we four managed to agree we were seeing the same thing?.Running around out here in the middle of nowhere is unheard of on this type of lava, "a'a" which is dangerously crumbly, and sharp!

I suddenly realized what we were looking at and screamed to stop the car & turn the lights off!!!! My boyfriend laughed at first, but saw my wild look and cut the lights & engine rolling to a stop. There was no wind?slowly we could hear the crunching gait of the runner about 75 yards away..I saw the glow on the bare shoulders of the runner, which was partially from the bright moon, but also something else?I told everyone to shut up and look away NOW!..all three men just stared, but my female friend whimpered and bowed her head.

I leaned into my boyfriends shoulder and just kept whispering "I don't believe this?shuttup?be still?I don't believe this?look away?? sssshhhhhh?"

The crunching got closer and stopped, but I did not look up?Apparently one of my male friends had the guts to, disobeying my whispering?All you could hear was our rapid breathing and my female friend continuing to whimper?We all heard a sort of grunt and something fall to the ground, making a cracking noise?I started to cry, and my boyfriend just shook like he was freezing?

Then it was over?but we just sat there in the moonlight, kind of dumbstruck, you could say? I felt something warm on my bare feet, and realized that someone in the back seat had a bit of incontinence, it turned out to be my stupid friend who looked straight at the ghostly warrior?

I explained to them on the rest of the ride, that we had seen a apparition of King Kamehameha's guard, and the Saddle Road ran adjacent to the old path they would run in ancient times, to deliver emergency news of death or tribal war...? You are never to look at them, as were people in ancient times, if you did, you would be put to death...?

The friend who looked right at the warrior explained that the man was wearing a helmet and he could see his angry eyes and his "wrapped" weapon, which we heard him throw to the ground? we don't know why?I have never asked the elder Hawaiians in my family, because it would be a form of disrespect to mention this sighting?and bad luck?

The friend who blatantly looked at the spectre died in 1996, in a motorcycle accident?

Many people have seen them and I had heard stories, but I was unsure until that night?This posting is the only time we have shared it outside our circle?Take care while in Hawaii?.We should always be respectful of other cultures, you never know what it may mean?