Kolekole Pass to Makakilo

I went out the West side to dry out this weekend with Charlie, CJ and Tessa. Thanks to Matt for dropping us off at Schofield Barracks. Citizens of all country are welcome.

The start of the trail was teeming with hikers. We got a jump on them before the trail got too congested. Photo by Matt Vidaurri.

I hope heads will not be rolling today.

Group photo before Matt took his leave of us, left to right: Matt, Tessa, myself, CJ and Charlie. The brisk winds aborted Matt’s attempt at some drone shots. So he called it a day and bade us farewell.

We took the crumbly and direct route up. Photo by Charlie Antonio.

The rest of the group making their way up. Somehow, somebody got lost on their way up. Excuse me, he was exploring. LOL.

We made our way through the stand of paperbark trees and soon found ourselves at the towering rock dike. Photo by Charlie Antonio.

Climbing down to start our climb up the first notch. Photo by Charlie Antonio.

CJ and Tessa on the photogenic dike.

Tessa sitting on her perch in the mountains. Photo by CJ Mendiola.

The girls on top of the second notch.

Are we home for the night? Photo by Tessa Bugay.

Group photo on the square summit overlooking the West side. The best side.

We left the 2,883′ summit to begin our hike on the fenced trail. Photo by Tessa Bugay.

Looking back as Tessa climbs over one of many fenced junctions.

Descending down towards the imposing rock dike which interrupts the ridge line. Photo by Tessa Bugay.

Making our way around the eroded section. Photo by Charlie Antonio.

Heading towards the knob of Kanehoa.

Group photo at the 2,778′ summit that offered splendid panoramic views.

One of the splendid views from the top.

Looking back at the exposed summit. Photo by Charlie Antonio.

Tessa hiking through the mixed tree section of the ridge.

Approaching the “Christmas Tree” which is the gateway to the first set of obstacles before us.

CJ and Tessa cresting over the small hill.

Scrambling up the smaller head. Photo by Charlie Antonio.

Climbing down towards the bigger head. Don’t touch it too much. Photo by Charlie Antonio.

CJ making her way up. Photo by Tessa Bugay.

Charlie bringing up the rear. Photo by CJ Mendiola.

Looking for my next foothold. Where’s my spotter? Photo by Tessa Bugay.

Tessa’s turn to climb down. Step by step. Heart to heart. Left, right, Left. We all fall down. Wait, don’t follow the last lyric.

CJ making her way up the interrupted fence line. Hard for the fence installers to follow the pitches of the ridge line.

We soon left the fence line to climb up a rock face. Photo by Charlie Antonio.

Tessa was being buzzed and it wasn’t from alcohol. I was of no help. Luckily CJ had a stick handy and flicked the bee out.

Back on the fence line.

Charlie pushing through the overgrowth. Visibility was mostly uluhe ferns in your face. Photo by Tessa Bugay.

The 3,127′ summit was extremely overgrown, no stop here. Photo by Charlie Antonio.

Back on the fence line with CJ pointing at our destination, which was still far away. Photo by Charlie Antonio.

Climbing my way down. The start of the most rock climbing this side of the WST. Photo by CJ Mendiola.

Charlie ready to climb down.

Looking for our next rock face to climb down. Photo by Charlie Antonio.

CJ making short work of the rock face. Photo by Tessa Bugay.

Tessa climbing down the correct route.

The other two decided on an “easier” descent and ended up losing their webbing. Apparently my words of advice were drowned out in the wind. LOL. Photo by Tessa Bugay.

Contouring a somewhat tricky rock face. Photo by Tessa Bugay.

The others following in my footsteps. Pack optional.

Scrambling up another rockface. After another. And another. You get the picture. Photo by Charlie Antonio.

Give me your hand and forget about losing your manhood.

Contouring around the tree line to stay on trail.

Tessa dropping off the ridge line. Photo by Charlie Antonio.

The group hugging the rockface as we made our way down the sliver of a trail.

Making my way down a short drop. Photo by Tessa Bugay.

Camp life. We could have survived for quite some time in the mountains what with Charlie’s industrial sized can of butane fuel and copious amounts of unfiltered water. We were just missing enough food. We didn’t look appetizing to each other.

Camp site. We pitched tent on what looked like the remains of another cabin or bunker. We were not breaking new ground.

Good night from the Waianae Mountains. Photo by Charlie Antonio.

We woke up the next morning after rain showers pelted our campsite, made breakfast, broke down camp and left to tackle the biggest obstacle in the mountains. Photo by Charlie Antonio.

I won’t lie. Every time I see this 80′ crumbly cliff, I get butterflies in my stomach.

Climbing and contouring our way up. Photo by Charlie Antonio.

The group queued up at the base of the cliff.

Everybody ready to climb? Photo by Charlie Antonio.

The climb up was greatly assisted with the red webbing that another group had left. Caution was still exercised as never fully trust webbing that wasn’t set by your own hands. It pays to also have somebody that can safely free climb obstacles in case webbing is suspect or lacking.

Checking out the group coming up, the wind stalled somebody’s progress immeasurably. But everybody made it up safely. In the end, that’s all that matters.

CJ perched on her rock. Photo by Tessa Bugay.

Hello from the top of the pass.

Leaving the pass behind us.

It was another steep climb up the fenced ridge line. Photo by Tessa Bugay.

Wading through the sea of forest green uluhell.

Water catchment break. Photo by CJ Mendiola.

Group photo with the rainbow behind us in Lualualei Valley.

Going down the stairs. We must be nearing civilization.

Leaving the forest of pine trees as we left the gated area.

Traversing the trail cut from the side of the cliff.

Indiana Bugay coming through the boulder tunnel. Photo by Charlie Antonio.

Switch backing our way to the bamboo forest.

Going down the last set of stairs for the day.

End of the trail and beginning of the road. We are not out of the woods yet.

I am not your Daddy! Photo by Charlie Antonio.

Mahalo to Quan for picking us up halfway on the road.

Our two day camping and climbing hike in the Waianae Mountains covered 9.5 miles with fun company and marked my fifth time completing the Waianae Summit Trail (WST). Post hike meal at Outback Steakhouse where Aida, Chris, Lilyn and Quan also joined us on two separate tables. No clam chowder on the menu. What is this world coming to?

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: gorilla heads, kanehoa, kolekole pass, makakilo, palehua, palikea, pohakea pass, pu'u kaua, schofield barracks, waianae mountain range, wst