Poamoho to Manana

Team BASK had its rare meet up in the mountains this weekend. Photo by Chris Bautista.

Mahalo to Edgar for driving Analyn, Bill, Shirley and myself up the bumpy jeep road. No cows sighted this time around.

Passing through the barriers that filtered only two legged hikers onto the trail.

Heading into the gulch with a trickle that was barely passable as a stream.

Isolated pockets of still flowering lobelia punctuated the trail on our approach to the windswept grassy hump.

Group photo at the 2,520′ summit, where I also discovered one of my slippers had popped out of my backpack. Not again.

The views did not disappoint as did the winds. It was blowing hard at the summit.

Sheltered from the winds as we made our way on the Leeward side of the trail.

We ran into a group of bullfrog hunters that were staying at the cabin, where we topped out our bladders and bottles, left a cupcake surprise for the birthday girl and alerted Tessa and company of the situation. Photos and facetiming slowly convinced her of the impending cabin conflict.

Back on the fenced trail.

Analyn hiking out on what I like to call the “runway.” The runway to spectacular scenic views second to none.

Looking back at the trail cut into the side of the mountain. Photo by Shirley Gloriani.

The overgrown trail that goes down into Kahana Valley.

Our pic … Photo by Analyn Baliscao.

… for your pic. Photo by Shirley Gloriani.

Hugging the side of the cliff as the winds were really gusting hard in the mountains today.

The winds were so loud that it drowned out YawYaw#2, no small feat I can tell you.

Even the endangered Ko’olau Goose was being battered and stripped of its feathers. Photo by Analyn Baliscao.

Analyn approaching the junction.

Group photo at what is arguably the superior viewpoint of the valleys below us.

Brushing past one of many loulu palm trees that dotted the trail.

Making our way over the uneven terrain towards the split in the trail.

Blink and you’ll miss it.

Traversing the now well-trodden landslide.

Looking out into the rugged landscape.

Wait, why are we doing this section again? After some of us said one and done?

Bill was doing some kind of obscene dance over Shirley as she was tying her shoes. It’s okay, they’re engaged.

Analyn rounding the bend in the trail.

Following the fenced line down towards the first clumping of sugi pine trees.

Group photo with the horizontal pine tree. I should work on my camera angles.

Climbing our way out of the meadows as the winds tried to push us back.

Might as well make myself comfortable as we’ll be stuck here for quite awhile.

Passing through the notch as we dropped into the grove of Japanese Sugi pine trees.

Three tents made the campsite more comfortable.

Meanwhile back at the cabin, Tessa and her group had somehow convinced the other group to camp outside. They partied the night away with my missing slipper that was recovered by Jenn. Happy Birthday YawYaw #3.

We woke up after a night of intermittent rain showers to stunning morning views. Chris had already left the cabin with the snoozing and snoring group in the dark to catch up with us.

Climbing out of our campsite as we approached our first of many hills for the day.

Looking back at the Windward valleys populated with ridges and peaks. Photo by Bill Yogi.

Climbing up the steep hill was our morning wake up call.

Where tomato becomes tomatoe.

The trail soon followed the summit crest rather than contouring and meandering in the mountains.

Bill traversing the summit trail with Windward and Leeward views on both sides.

Getting your head out of somebody’s else arse is a lot easier than your own. Photo by Shirley Gloriani.

Approaching the gap, which has seemingly lost its cardio bite over the repeated visits.

Dropping down the thickly vegetated saddle.

Approaching the middle of the gap, where we all buttoned up in anticipation of the onslaught of female honey bees with their barbed stingers.

We all survived the non-existent bee attack.

Shaka to the sky.

The random window openings were always a treat for our eyes. Photo by Shirley Gloriani.

The goat soon caught up with us. Somewhere around this spot, I found a free drone that I had to give back to its rightful owner at the end of the hike. Photo by Chris Bautista.

Everybody had their own opinion on this trail section, some more obscenely than others. Photo by Shirley Gloriani.

Team BASK on their last group photo on this section, as three vowed never to set foot on this route again. Photo by Chris Bautista.

Dropping off the ridge to look for much needed water. Photo by Shirley Gloriani.

The lower creek was running dry, so we followed the creek to its source where we found enough standing water to filter and fill our bottles and bladders.

Life in the creek, some were more active than others.

We left the cloud soaked meadow with our packs a little heavier from the mountain water.

There is always time for another photo. And another. And another. To be continued. Photo by Shirley Gloriani.

Chris making his way to the last summit of the day.

Are we there yet? Are we here?

The champagne got turned on myself as this hike marked my 11th completion of the KST.

Drone photo by Bill Yogi of our group at the 2,660′ knob.

Leaving the summit for the 5.5 mile ungraded trail or as Shirley calls it, the b*tch trail.

Analyn making her way down from the top.

Somewhere in the mountains, it was hump day. We were smack dab in the middle of it.

Approaching the helipad where Aida had hiked up to meet us. Photo by Aida Gordon.

Thanks to Aida for bringing me a frozen bottle of carbonated goodness. But first, Analyn didn’t let any of the overflow go to waste. Good until the last drop.

Group photo, left to right: Aida, Chris, myself, Shirley, Bill and Analyn. Photo by Aida Gordon.

Contact with the fence line. Photo by Aida Gordon.

Looking back as we closed the gate on hump day ad nauseam. Photo by Aida Gordon.

Analyn going down one of the steeper sections with the help of a rope.

Walking through the grassy fields as we approached the picnic shelter. Photo by Aida Gordon.

Taking pictures as it will last longer. Photo by Aida Gordon.

Analyn crossing over the eroded section of the trail. Photo by Aida Gordon.

Only one was scared, the others were either too tired or saw the terrifying group of Lilyn, Quan, and Tessa before they could spring their surprise scare.

Another bottle of perfectly good alcohol going to waste. Photo by Aida Gordon.

Walking out the road to our cars.

Our camping hike covered 18 miles through the Northern Ko’olau Mountains with good friends and fun company. Looking forward to the next Team BASK reunion, which will probably be in six months to a year. LOL. Post hike meal at Outback Steakhouse. Clam chowder was finally back on the menu. It’s the small things that counts. Thanks to Quan for dropping Analyn and myself off in Mililani where we had parked our cars.

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.

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