Kalihi Saddle (Powerlines) to Na Pueo Park

My saddle tour business model continued with Ben, Cisco, Katie and Yoly where Quan and Lonnie were nice enough to drop off us at the trailhead. At a nickel a pop, I have to do a lot of business in order to succeed, which I learned in college. A slow study. Photo by Yoly Bedford.

Walking up the mosquito and ginger infested service road.

Making our way up to the saddle while watching out for the metal punji stake that was waiting to give somebody a reason for a tetanus shot.

Watching the rain shower as it made its inexorable march from sea to summit.

The soaking was brief enough to not let us think twice of turning around.

The drifting clouds muted the mountain landscape. Photo by Ben Hinders.

The thick vegetation on the Leeward side and the pushy Windward winds kept us grounded on the edge of the ridge line.

Climbing up to the fifth sequel? Photo by Cisco Quintanilla.

Descending from the stand of pine trees at the top.

Ascending to the top of the second ear. Photo by Ben Hinders.

Cisco reminding us what obstacle we were currently on.

Top down view. Somebody had to be reminded which way the spikes faced on the shoes. Photo by Ben Hinders

Yoly climbing down to her right. The other right.

Looking ahead to the crumbly elevation of shredded rock. Photo by Cisco Quintanilla.

We are not climbing up and over this one.

Katie doing her best not to pop any of the rocks on her climb down.

Ben and Cisco contouring their way around the pimple.

Scrambling our way up to the heavily eroded section below the can opener.

The sofa sized rock that is just waiting to fall out. Don’t want to be around for the clearance sale. Photo by Katie Bingham

Aerial view of our shower soaking reward. Drone photo by Ben Hinders.

Wide angle photos of the scenic spot overlooking the saddle, courtesy of the iPhone 11.

Contouring around the can opener to ascend the grassy flank. Photo by Yoly Bedford.

Passing the first tier of the wall and going to the next and longer tier.

Cisco pulling himself up the near vertical flank. Look for the red dot. Drone photo by Ben Hinders.

Almost there. Photo by Yoly Bedford.

The face of sheer exhaustion.

The centipede crawl up the saddle.

When arms and legs go akimbo as the ridge was too narrow to pass. Photo by Yoly Bedford

Straddling and standing on the skinny serpentine of a ridge.

Time to get off the back of the dragon and back on the ridge. Photo by Cisco Quintanilla.

Pushing ourselves up the slow and exhausting climb.

Scrambling our way out of the saddle. Photo by Yoly Bedford.

Group photo at the swirling heavens, left to right: Yoly, Katie, myself, Ben and Cisco.

Leaving the 2,780′ summit.

Going down the initial steep descent that was clogged with vegetation and muddy underfooting.

We briefly considered doing the overgrown loop and then thought better of it.

Looking back at the spur ridge that we had originally planned to go down, but discovered that the junction fell short of the summit. Lesson learned.

Making our way down the rustic trail.

The tree that time forgot.

The trail soon took on a more manicured and maintained appearance going down.

Where horizontal and vertical intersects outside of mathematical equations and poetry.

Looking for the correct trail to follow amidst the colored ribbons littered on the ground. Photo by Yoly Bedford.

Following the fence line on the outside to avoid being trapped and detoured to another exit.

Yoly overlooking the extinct volcano of Pouwaina surrounded by urban blight.

Walking up to the postage stamp sized of a park where Quan and Lonnie where waiting to pick us up.

Our saddle and ridge hike covered 5.56 miles with a great group. Post hike meal at Lilihia Bakery where the oxtail soup never seems to run out.

Video by Ben Hinders of our saddle hike.

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: bunny ears, can opener, dirt dragon, doorstop, kalihi saddle, kapalama trail, koolau summit ridge trail, ksrt, lanihuli summit, lanihuli wall, na pueo park, pimple, powerlines trail, sharks fin