Moanalua Saddle to Kalihi Saddle (Powerlines)

I put together this hike to help somebody tackle this particular saddle, but they ended up staying home instead. The show must still go on; so met up with Art and Aya at Moanalua park in the early morning.

Art and Aya crossing one of seven bridges that span the trail. Chris was running fashionably late. Surprised?

Chris catching up with us on the trail. Speedy Gonzales.

Ducking and weaving our way through the hala grove.

Looking at the dry falls to our right as we made our way up the short and steep spur ridge.

Segregated group photo by gender. I guess the all gender movement hasn’t migrated to the photographic world.

Chris climbing up the first crumbly rock section. Many more to come.

Why climb, when you can contour on the Windward side.

What’s going on here?

Aya and Art regaining solid ground on the ridge line.

Traversing our way to the most famous obstacle on the saddle.

Aya pulling herself up.

Art making short work of the crumbly obstacle.

Aya at the top of the dirt triangle and enjoying the views.

Chris going up another crumbly pile of rocks.

Looking back to the other side of hell. The flip side of heaven.

Chris scrambling up the hot mess of rocks that passes for a crumbly ridge.

Almost there.

I don’t need no string on a twig to climb this!

Panoramic view of the saddle overlooking H3 freeway below us in Haiku Valley.

Climbing up the stairs that Mother Nature is slowly reclaiming.

Looking back at the backdrop of the Waianae Mountain Range as we made our way up the dilapidated stairs.

The stairs soon petered out to be replaced by a cable that lead us to the top.

Are we in heaven yet?

Danny, Quan, Roseann and Tessa had taken the stair shortcut to meet us at the top.

Wishing Art and Chris both belated happy birthday wishes in heaven. How long will it take before somebody recognizes the guy in the shades being hand fed and sitting on top of the building?

Come out and join the crowd!

Group photo left to right: Roseann (stuffing her face), Aya, Chris B, Art, Yuki, Chris F, Quan, Danny, Tessa and myself.

Some eat with forks, others use their fingers. To each their own.

We soon took our leave of the summit as Danny and Tessa went back down the stairs and Chris F and Yuki went back down the ridge.

Pointing to our exit destination.

Roseann enjoying the views.

Making our way down to the landmark defunct radio tower.

Some preferred to get “shocked” …

… while others chose to remain grounded.

Chris in between poles.

The group climbing up to the grassy knoll.

Group photo left to right at the 2,760′ summit: Art, Roseann, myself, Quan, Aya and Chris.

Wait! Let me apply my facial before we leave. Does it contain serum or semen?

The group traversing to the last summit before the descent down into the saddle.

Taking a quick bite and naps before our “serious” hiking starts.

Leaving the summit for harder pastures ahead.

The group coming down the grassy slope.

This rock was made for sitting.

Somebody needed additional traction and decided to put it on the crumbly side of an exposed cliff with a huge drop. Well, maybe not that huge.

I need a helping hand! Or was that a pair of good hands?

That was fun! Let’s do it again! Just pass the wipes.

Going with the flow of the falling rocks.

Aya climbing her way down one crumbly rock at a time.

Climbing and contouring down the side of the crumbly ridge line.

Quan making her way down the tricky climb.

Roseann going down the hardest climb on this side of the saddle.

Quan climbing her way down the near vertical section of the rock face.

Chris watching the rest of the group making their way down.

Roseann watching Art with her open mouth, I mean eagle eyes.

Chris giving YawYaw#1 a helping hand to cross a particularly narrow section.

Quan keeping her center of gravity low by scooting down the narrow and uneven ridge line.

Climbing our way down on the exposed Windward side.

Don’t rain any rocks on my parade!

Applying downward pressure to my forward movement, as I didn’t want to experience any downward movement.

Art and Roseann climbing their way down the jumbled rock pile.

Before one can walk, one must learn to crawl first.

Walking and scooting our way on the narrow strip of rock and dirt bordered on one side by shrubbery and the other side by an exposed drop to the highway.

Aya striking a pose.

Is today Wednesday or Sunday?

Chris climbing his way down the ridge line.

Quan striking a pose before the final up climb.

Roseann making her way up the conical shaped rock face.

The last tricky down climb.

Watch out for snapped webbing!

Our last group photo before hiking down into the valley.

Reflecting.

Who brought a headlamp?

Thanks to Richie and Tessa for meeting and picking us up at the gate. Good job to Aya and Quan for popping their cherry saddles on our 7.59 mile traverse through crumbly terrain, spectacular scenery and good company.

Post hike meal at Zippy’s, one of the few places that was nearby and still open for business at this time of the night. You know service standards are slipping when you send back your lukewarm oxtail soup to get it heated and it comes back at the same temperature. Somebody was too hungry to care and would have slurped down the soup even if it was ice cold. The joys and pangs of hunger.

Photos taken by Art Young, Aya Asanuma, Chris Bautista, Quan Haberstroh, Roseann Fai, 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: bowman summit, ccl building, dirt triangle, dirty slide, hot wheels track, kalihi saddle, kamananui valley trail, moanalua saddle, moanalua valley, powerlines, puu keahi a kahoe, rock triangles, stairway to heaven, tabletop, tightrope, tripler summit, witch's hat