Stuart Ball called Bowman the most difficult of the ungraded ridge hikes in the leeward Ko’olau Range. With that being said, Chris wanted to try out the Bowman shortcut, which would chop three miles off the trail length. I only agreed because knowing the route would come in handy when the time came to tackle the Bowman side of Kalihi Saddle. Jasmin also joined our hike for today.
The road to Kalihi Ice Ponds
Parking at the end of Kalihi Street deep in the valley is extremely scarce. Carpooling is highly recommended if coming with a large group. Instead of going over the bridge and straight into Kalihi Ice Ponds, which I have yet to visit, we went up the dirt road to our left.
What commercial does this remind you of?
Anybody know the answer? I’ve been scratching my head to no avail.
Burmeister Overpass
We soon crossed the Overpass that was built by the state for the Burmeister family when construction of Likelike Highway cut off access to their land deep in Kalihi Valley.
Knock Knock
George Burmeister shot and killed a trespasser back in the 1960’s. He got off with five years of probation. I don’t know if the family is still around, from the looks of these abandoned buildings. Not wanting to push our luck, we soon took the trail that winds to the right of the buildings.
Is this the shortcut?
We followed the ribbons and barbed wire fence as we made our way up the spur ridge.
Kokua Kalihi Valley
Our progress up the shortcut ridge was soon halted by a group of surveyors that claimed this land was now private property. What? Where are the signs? Not wanting to push the issue, we took their suggestion to try the adjacent spur ridge. #1 Big mistake of the day.
Trail snacks
We backtracked our way down and crossed over to the next ridge. As we started to make our way up, the smell of ripe lilikoi (passion fruit) hung in the air.
Where is the shortcut?
The ridge soon disappeared into a thick tangle of vegetation and heavily eroded sections. Bushwhacking is an understatement. I must have muttered “What frigging shortcut?” too many times to count.
Sky staring
Checking out the cloud formations at the top of the junction for the Bowman trail.
Hanging around
I was glad to see Chris and Jasmin after waiting almost two hours. It was getting pretty lonely at the top. Photo by Jasmin Nepomuceno.
Swallowed by uluhe ferns
As we continued our hike on the Bowman trail, coming up the “shortcut ridge” had taxed Chris to his limit. He called and said he was returning back down the trail. I asked Jasmin if she wanted to join him or continue the hike. She opted for the latter. #2 Big mistake of the day. An hour into the hike, rumbling thunder cracked open the sky and the proverbial cats and dogs poured on us for almost two hours. The trail became a raging waterfall. I was more worried about being struck by lightning. I could just hear Chris laughing at us.
Where’s the rainbow?
The thunderstorm eventually turned into a drizzle as we approached the climb up Pu’u Kahuauli (Bowman).
Chances of waterfalls…
The intense soaking produced tons of waterfalls all around us. There were over a dozen of them coming down from Lanihuli.
..and partly cloudy
Looking back towards town. The air always smells fresher after an intense downpour, especially if you were caught in the middle of it!
Marshy meadow
After reaching the top of Pu’u Kahuauli at an elevation of 2,740′, we turned left towards Tripler Ridge.
Is that the sun?
The sun would peak out every now and then, teasing us with scattered cloudy views.
HECO trail
Heading down the slippery and muddy trail. HECO maintains this section due to the power lines, so there are ropes to keep you from sliding off the ridge.
Makeshift weather station
Total whiteout conditions from the top of the relay station. Bummers.
Smoky mountains
Looking back, the clouds partially cleared to reveal themselves wrapping around Lanihuli and Pu’u Kahuauali. Postcard perfect.
CCL Building
We soon passed the middle junction and the top of Pu’u Keahi a Kahoe at 2,820′ high above the clouds and made our way to the CCL building which marks the top of Haiku Stairs.
Losing daylight
The sun’s rapid descent as it pierced the heavy clouds made the climb down the stairs more urgent.
Stairway to Heaven
Top of the stairs at 2,800′.
Coming down
Jasmin climbing down the stairs, all 3,922 of them.
Sunset over Moanalua Saddle
Looking to our left, the sun was setting. Where was my headlamp? Oops.
Haiku Stairs
I believe this was the last of the five landings that breaks up the continuity of the stairs.
H-3
Watching the cars pass overhead on the H-3 as I waited for Jasmin. The guard was long gone. I could’ve used the company.
GPS Tracks
The roughly five mile hike marked a very long day. Chris picked us up and we all had dinner at Zippys. Food is especially tasty after a long hike.
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Hello, I am going to visit soon and am looking for a trail that leads to the stairs that won’t isnt the hardest way. I have read a lot about Maunalua valley trail. Would you say this is an easier trail? Thank you
Aloha Laura,
Of all the trails to access the stairs, Moanalua Middle Ridge is probably the ” easiest ” in terms of access and terrain. An average hiker will take 8 hours plus round trip, factoring in time gawking at the top. When you get to the sign that says kulana’ahane trail, that is not the trail. The trail to middle ridge is 30 feet to the right of that junction. Taking the wrong trail will end you up in the saddle, which is super crumbly and skinny ridges. Hope this helps. Stay safe and have fun.
Mahalo
Wow! Thank you for the tips! Do you know anyone if there are any guides for the trail? I think we would feel better doing it with someone that has experience with this hike.
Aloha Laura,
Try making your intentions known in the Hawaii hiking pages on Facebook. I’m sure there are some peeps that would be willing to do the hike with you.
Mahalo
Thank you!
Hi Laura, did you find someone to guide through the hike? I’m interested in hiking Haiku stairs. What are your suggestions if you did it?
I have tried to post on here 5 times. Im keeping this one brief since Unaware if it will actually work.. We did go, no guide, was AMAZING. I would love to share more info if you want./If posting on here works…
We watched YouTube videos and read about the Moanalua Valley trail to stairway to heaven. It wasn’t that difficult to find on our own. Pack lots of water microspikesand gloves. Also don’t leave them unattended once at the top. Someone lost theirs the day we went.
Wear a gopro. Bring extra batteries. I so wish I had mine on me when we went. Leave at 5 or 6 am on a nice sunny day. Two dry days prior to day of hike so it’s not too slippery for you. Leave early so you beat the clouds. We left at 07000 and clouds were already blocking half our view but people went before us told us to go early and you will see it all.
Thank you Laura. Got all your responses. Glad you got to experience it.
Leilani
Aloha Laura,
Glad you got to enjoy the hike safely. As far as leaving early, a caveat to that as technically the park opens at 7am, the nearby residents have become quite agitated recently due to the influx of hikers starting early to catch the sunrise and views. A few bad and quite noisy apples have upset the cart, as the neighbors don’t appreciate being waken up from 3am to 5am by noisy hikers. If everybody would show aloha and respect, it would go a long way, but keep that in mind if starting early.
Mahalo