81
STAR-ADVERTISER
A file photo of the Stairway to Heaven trail, which was closed to the public in 1987. A couple spent the night on the trail after calling for help from when they became lost.
A man and woman from the mainland were cited for trespassing by Honolulu police after they got lost while hiking the Haiku Stairs trail.
Honolulu police spokeswoman Michelle Yu said the 32-year-old man and 25-year-old woman are visiting Oahu from the mainland. The two were cited for trespassing, a petty misdemeanor, she said.
The two spent the night in the mountains after they got lost and called for help at 7 p.m. Thursday.
The Honolulu Fire Department sent a helicopter to rescue them.
Cloud cover and high-tension utility lines prevented the fire department’s helicopter from airlifting a man and woman this morning stranded on the Moanalua Valley side of the popular, but off-limits Stairway to Heaven trail.
The hikers walked down the "Stairway to Heaven" trail themselves Friday.
They were not injured, fire Capt. Gary Lum said.
The Navy built the stairs during World War II to access radio equipment at the mountain summit.
The trail isn’t maintained and is closed to the public.
