After a week of pounding rain and wind, we hoped today would be a nice day to hike Pu’u Kawiwi to No Name Peak to Tiki Ridge. Glenn and I met Chris at the end of Waianae Valley Road at about 8am to be greeted by windy and dark cloud conditions. Wasn’t looking good.
Recycling at work
The paved road led us to a clearing on the left that marked the start of the trailhead. We followed the barbed wire fencing as it made it’s way past a dry riverbed and a taro patch guarded by a sun bleached cow skull. Eventually we had to crawl under a spot in the barbed wire fence to get to the ridge.
Climbing up the ridge
As we climbed our way up the ridge, the winds started to pick up from the valley and send it howling over our heads. On top of that, we were being sprinkled with intermittent rain showers. Fun combination on a ridge hike. Not really.
More climbing ahead
The ridge to the top goes straight up. There are no switchbacks. Lots of rock climbing involved. Loads of fun. If you get tired of rock climbing, there are side trails that contour most of the rock formations.
Hikers on Kamaile’unu Ridge
While waiting for Chris and Glenn, I spotted a bunch of hikers on the nearby ridge of Kamaile’unu. I found out later they took our pictures as well.
Tricky Crack
The last major rock obstacle to climb over. You can go around to the right or left, if you’re not feeling up to it.
I don’t need rope!
Glenn climbing his way up the rock. The last time we hiked this ridge, he went around as there was a traffic jam waiting to go up. This time around, he wanted to climb the tricky crack. Made it look easy.
Top of Pu’u Kawiwi
We made it to the 2,975′ summit of Pu’u Kawiwi to take in the views of the Waianae Mountain Range. I could pick out a couple points of interest, such as Ohikilolo, Kamaile’unu, Kea’au, Ka’ala, Kalena and Hapapa.
Expect rainbows and high winds!
The winds which never died down from the start of the ridge, seemed to increase in intensity as we stood at the top of Pu’u Kawiwi. Photo by Chris Hiona.
Panoramic view from Pu’u Kawiwi
Click here for the larger image.
The ridge to No Name Peak
We made our way down for more rock scrambling. It wasn’t really hard. What made it tricky, was the wind gusts that were all over us. It was like we were doing the hike with the Pali Lookout winds thrown in for good measure.
Follow the fence
As we descended down the ridge, the goat fence popped up to offer handy holds.
Rainbows and high winds still in effect
This stretch of smooth faced boulders jumbled together was the last major section of rock climbing fun in store for us.
Top of No Name Peak
We got to the top of 3,000′ No Name Peak with the howling winds still at our back, front, and sides. I don’t know why somebody has yet to name this peak, instead of just calling it No Name.
Panoramic view from No Name Peak
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More fence to follow
Going down the ridge was helped by the now familiar goat fence that seems to be part of the Waianae mountain landscape.
Poor imitation of a petroglyph
We stopped at these “tiki” rocks which marks the tiki ridge going down into Waianae valley. That was our original hike route, instead we pressed forward on the trail, not knowing we had passed it.
There’s Tiki Ridge!
After realizing that we had overshot tiki ridge, we decided to continue on to Ka’ala trail, rather than going back to tiki ridge. We would save tiki ridge for another hike for another day. The winds also died down at this point, after we had climbed along the hardest parts of the trail. Mother Nature’s sense of humor.
Three Poles marks the trail
The well maintained trail and fence lead us to three poles where we turned right onto the Waianae-Ka’ala trail that took us back into Waianae Valley and our cars. This was a very fun 5.6 mile hike that I would gladly do again, preferably without the Pali Lookout winds. Don’t get me wrong, I like breezy winds to cool me off just as much as the next hiker. But the crazy winds we had on the ridges, were pushing us around like nobody’s business. If we all had umbrellas, we could have made like Mary Poppins!
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Those winds made the whole hike an adventure!!.. Lol…I still find it hiliarious that we missed Tiki Ridge..lol…
what a great hike to start off the new year right! I can’t believe the tiki rocks/ridge was literally right under our noses and we totally missed it until it was too late. Oh well, another good excuse to go hike it again!