I asked for forgiveness rather than permission and embarked on a solo hike today.

Maunawili Valley

Walking up the road past the five lots going for over a million dollars each. Build a house here and you can truly say you have a million dollar view and change.

Uluhell

Pushing my way up through the choking mat of ferns that obstructs forward progress.

Trailhead

Crossing the Maunawili Demo Trail to begin my ascent up the ridge pioneered by Silver Piliwale.

Notch

The ridge took on a steeper slant and kept the pitch pretty much the whole climb.

Olomana

Looking back at the views of Maunawili Valley.

Ohia Lehua

No plucking of the crimson stamen flowers, as I didn’t want anybody raining on my parade today.

Nu’uanu Saddle

Left the cload soaked windward ridge and began my descent down towards the Pali.

Ko’olau Summit Ridge Trail

The brisk trade winds pushed the clouds away from the ridge, exposing the scenic Leeward and Windward views on my climb down.

KSRT

Ropes started appearing on the now narrower ridge to offer their assistance at ones own risk.

Windward views

Making my way around the exposed rock that constantly crumbles away, offering a slightly different character on each visit.

Contour

I decided to take the more direct route down the pile of rocks instead of the usual Leeward contour.

Chimney

Christmas is just 276 days away.

Never say never

Looking back and expecting a rain of presents, at least I didn’t get a rain of rocks.

Nipple

Tweaking the nipple on my climb over.

Pali Notches

Dropping down to the lookout, where jacking my jaws avoided me catching a ride down to the highway. Besides, my ride was waiting for me on the other highway.

Pali Lookout

Looking back at the construction work to arrest and effect repairs on the landslide that sent chunks of the Old Pali Road tumbling down onto Pali Highway.

Pali Puka

No time for a selfie as I contoured on the Leeward side and made the cardio climb up the flank of the ridge.

Other side of Nu’uanu Saddle

Back on the ridge where I expected suspenseful music to be piped into my ear canals. Wrong channel.

Alphabet Soup

Dust particle droplets dropped down on the ridge to keep me company.

W

Contoured down and climbed over the rest of the Donkey Kong rock formation.

Lanihuli Summit

Panoramic view at the top of swirling heavens.

KSRT

Leaving the 2,700′ summit to descend down into Kalihi Saddle.

How to Train Your Dragon

A not so surprising tale about hiking, finding the handholds to climb down the ridge and how nothing can ever train you to let go of that uki grass.

Lanihuli Wall

Letting gravity do all the work as I worked my way down the steep flank of the ridge line.

Can Opener

Looking up, I swear this sofa sized rock slowly inches out a little bit more every time I visit.

Kalihi Saddle

My quick selfie as I kept one or two nervous eyes on that protruding rock right above me.

Pimple and Doorstop

Carefully contouring the pimply faced rock so that no rocks would be extracted.

Bunny Ears

Tickling the ears on my cross over or rather the pine tree needles were tickling mines.

Shark’s Fin

Jumping the dorsal shaped rock.

Powerlines

Making my way down to the powerlines and taking the trail down into the valley.

Kalihi Valley

Mother Nature turned on the sprinklers on my way down.

All pau

That can’t be my ride? The broken down car with the hood up? Thanks to Dale for picking me up and dropping me off at my car in the affordable section of town.

GPS Tracks

The 5.78 mile hike covered 1.5 saddles with brisk trade winds that kept me company. On my drive home, I witnessed a fiery sunset. The sky was lit with bursting colors of red and orange and the streets were clogged with people wanting to collect their photographic impressions. No room or recourse to pull over, so all I could do was to remand it to my short-term memory.

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.