Poamoho to Aiea

We spent a memorial weekend, in more ways than one, in the majestic mountains of the Ko’olau Range.

Thanks to Ferlino and Jasmin for dropping Anne, Bill, Shirley, Tessa and myself off at the Poamoho Trailhead where we met up with Analyn and hopped in Zack’s truck for the off road ride up. We also met up with Aida, Janell, Margaret and Quan who came in a separate jeep. Photo by Jasmin Carinio.

Sharing the road with the large domesticated ungulates. Photo by Aida Gordon.

Enjoying the bumpy ride up the trail. Photo by Bill Yogi.

One bump too many and my phone popped off my stomach and fell through the tailgate crack and onto the ground. Luckily it didn’t fall into the huge chocolate milk puddle and Janell didn’t run it over as well. Photo by Janell Tuttle.

Group photo left to right: Margaret, Analyn, Quan, Janell, myself, Tessa, Anne, Aida, Bill and Shirley. Photo by Bill Yogi.

Hiking on the recently cleared trail that cut through the cascading wall of uluhe ferns. Photo by Aida Gordon.

Janell passing by one of many downed trees on the trail.

Yielding to a group of trail runners.

Quan deftly jumping her way across the placid stream. Photo by Aida Gordon.

Group photo that partially blocked the sweeping views of Punalu’u, Kahana and Ka’a’awa Valleys. It was a typical cold and windy day. Somebody forgot their rain jacket.

The views at the 2,520′ summit did not fail to disappoint.

We ran across a friendly pooch on the trail. The group coming back was not so lucky and almost had to run for the fence.

Janell against the scenic panoramic backdrop.

Brief stop at the cabin to sign the logbook and fill up on water for the weekend.

We got photo bombed by another hiker who instantly recognized the famous surely.i.am and automatically asked for her autograph. I believe money exchanged hands. We parted ways with the other group and continued our trek through the mountains.

Setting foot on the historic trail blasted out of the mountains back in the 1930’s by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). Photo by Tessa Bugay.

It’s hard to believe that beasts of burden used to trod on these trails back in the day.

Crossing through one of many small meadows on the sheltered Leeward side. Photo by Tessa Bugay.

Looking down into the overgrown trail that drops down into Kahana Valley. Photo by Tessa Bugay.

Following the fenced trail as it hugged the ridge line. Photo by Bill Yogi.

Passing another group of hikers who were going down the Schofield-Waikane Trail.

Making our way to the S-W Junction. Photo by Tessa Bugay.

Some of us enjoyed bottled wine and smashed eggs at our break spot.

The clouds soon rolled in and immersed us in white out conditions as we resumed our hike.

Taking the higher trail as we had no desire to drop down into Waikane Valley.

Bill and Shirley scampering across the landslide area.

Analyn practicing fern-jutsu on the most feared inhabitant of the KST – the inchworm. Photo by Bill Yogi.

Bill enjoying the views and showing his approval with two thumbs up. Or was that two birds up? Where is the bail out trail?

We dropped down into the meadow to enjoy the cloudy views of the horizontal sugi pine tree. Somebody found out that their water broke as well. And she wasn’t even expecting.

Ms. Groot. Photo by Analyn Baliscao.

Standing in the notch before the descent into the grove of sugi pine trees. Photo by Anne Fai.

Camping on the grounds of the former Kipapa Cabin. Goodnight from Waiahole. Photo by Anne Fai.

Day 2 – The morning view from S-W Junction. Thanks to Edgar who dropped Chris off at Poamoho yesterday after work, where he would catch up with us on the second day. Speedy Gonzales. Photo by Chris Bautista.

When three yawyaw pinays overstay their welcome in your tent and move to another tent to take a group “snow” selfie. Thanks to everybody for my birthday cake.

Anne practicing her moves so she can pay for new leggings. Photo by Shirley Gloriani.

Wait for Lola! Photo by Tessa Bugay.

Climbing out of the clouds and into more clouds.

We passed the Kipapa Summit which marked the beginning of the Ko’olau Summit Ridge Trail. Tomato. Tomatoe. Photo by Tessa Bugay.

Sliding down into the cloud soaked gap. Photo by Tessa Bugay.

The group crossing over to get back onto the ridge line.

Okinnayo … nga … Babbai. Does that mean happy birthday? I’ll just stick with laulau poke. Photos by Shirley Gloriani.

The clouds briefly cooperated to give us a clear group photo with Waikane Valley and points beyond as the backdrop.

Chris soon caught up with us and loaned Bill a much appreciated rain jacket. Now we can hike in comfort. Relatively speaking.

The group tried to cover from head to toe for the anticipated onslaught of the murder hornets. Slight exaggeration. Just honey bees that never showed up.

Looking ahead to the stiff and spongy climb ahead of us.

The theme of the day was cardio climbing. All day.

Some spots we literally had to pull ourselves up the ridge with the uki grass as erosion has taken its toll.

Are we there yet? Photo by Anne Fai.

We stopped at our first water source since the cabin to replenish our water from the creek.

Chris and Tessa filtering and filling up their water bottles.

Three yawyaws in the meadows.

Climbing out of the windy meadow with heavier packs. Photo by Chris Bautista.

The group navigating the counter-intuitive junction.

Every now and then, Mother Nature would tease us with scattered views.

Mahalo to Art who hiked up the roller coaster Manana trail to bring us water, coke and freshly made joong. Thanks to Tessa for my second birthday cake.

Group photo left to right: Tessa, Chris, Art, Anne, Analyn, myself, Shirley and Bill at the 2,660′ knob.

Making our way to the summit of Eleao with Art who joined our group for the cross over to Waimano.

Chris in the windswept grassy field. Photo by Tessa Bugay.

Making sure we headed down the right spur ridge to connect back to the KSRT. Photo by Chris Bautista.

Descending down into the clouds.

We crossed paths with two other hikers doing the exact opposite of our route, Aiea to Poamoho.

Crossing over the landslide area as we dropped into the saddle.

Group photo at the 2,160′ summit before Art took his leave of us and went down the Waimano Trail.

There was some debate about pushing towards Waimalu Summit for our camp, but in the end, we spread out on the trail in three different spots.

Some yawyaw was yelling “we have the best view.” No argument here. Then she fed her face with camp cooked popcorn. The mountains enjoyed a temporary silence.

Day 3. Chris “catching” the sunrise. Photo by Tessa Bugay.

We experienced two types of sunrises at the summit. One was the stink kiss followed by you don’t deserve my dirty underwear. Romance is alive and well in the mountains. Just have to wash the pekpek to rekindle the fires. The second one was the chicken and dumplings experience where you spill food in somebody’s else tent and run outside for the sunrise.

Climbing out of our camp site to spectacular views all around. Photo by Tessa Bugay.

Looking ahead to the unrelenting hills ahead of us. Photo by Tessa Bugay.

Looking back at the stretch of mountains and beyond we had been hiking this weekend.

Making our way down the somewhat narrow ridge line.

Climbing our way back. The theme of the day – what goes down, must go back up.

We soon dropped down into what is arguably one of the most breath taking spots on the Ko’olauu Mountains, weather conditions permitting, the mythical Waimalu meadows.

Somebody was not correctly filtering water in one of these pictures.

Group photo by Bill Yogi.

It was a rare clear day at the meadows and everybody took advantage of the countless photo opportunities.

Our packs heavier with water, we pushed up the spongy hill. Photo by Bill Yogi.

The grassy plateau afforded us 360 degree views of the island. Some left early to get a jump on the trail. Photo by Tessa Bugay.

We could see the powerlines for the mountains.

Analyn with a patch of uncommon yellow lehua flowers.

Looking back we saw two other hikers on top of Waimalu Summit.

Roller coasting hiking. All day.

What many of us called the mini Lanihuli Wall.

The hills had hills.

The last push to the summit.

Chris was the first to reach the 2,805′ summit, where Aida, Cisco, Lilyn, Quan and Sally had hiked up to meet us. Photo by Aida Gordon.

Thanks to Aida for my still semi-frozen Coke and Lilyn for bringing my last birthday cake of the weekend. Mahalo to everybody for coming out to meet us.

Dropping down from the summit where we contoured around the power line tower.

Rain drops kept falling on our heads which made for quite a muddy trail going down.

Rainbows followed the rain at the 2,441′ cleared peak. Photo by Anne Fai.

Bouquets of unplucked crimson flowers lined the trail going down.

We ended our three day hike at the top of Aiea Loop Trail where Dale, Kamalani and Ferlino met us with a bucket of KFC, rice and thanks to Quan for the ice cold beverages. Photo by Bill Yogi.

Our three day fun filled hike covered 19 or 26 miles, depending which GPS track you asked, that covered the most cardio intensive section of the KST. Great times with great friends. Thanks to everybody that came out.

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: aiea loop trail, aiea ridge trail, aiea summit, corners, eleao meadows, kipapa summit, koolau summit ridge trail, ksrt, manana summit, poamoho summit, poamoho trail, schofield-waikane junction, waiahole summit, waiahole-waikane junction, waiau summit, waiawa gap, waimalu meadows, waimalu summit, waimano summit