Laie to Poamoho Trail

Back to back hikes that replaced the overgrown hike with the muddiest one in the mountains.

Thanks to Ferlino for driving Akira, Chris, Tessa, and myself all the way into the road to start at the trailhead. Saved us a whole ten minutes!

Chris giving the surf report from the mountains.

Hiking by artificial illumination.

The sunrise peeking through the grove of Norfolk pine trees.

Traversing the cleaned up landslide.

Is this the summit or the falls? Trying to fool the new guy.

Akira poking his head out of one of numerous trenches that were dug on the side of the trail during WW2. They were to be packed with explosives and set off in case the Japanese military had invaded Oahu after the attack on Pearl Harbor and wreck the trail.

Some people are not easily fooled or scared.

Passing the replacement sign on our way to the summit.

Enjoying outstanding panoramic views of the Windward and Leeward sides at the 2,240′ foxhole.

Stepping foot on the spine of the Ko’olau Mountains.

Contouring our way through the mountains.

The group crossing the bowl shaped depression.

Initial contact with the fence on the trail.

Traversing through the uluhe carpeted trail.

Climbing up the steep fenced hill.

Akira embracing the suck.

Why did the hikers cross the fence? To get out of the cold biting wind.

Brief stop at the largest cabin on the KST.

Back on the trail again.

Tessa climbing in and out of the notch.

Rounding the corner on one of the few sections of the trail that was devoid of overgrowth and mud.

Who pushed Tessa down? The wind? The clouds? Akira?

Vangee training with the speed bag for his upcoming match with Naoya “The Monster” Inoue.

Tree hugger.

Winding our way through the mountains.

Approaching the group of mossed over trees that signaled we were close to the summit.

A much needed break from the exhausting mud and overgrowth on the trail.

Sole and soul sucking mud as we crossed the gated fence.

The KST sign has seen better times.

They were four constant companions on our hike today: mud, overgrowth, fence and clouds.

Navigating through the KST has been made much easier with the fence line.

Traversing through the cloud soaked rolling hills.

The clouds finally relented and cooperated in providing us with valley and coastal views.

Crossing the fence and meadow to reach the other side.

Mountain views in the background.

Group photo at the iconic boot KST sign junction. The boot has seen better days as well.

Talk to the glove.

Staying on the right as we climbed up another hill.

Leaving the fence temporarily behind as we descended down to the mud soaked trail.

Exiting the gate to contour around the ridge line.

Flowering lobelia against the backdrop of Pu’u Ohulehule.

Entering our last gate on the KST.

We pushed against the wind to make our way to promising views of Punalu’u and Kahana Valleys.

Group photo at the 2,520′ grassy hump.

Checking out our mountain mileage at the Cline Memorial.

Halfway to the trailhead.

Reflective trailhead.

A big shout out to Chico who drove up 4.4 miles up the road which meant we only had to walk roughly 1.6 miles down the overgrown and puddled road. Thanks also to Gordon and Nick for getting the gate combination over to us.

We ran into a cow blockade further down the road, infinitely preferable than a cow stampede. Glad we were safely encased in a truck when our paths met, otherwise we would have to learn to be paniolos on the job.

Our muddy hike covered 16.72 miles that could have been longer if not for Chico’s timely intervention. Punishing hike with old and new friends. Post hike meal at Popeyes on base where leaving our muddy tracks on a freshly mopped floor was not well appreciated.

Photos taken by Akira Suzuki, Chris Bautista, Tessa Bugay, 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.

Tagged as: boot junction, cline memorial, koloa cabin, koolau summit trail, kst, laie summit, laie trail, papali summit, poamoho summit, poamoho trail, rabbit hole