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| Petroglyphs. |
The cemetery sits on land previously owned by the Robinson Estate (Robinson Lane is across the street). Cox and Stasack reported about 40 petroglyphs on this property near Alapena Pool in their book Hawaiian Petroglyph (1988). The petroglyphs depict dogs and people. They are threatened by vandalism. The easiest to spot are the three right on the trail - look for the rebar barrier. There are what looks like a depiction of a dog and two human figures, one perhaps a symbol that may refer to "family", though I am no expert.
Why dogs and people? No one really knows. One legend speaks of dogs in the area that were discovered to be kupua (supernatural, shape-shifting beings).
Petroglyphs are ancient and the art form is thought to date back to pre-contact. There are only nine known petroglyph sites on Oahu (Van James, 2010).
Someone found an Archives photo of what they say is Kapena Falls that apparently shows what the area looked like prior to the invasive plants and banyan trees taking over.
Please be respectful if you visit, look don't touch, and pack out what you pack in! There is a lot of trash piling up back there!