After our warm-up climb at Mauna Lahilahi, we drove towards Sea Century, a subdivision in Maili. Chris staged his truck at the end of Anaha Street and we all drove in Glenn’s truck to park on Kaukama Street where we would hike up Puu O Hulu. This volcanic hill separates Maili from Nanakuli and is actually made up of two hills, Puu O Hulu Kai and Puu O Hulu Uka.
Trailhead
The trailhead is located between the 7th and 8th street light on Kaukama Street.
Scenic view
Less than five minutes up the hill, we were rewarded with scenic views of the Waianae coastline and mountain range.
Manini rockface
Going up the rocky and grassy hill was uneventful until we came across one of numerous rockfaces that injected some sorely needed fun into this hike.
Bombucha rockface
I tried climbing up this rockface, but failed. So I took the trail that contoured around it. Guess I didn’t eat my Wheaties this morning.
Pillboxes
After about 30 minutes later, the pillboxes popped into view. There are five of them that are sprinkled on the top of the hill, affording commanding views of the ocean.
Pillbox view
Most of the pillboxes or bunkers had their blast shields and doors intact. Of course they were heavily graffitied with seemingly random shapes, letters, numbers and colors. Some of them could actually be hung on a wall.
Summit of Pu’u O Hulu Kai
We reached the 856′ summit of Pu’u O Hulu Kai under ample cloud cover and breezy tradewinds.
Headed down towards the saddle
We met another hiker at the summit, that had started from Hakimo Road, which I believe is the slightly easier route to take if one is so inclined.
Another puka
Headed down towards the saddle, we ran across another puka, which was smaller than the ones found at the Pali or Makapu’u.
Rock climbing practice
Glenn and Chris climbing down one of the last rockfaces before we hit the saddle. If rock climbing or scrambling is not your cup of tea, there are trails that contour around most of them.
Climbing up towards Pu’u O Hulu Uka
Following the fenceline up towards the sister hill of Pu’u O Hulu Uka where it soon ends to be replaced by a short section of rockfaces and ledges.
Top of Pu’u O Hulu Uka
Once past the rocky terrain, it was an easy walk towards the flag marked summit of Pu’u O Hulu Uka.
Lualualei Antenna Farm
Looking towards the twin towering 1,500′ antenna’s of the Lualualei Naval Radio Station. I believe these are the tallest artificial structures on the island. To put this in better perspective, these antenna’s dwarf the tallest building in the State, which is the First Hawaiian Center at a relatively puny 429′.
Last climb down
We made our way down the backside of Pu’u O Hulu Uka which was capped by one last rock climb down. Chris shows how it’s done with no rope. A clearly marked trail through the grass took us back to Anaha Street and Chris’s remote controlled air conditioned truck. Sweet.
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