FIRE AND ICE

Many people will remember that Stan was fond of hiking. "Tramping," as they say in New Zealand, seems to be the better word. After a day in the Moore Hall freezer he would often hike home, to the top of St. Louis Heights, following a faint trail up Wa'ahila Rise that starts from a ford across Manoa Stream behind Lincoln Hall, not far from here.

One winter break, when we were both new in the Department, I put up a sign outside the office trying to recruit companions for a hike up Mauna Loa. Stan was the only person who responded. The two of us set off from the humid tropics and were soon in the cold and rarified air  of the nearly 15,000 foot mountain. I had to take 3 steps for every 2 of his long legs. I am sure he could have gone up in one day instead of the customary two. On a subsequent ascent, without me, he did come all the way down in one day.

A highlight of the trip, if it can be called that, was having to chip a thick layer of ice off the top of the rain barrel outside the summit cabin in the morning.

The fire part came in the mid-way cabin, at Red Hill. As Stan was putting out the Coleman lantern that hung from a rafter, some spilled fuel flared up, and threatened to burn the roof right out from over our bunks. With great presence of mind he was able to control the incipient conflagration, saving us from a night out in the cold and an embarrassing encounter with the Park Service.

These are some of my memories of Stan.

From Bob Hsu