Seesaw (Kalihi Saddle)

The birthday boy wanted a repeat of Kalihi Saddle for his hike. So we did it with a twist today.

Thanks to Matt’s dad for dropping Akira, Amber, Matt, Roger, Tessa and myself where we possibly glimpsed a rare yellow striped macropod hopping through the valley.

Group photo where we stashed extra food and water for our return trip back down.

Scenic pisses. Not to be confused with golden showers.

Traversing on the narrow ridge line as we approached Witch’s Hat.

Somebody was probably thinking “Didn’t we just do this two weeks ago?”

Tessa climbing her way down against the backdrop of Windward Oahu.

Scooting our way down the front side or back side. Depends on which way you’re going.

Climbing our way up on exposed rocks on the eroded ridgeline. Or was it the other way around?

Amber looking back at the scenic spot of Witch’s Hat.

Climbing over the hill to get to the destination. Wishing each other happy hump day, to acknowledge that the hike can be challenging.

Hiking with the flow.

Watching our steps as we made our way along the uneven, narrow and crumbly ridge line.

Roger scrambling up past the tabletop rockface.

Rope inspection. Nothing to see here. Move along.

Akira pulling himself up to safe ground.

Clouds started to roll in that was accompanied by passing sprinkles.

The group making their way over the shelf of rock and dirt seemingly hanging precariously off the cliff.

Matt flashing the obligatory shaka in the mountains. Many theories abound as to the origin of the state’s official gesture; ranging from a train guard, to a shark bite and to immigrants. But most all agree that the shaka means the aloha spirit.

The mountains seemed to be steaming as we made our way up the eroded runway of a ridge line.

Contouring our way on the uneven and overgrown flank of the mountain. The hardest part of the hike.

Why pull, when you can claw your way up the eroded top? Exactly!

Staying on the cloud free side of the ridge line.

Roger making his way around the short stretch of exposed and eroded ridge line.

Falling rocks.

What goes up must come down. Truer words have never been spoken by Isaac Newton.

Getting back on the ridge line.

Roger watching Amber make her way down the rain of rocks.

Matt descending down to the section where a fellow hiker had fallen over a year ago, after the webbing had snapped on him.

More falling rocks.

Play Misty for Me. And now here’s a pretty one for lonely hikers on a cool, cool day. Creative license taken.

Matt climbing his way down. Somebody put shiny webbing on this rockface that can be seen from miles away. Slight exaggeration.

Roger leaving the rock fall prone area for safer ground. Relatively speaking.

Happy Birthday Akira-san! Many more smoky returns.

Amber going down the eroded shelf of dirt barely passing itself off as a ridge line.

An aerial perspective as Matt launched his drone.

Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a drone!

Looking for my next foothold as I made my way down.

Drone view of the group climbing down the rockface.

Amber going over the new dirt dragon.

Waiting for the rest of the group as we soaked in the views on the postage stamp sized seats.

Leaving as we didn’t have reservations.

Going against the flow.

Climbing down an obstacle is infinitely less preferable than going up. You got to do what you got to do.

It was too early for Halloween.

Amber looking back at the steep climb we had just descended.

Watching the rest of the group making their way down along with some stray rocks that made their way down as well.

Hiking back to our starting point.

Lunch in the mountains. Beef and cheese sticks, musubi, ramen and spam and of course, steak and rice. All washed down with carbonated sodas and H20. Shall we continue?

Passing the powerlines as we pushed towards the direction of Lanihuli.

Climbing and contouring our way around this particular rockface.

This side of the saddle is longer, but generally less steep and not as denuded as the other side. Just my opinion.

Making our way towards the peak of Lanihuli. Pipe dream.

Akira balancing on the thin ridge line. First rule of falling. Don’t fall. Second rule of falling. If you have to fall, fall on the Leeward side.

Standing on the magic mushroom rock. Natural high in the mountains.

The group climbing their way up the thin, weathered ribbon of rocks.

Making our way to the clump of pine trees on the peak of the first rockface.

Roger climbing up to another clump of pine trees on the second rockface.

I can see the Dirt Dragon! Look, but don’t touch.

Akira climbing his way down the eroded rockface. Hey, where is everybody else? The spirit was willing, but the flesh was weak. The rest of the group decided to call it a day. I had at least wanted to make it to the Dirt Dragon. But it was not in the cards. Well, the mountains will always be there.

I climbed to the top and briefly stood up as the gusty winds buffeted me, so I lowered my center of gravity lest I become a pimple on the saddle myself.

Akira trying to fruitlessly secure the ropes against the strong winds that were fighting against his good intentions.

Making my way to the top.

It was time to turn around and go back home.

The group hiking to rejoin Tessa who had stayed on the last Bunny Ear due to leg cramps.

Scooting our way down the crumbly side of the rockface.

Tickling the Bunny Ears as we traversed between the two rockfaces.

The group climbing down the last Bunny Ear. Too late for Easter.

Hiking on the edge. Luckily, the islands have trade winds for the most part, which pushes us away from the sheer drops. Kona winds are not your friend in the mountains.

Drone view of the group climbing down from Shark Fin.

Making our way down to the col in the saddle.

Last group photo of the day.

The drone has landed. No severed or cut fingers.

Amber and Matt playing on a natural teeter-totter in the woods. Mahalo to Matt’s dad for picking us up and taking us back to our cars!

Our back and forth hike covered less than four miles of focused climbing and scrambling all day. While we did not complete the intended goals, it was a fun day for all and there is always a next time. Kudos to the group for agreeing to my plan and coming down safely in one piece.

Akira has a new love in his life now. Just look at that smile. Any more wider and his face would split open. Move over Tessa.

Thanks to Agnes, Aileen, Cat, Dale, Edgar, Mari, Marilyn, and Mona for coming out to celebrate Akira’s birthday with good company and fun times.

Photos taken by Akira Suzuki, Amber Fonte, Matt Vidaurri, Roger Schiffman, 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, broken wave, bunny ears, camp centipede, dirty slide, doorstop, hot wheel tracks, kalihi saddle, kalihi valley, lanihuli, pimple, powerlines, rock triangle, shark fin, tabletop, wave, witch's hat