A Vanishing Hitchhiker in Puhi

Informant: Female/38/Korean ancestry

Location: Puhi, HI

My father told me that my great-grandfather worked for the sugar mill in the early 1900's, but at one point was laid off. Not knowing how he was going to support his family, my great-grandmother told him not to worry: she had been saving money, and gave it to him, telling him to buy a car to carry fares as a taxi driver.

One night my great-grandfather was driving southbound past Puhi in an area that is now near Kaua`i Nursery and Landscaping. Just before approaching the dip in the road, he saw a woman on the side of the road. It was dark, so my grandfather pulled over and offered her a ride. The woman accepted and got into the back of the car. Looking in the rear view mirror, my great-grandfather could see that she was an old Hawaiian woman. She said she was going to Koloa, and my great-grandfather took off in that direction. After passing through Puhi, he looked in his rearview mirror to speak to the woman, and was shocked to see that she was gone. There was nobody in the backseat of his car. My great-grandfather was sure that it was Pele. 

My dad told me that you're not supposed to bring pork through that area, and I was shocked to hear that because I had never heard it before. I heard that you're not supposed to bring pork through the tunnel of trees, but I had never known about that area. But then I remembered something that happened a few y ears ago. 

My coworkers and I were driving back to the office in Lihue from Koloa. Right when we were passing by Kaua`i Nursery and Landscaping, our car died. We pulled over on the side of the highway right next to the nursery, right after the dip in the road...right about where my great-grandfather's passenger would have vanished from his backseat. 

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Pele in the Tunnel of Trees

Informant: Male/40/part Hawaiian ancestry
Location: Tunnel of Trees, Kauai

A friend of mine was driving home to the south side of Kauai to Koloa town one night. In order to get to Koloa one must pass through the "tunnel of trees," one way in one way out. 

It was about 2:00 a.m. and he was driving home alone after a party in Lihue. The moon was full that night, but as you enter the tree tunnel there are no street lights, just glimmers of moonlight shining through tree openings flickering like a strobe light. 

As he entered the tree tunnel, he noticed an old lady dressed in white hitchhiking in the middle of the night. He thought it odd, but just kept driving and stepped on the accelerator to get out of the tunnel as fast as possible. He did not recall the events that took place after this; all he remembers is his car had skidded to the side of the road and stalled. When he looked in his rear view mirror the old lady dressed in white was sitting in his back seat. 

He did not stick around to ask her how this happened but just ran as fast as he could through the tunnel of trees to get home. He was clearly shaken when retelling the events of this night, but speculates that this person was "Pele."

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Pele at Halfway Bridge

Informant: Male/64/Portuguese-Filipino ancestry

Location: Halfway Bridge, Koloa

My grandfather had a job as a taxi driver on Kauai around the 1950's. One night as he was driving toward the west side, he noticed an old woman in white walking on the side of the road. Since it was his job to drive people where they needed to go, he instinctively pulled over and asked the woman if she needed a ride. She didn’t say anything, but just got into the car, and my grandfather drove off again. After a little while he turned around to ask the old woman where she was heading to, but when he looked in the backseat, she had vanished. 

He immediately knew that the old woman he picked up had to have been Pele.

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