Met up with Agnes, Art, Chris, Ethan and Glenn at Moanalua Valley. Back in the saddle(s)?

Moanalua Valley Park

Bouncing and slipping. Group photo by Agnes Bryant, left to right: Ethan, Glenn, myself, Agnes, Chris and Art.

Trailhead

Where are those Korean hikers?

Kamananui Valley Road

The trail was surprisingly dry. Photo by Agnes Bryant.

Junction

Is this the legal way to Haiku Stairs? Or the hard way? Or both? Group photo by Agnes Bryant.

Kulana’ahane Trail

Going under the hau tree branches …

Kulana’ahane Trail

… over …

Kulana’ahane Trail

… and back under.

Kulana’ahane Trail

Point of no return?

Kulana’ahane Trail

Dry chute. No water works requested today.

Kulana’ahane Trail

Huffing and puffing our way up the spur ridge.

Kulana’ahane Trail

Looking towards Red Hill.

Kulana’ahane Trail

Almost there.

Kulana’ahane Terminus

Ethan taking in the Windward swept views from the eroded lookout.

Kulana’ahane Terminus

Weather forecast looks cloudy at the top. Photo by Agnes Bryant.

Moanalua Saddle

Enough sightseeing and weather speculation, time to resume our hiking.

Moanalua Saddle

Ethan making his way up the rocky ridge.

Moanalua Saddle

Moanalua Valley – the original route for the H-3, until a petroglyph etched rock forced it into the next valley over.

Moanalua Saddle

Ethan climbing up the crumbly rocks.

Moanalua Saddle

Climbing queue. One at a time. Photo by Agnes Bryant.

Moanalua Saddle

Chris making his way up. Photo by Agnes Bryant.

Moanalua Saddle

Glenn and Art coming up from the Windward side.

Moanalua Saddle

Ethan making his way to the Dirt Triangle.

Moanalua Saddle

Straight up. Shaken not stirred.

Moanalua Saddle

Shaka and climb in progress. Photo by Agnes Bryant.

Moanalua Saddle

Making my way up the face of the Dirt Triangle. Photo by Art Millan.

Moanalua Saddle

Glenn climbing his way up.

Moanalua Saddle

Sorry, this attraction is now closed. Please contour. Photo by Agnes Bryant.

Moanalua Saddle

Chris making his way up the contour side.

Moanalua Saddle

Art climbing up. Photo by Agnes Bryant.

Moanalua Saddle

Art finishing what the fraying started. Photo by Agnes Bryant.

Moanalua Saddle

Ethan and Glenn scrambling up.

Moanalua Saddle

The trail has been slowly eroding with the passage of time, weather and hikers traveling on the ridge.

Moanalua Saddle

Ethan hiking into the clouds.

Moanalua Saddle

Glenn paying rapt attention as Chris demonstrates the five points of contact climbing method.

Moanalua Saddle

Ethan going up.

Moanalua Saddle

Clear on the left, cloudy on the right.

Moanalua Saddle

IPhone rescue in progress. When an electronic device that has your life encapsulated means more than life itself. LOL.

Moanalua Saddle

Chris and Glenn going up the back stairs to the top.

Moanalua Saddle

Anybody home?

CCL Building

Ethan enjoying his lunch topside.

Haiku Stairs

We took our leave of Agnes and Art as we headed off into the clouds.

Pu’u Keahi A Kahoe

Our muddy shoes on the geodetic marker at the 2,820′ summit. The Moanalua Middle Ridge wooden sign was still MIA.

KSRT

Thinking of Kalihi Saddle.

KSRT

Rain started dumping on us, which forced us to think again.

KSRT

Clouds and rain washing over the power line towers.

Tripler Summit

Group photo at the 2,760′ socked in summit.

Tripler Ridge

Chris dropping below the clouds to better conditions on this side of the ridge. Never fails.

Powerlines Ridge

We decided to drop down into the valley via the Powerlines ridge. Tripler is just too long of a ridge. Especially on ones way back down.

Powerlines Ridge

Glenn picking his way over the landslide area.

Kamananui Valley Trail

We dropped back down into the valley and began to walk out the seemingly never ending trail.

Junction

Where was Agnes and Art? Long gone.

Kamananui Valley Trail

Chris contouring past a heavily eroded section of the trail.

All pau

Back at the park.

GPS Tracks

Our saddle hike covered 10.5 miles with a fun crew. Post hike meal at Lilihia Bakery. Just in time for the Prime Rib Special. Life is good.

Note: I have been made aware the 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.