Kalihi Saddle (Powerlines) to Kulana’ahane Trail

Somebody’s apiphobia with well stung reasons found us back in the saddle again.

Thanks to Quan for dropping Katie, Lilyn and myself off on the side of the highway.

The kid gloves are off. The $5 safety gloves are on for what some claim is the hardest section of the KST. The jury is still out on that.

Looking ahead to the saddle whose summit was sheathed in clouds. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

Starting our day off right. Forget the waterfall hikes. This is where it’s at. LOL.

When a hat doesn’t look like a hat. From the backside. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

Climbing up our first obstacle of the day. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

Katie making her way to the top.

What goes up, must come down. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

When a hat looks like a hat. From the frontside.

Panoramic view from the iconic spot. Photo by Katie Bingham.

Looking ahead to our climb up the saddle.

Climb or contour. Go big or go home. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

Walking on a tightrope of a ridge.

Katie going up the Windward side of the rock face. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

No time to check out the jaw dropping views behind us.

Now we have time.

Katie spotting me with her GoPro. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

No elevator services required. It warmed the cockles of my heart.

Katie scrambling up the hill whose small rocks and dirt constantly move underfoot. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

Putting one foot in front of the other and you will get to the top.

Contouring in the grassy fields.

Going up the slippery and sliding hill that requires upper body strength in abundance. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

Lilyn coming up the saddle that she described as her favorite hike. Still feel the same?

Making our way around the Leeward side of the heavily eroded ridge line.

Climbing our way out of the dusty saddle.

Traversing the several false peaks before the summit of Kahuauli. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

Congrats to Katie for completing the three saddles of the KST. We were going down the backside of another as a bonus. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

Going down the rutted trail also used by HECO workers as marked by their heavy duty ropes.

We are not climbing. We are not trespassing. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

Going up towards the peak that towers above the Windward neighborhoods and valleys.

Making our way up to the eerily deserted CCL building. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

We were not walking down the flight of 3,922 steps. We were taking the easier way down.

Going down the backside.

Checking out the views from one of several platforms that once housed antenna wires that were strung across the valley. Engineering marvels of its day. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

Lilyn coming down the overgrown stairs.

Photo bomber. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

The candid face hiking.

Perched at the scenic overlook. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

Why climb down when you can jump down.

Going down the most eroded section of the saddle. Which is not saying much; as the whole saddle is slowly falling apart, rock by rock, dirt by dirt. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

Katie spotting Lilyn with her GoPro.

Scooting our way down the crumbly ridge line. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

Lilyn mindful of her footing coming down the rock pile after Katie dislodged a rock. Rock by rock. Piece by piece.

Contouring our way down the ridge line. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

Trying to take a photo and not get hit by falling rocks. Multi-tasking at its finest.

Looking back at the biggest and most well known obstacle on this saddle.

Contouring down the Windward side. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

Katie making her way along the narrow strip of dirt that passed for a trail.

What are we looking at here? Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

Human anchor pressed back into service. Photo by Katie Bingham.

The candid face at rest.

Leaving the saddle behind us.

All smiles. Done with the saddles. Time to head down. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

Going down into the valley that are home to five distinct forest types and nine miles of streams. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

Nobody kept track of the stream crossings. It was hard enough to keep track of the seven bridge crossings.

Heading into one of many hau tree groves that dotted the trail. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

End of the trail. We still had that seemingly never ending road to walk out. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

End of the road. We piled into my truck and headed to our KST party.

We met up with Aida, Allison, Analyn, Anne, Ed, Janell, Laredo, Quan, Sally and Tessa at the not so secret spot to have our celebration to thank everybody for their support during our KST one shot hike. Thanks to everybody for cooking, coming out and putting up the makeshift tent.

Despite the fact that it literally rained on our parade, it was good times with fun company and scarfing down the chicken and papaya, oxtail soup, pancit and cheesecake.

Our saddle hike covered 7.8 miles that had us passing through heaven and ended with good friends and ono eats. Not a bad way to spend the day.

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.

Tagged as: bowman summit, ccl building, dirt triangle, dirty slide, hot wheel tracks, kalihi saddle, koolau summit ridge trail, ksrt, kulana'ahane summit, moanalua saddle, moanalua valley, powerlines trail, puu keahi a kahoe, rock triangles, stairway to heaven, tabletop, tripler summit