Back on the West side for another round of hiking.

Thanks to Marilyn for dropping us off in the valley where they pretend to be deaf. Good, we won’t disturb them this morning.

Webbing? We don’t need stinkin’ webbing. Well, at least for now.

Climbing out of the ditch and onto the cattle trail.

Passing through the landscape dominated by invasive kiawe trees.

Pushing our way through head high invasive California grass. Where are the natives?

We began the short and steep climb up towards the ridge line.

Scrambling up the trail that I heard is popular with the local kids. Once we crested the ridge line, I noticed that my sunglasses that were perched on top of my cap must have been “snatched” by those pesky bushes coming up. Oh well. They were the cheap six dollar ones you buy at Ross.

Thankfully Akira had recovered my sunglasses as he was coming up the flank of the ridge. Domo arigatou gozaimasu! I have my eye protection back!

Climbing up the hardscrabble ridge marked with dry shrubs and rocks of assorted sizes and shapes punctuating the ground under our feet.

Akira cresting a hump on the ridge with Nanakuli Valley in the background.

Pushing through a patch of pine trees on the ridge.

Following the spur ridge that will soon connect us to the Waianae Summit Trail.

That’s why I love ridge hiking, the elevation and view gains, and the terrain changes that throws in some rock climbing here and there.

Enjoying the scant shadow that offered a respite from the sweltering sun.

Looking back at double views of Nanakuli and Lualualei Valleys.

Scrambling up the eroded hill as we neared the top.

Traversing the surprisingly well marked trail.

Chico trying to figure out what purpose these government buildings serve. Fire watch towers?

We navigated through the forest line and popped back out at the base of the communications tower that symbolically marks the start or finish of the Waianae Summit Trail (WST).

Going up the stairs that leads us to the bamboo forest and beyond.

Hiking through the forests of Palehua have been described as mystical, I would heartily agree as it’s steeped in history and legend.

Just missing the fedora, leather jacket and bull whip.

The tree huggers posing with the multiple trunked tree.

Following the carved trail on the side of the cliff that would lead us through a gated fence and another grove of pine trees.

Climbing through native plants and forest.

Belated birthday hike for Akira with a spam musubi that was standing in for a cupcake.

Group photo at the 3,098′ summit.

Just missing the birds. The bee population in Hawaii and the country has been declining in alarming numbers. This should be of grave concern as they are one of the major pollinators for our food sources.

Resuming our hike on the fenced trail.

Burrowing our way through the dense and tangled mess of clidemia plants and uluhe ferns.

This wouldn’t be the WST with at least one fence crossing.

Working our way around a blowdown on the trail.

“Swimming” our way through the sea of uluhe ferns.

Akira admiring the central plain views and the strikingly clear profile of the entire Ko’olau Mountain Range.

Going down the sleep slope while arresting our fall with the fence line.

Contouring our way around the rocks and fence line.

Going down a slippery slope. Unfortunately, it was the wrong one. Throw in another 25 minutes of extra cardio. Why not?

Follow the one glove. It will never lead you astray.

Traversing the emerald moss path.

Approaching the steep cliff aka the highlight of the day.

Who wants to go first?

Descending down a “technical” climb is less desirable than ascending one.

Akira making his way down.

Watching gravity at work. Where is that guy that wanted to climb down this cliff? Oh yeah. He was watching his birds.

Chico’s turn coming down. Since, there were only three in our group today, we didn’t have to wait that long for each person to make their climb down.

Making our way back down to relatively “stable” ground.

Nobody else wanted to climb on the rock to take a picture with the pass. Solo selfie it is.

Making our way towards the junction in the forest that was dominated by pine trees.

Our last group photo of the day as we got off the WST and made our way down the contour trail.

Looking back at the the most difficult section on the WST. Until we meet again.

We decided to see how cleared the trail was from start to finish.

The overgrowth soon came back and claimed its first victim of the day. Man down.

The trail soon intersected with the jeep road.

Chico making friends on the trail.

Thanks to Matt for picking us up and congratulations on his promotion to E8. He also gave us a tour of his farm. Just missing a petting zoo. Our hike covered 6.45 miles with solid company. Post hike meal at Julie’z where Marilyn, Matt and Tessa also joined us. Should’ve stuck with the first choice of Thelma’s. Stewing chicken in the Chicken Papaya is just not cutting it anymore.

Photos taken by Akira Suzuki, Chico Cantu, Marilyn Bermudez and yours truly. Not necessarily in order.

Note: I have been made aware that some hikers have been using my blog as a hiking guide and getting lost on the trails. Please note that this blog was made to document the hike for the crew(s) that did it. That is why some of my comments will seem to have no relevance or meaning to anybody outside of the crew(s) that hiked that trail. My blog was never meant as a hiking guide, so please do not treat it as such. If you find inspiration and entertainment from these hikes, that is more than enough. If you plan on replicating these hikes, do so in the knowledge that you should do your own research accordingly as trail conditions, access, legalities and so forth are constantly in flux. What was current today is most likely yesterdays news. Please be prepared to accept any risks and responsibilities on your own as you should know your own limitations, experience and abilities before you even set foot on a trail, as even the “simplest” or “easiest” of trails can present potential pitfalls for even the most “experienced” hikers. One should also always let somebody know of your hiking plans in case something doesn’t go as planned, better safe than sorry.

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