October 7, 2009, 3:38 pm
Historic or religious sites are traditional destinations for travelers, but no hordes of people are likely to descend on Kalaupapa to walk in Father Damien's footsteps any time soon.
First, there's the considerable expense of just getting to Hawaii. Then there's the daunting geography. Visitors can reach the remote Molokai peninsula by air - two flights a day on a nine-seat aircraft - or by mule or on foot down a harrowing trail from the top of the 2,000-foot sea cliffs.
The 3-mile trail with 26 switchbacks "is equally strenuous to hiking to the bottom of the Grand Canyon," said Steve Prokop, administrator of Kalaupapa National Historic Park. "It's half the distance but much steeper."
Prokop said "there will be increasing attention and demand" for admission to the peninsula. Beyond the heroic story of the priest who served there, the park holds the history of 8,000 leprosy patients who were sent into exile between 1866 and 1969, and there is increasing interest in them, too.
Greater than any limitation on travel is the fact that the peninsula is still home to 20 former leprosy patients. The number of visitors is capped at 100 on any given day, a rule established by the state Department of Health, which administered the settlement before the National Park Service took over in 1980. It is continued with the affirmation of the Patients Council.
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