Overdue Hikers Walk Out from Commando Trail Unharmed

Mountain rescue. Graphics by Wendy Osher.

At 7:33 a.m., on Saturday, August 27, 2016, firefighters responded to the Commando Trail hike in Kailua after a male and female, both 24-year-old residents’ from Lahaina, were reported overdue from a hike Friday.

At 11 p.m. Friday night the male hiked out to the highway so he could make a call to their landlord saying the female couldn’t make it out after it got dark.

He was going back to stay with her overnight and planned to hike out in the morning.

The landlord reported them overdue Saturday morning.

Paia firefighters and a rescue crew based out of Kahului set out on the trail in search of the couple at 8:09 a.m.

Air 1 was also dispatched but was cancelled shortly after the couple were found.

Around 9 a.m. the couple showed up at their car parked along the Hana Highway.

A firefighter who was standing by at their vehicle just in case the couple returned while crews were out searching, called off the search.

The couple was uninjured and were only cold, wet, and hungry after spending the night out in the rain with no shelter or food.

They were in good spirits and joked about having to eat guavas picked from the area’s trees.

The couple had emerged from a different section of the trail so firefighters didn’t run into them on their way in.

Crews were not able to contact them by cell phone because their batteries had died.