Met up in Waimanalo for somebody’s birthday hike. Only somebody was missing. The birthday girl. The hike must go on. Photo by Colt Correa.

Waimanalo

Thanks to Matt for driving Aida, Enrique, Lilyn, Ryan and myself to Colt’s ranch where we started to walk to the trailhead. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

Waimanalo

We skirted the surprisingly graffiti free water tank and failed to receive the BOWS morning wake up call.

Waimanalo

Crossing over a rock wall that was of undetermined age. Carbon dating seems to be in order.

Waimanalo

Looking for the snap, crackle and pop under canopy as we rambled in the forest.

Right Fork

Ryan climbing up the spur ridge known as Bear Claw Right Fork.

Right Fork

Aida following Colt up the rocky ridge line. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

Right Fork

Matt pushing his way through the tangled thicket of trees to get the drone advantage position.

Right Fork

Enrique and Aida making their way up the ridge line. Drone photo by Matt Vidaurri.

Right Fork

Colt climbing up the steepest section on this fork. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

Right Fork

The group climbing up the steep ridge. Drone photo by Matt Vidaurri.

Pu’u O Kona Windward

Colt standing on the mushroom rock as we left the canopied section of the right fork behind us. Drone photo by Matt Vidaurri.

Pu’u O Kona Windward

Matt climbing his way up the main ridge line.

Pu’u O Kona Windward

The girls scrambling up the exposed ridge.

Halftime

What’s the score?

Pu’u O Kona Windward

Somebody forgot to tell Matt that this is the Aloha State and not the Show Me State.

Pu’u O Kona Windward

The weather was extremely kind to us on this hike with overcast clouds and enough wind to keep us separated from perspiration to profusely sweating.

Pu’u O Kona Windward

Vans was not made for slippery slopes.

Pu’u O Kona Windward

Almost there. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

Pu’u O Kona Windward

Drone photo by Matt Vidaurri.

Pu’u O Kona Windward

Somebody didn’t need spikes to get to the top.

Pu’u O Kona Windward

Flyover. No permission needed. Drone photo by Matt Vidaurri.

Pu’u O Kona Windward

Group photo at the terminus with the plaque that honors the late Lesley Merrell who perished on this very ridge on March 18, 2012. “One day you’ll leave this world behind, so live a life you will remember.” – avicii.

Pu’u O Kona Windward

The eagle has landed. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

Pu’u O Kona Windward

Somebody finally climbed the ridge he had always seen afar from his backyard. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

Ko’olau Summit Ridge Trail (KSRT)

East or West? Nobody can decide on an empty stomach, so we found a sheltered spot to hunker down and grab a bite to eat and then decide.

KSRT

Ryan was looking for a square to spare.

KSRT

After we sung the birthday song to the absent birthday person and in different tones to boot, I gave away the chocolate sundate cupcake that I had toiled hours away on my Easy-Bake Oven to make. Happy Birthday Roseann! The boys sure appreciated my confectionary creation.

KSRT

To valley or not to valley? We’ll be back. No Austrian accent involved. Photo by Ryan Meyer.

Pu’u O Kona Windward

Somebody else was the human anchor for a change as we went back down the windward ridge. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

Pu’u O Kona Windward

Lilyn climbing her way down from the summit. Photo by Matt Vidaurri.

Pu’u O Kona Windward

The three amigos signaling that they were going to go down Kuli’ou’ou East. I wouldn’t know as I didn’t learn ASL. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

Pu’u O Kona Windward

Going down with wrap around views of Waimanalo all around us. Eye candy. Photo by Matt Vidaurri.

Pu’u O Kona Windward

Colt coming down the same section where Leslie Merrell tragically lost his life ten years ago.

Pu’u O Kona Windward

The group disappearing back into the canopy. Photo by Aida Gordon.

Left Fork

Matt walking through the feathery patch of ferns on the spur ridge known as Bear Claw Left Fork.

Left Fork

Lilyn climbing her way down the rockface.

Left Fork

Colt making his way down the “hardest” section on this fork.

Left Fork

Matt coming down the “piped” section.

Left Fork

Boys will be boys.

Left Fork

Matchy-Matchy. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

Left Fork

Matt enjoying the rope slide down.

All pau

We came down the trail and finally got our canned BOWS recording. A day late and a dollar short. As we exited Hilltop Ranch, we ran into Bob Tyson and talked story for a little awhile before walking back to Matt’s truck. Aida, Enrique and Ryan also caught an uber back to the truck to meet up with us. Perfect timing.

GPS Tracks

Our Waimanalo loop hike covered roughly three miles with a fun group. Post hike meal at Big City Diner where we caught the climatic conclusion to the Chiefs-Bills game.

Video by Matt Vidaurri of our Bear Claw Loop Hike.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUBrr9RZgzk

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.

I tagged along with Marcus and another extreme hiker crew consisting of Scott, Wendy, Toney, Russell and Tess to complete Bear Claw by hiking up the Right Fork. We parked at the same place in Waimanalo when we did Left Fork last week, but had to do a quick and dirty “ninja” move to get to the trailhead of the right fork by climbing over a fence and rushing into the bushes to avoid detection. Talk about getting your heart beating in a hurry!

Toney and Scott going up

As Marcus mentioned before, the right fork is a tad steeper and harder going up than the left fork.

Hardest rockface

There was one major rockface that was considerably harder than the others coming up. Scott took the lead and threw down webbing for those that didn’t feel comfortable free climbing the rockface. Surprisingly, I didn’t need to use it going up.

Pays to be flexible

While the presence of the inter-locking formosan koa trees was not as prevalent on the right fork as it was on the left fork, there were more rockfaces that had to be climbed.

No flat ground here

Right fork is basically a steady uphill climb consisting of numerous rockfaces punctuated by the formosan koa trees.

Left and Right Forks, the twain shall meet - Photo by Tess Cochran

We took a short break in the grove of ironwood trees, right after the junction where the two forks meet. There is also a geocache located here, but it was ruined by exposure to the elements.

Mushroom Rock

As we made our way over the formation known as “Mushroom Rock”, the clouds started to spill over from the Koolau’s.

Everybody stand up - Photo by Marcus Griego

We took a group photo going up the ridge, but obviously I missed the message to stand up.

Island in the Sky - Photo by Scott Bowling

Looking back as we climbed up the ridge, we had a great view of Waimanalo and Bellows Field.

Caveman or contour?

As with most hikes, there are always the “easy” way and the “hard” way. Marcus aka Caveman climbed over the rock formation while the rest of us elected to take the easier way by contouring around to the left of the rock formation.

No HFD helicopter this time

I was half expecting to see the HFD helicopter hovering above our heads again as they did last weekend when we were almost at the summit. This time, I had my camera ready, but no show for the helicopter.

Bear Claw Summit

We all got to use our “right claw” at the top of Bear Claw, as clouds masked most of the view of Waimanalo in the background.

Kuli'ou'ou Trail

After another short break, we took a left and then proceeded down the Kuli’ou’ou Trail.

All pau

Thanks to Marcus taking the lead and using the “shortcuts” that bypassed most of the switchbacks, we made it down to Kuli’ou’ou Valley in less than an hour from the summit.