Our sandbar sailing got cancelled due to mechanical and physical breakdowns and so we pulled a magic trick. We turned a two hour hike into a full day. How? Read on impatient ones.

Ka’a’awa

We all met up despite the annoying church slut saying it was raining and perhaps a waterfall hike was in order. What rain? 100000000000%!

Ka’a’awa

Left the highway and scrambled up a trail less traveled. No signs.

Ka’a’awa

Mere minutes later, we arrived at the first bunker that was currently being occupied. No open bunker today?

Ka’a’awa

Can you see the lion for the bunker? Let me hear your primal roar! Keep it quiet up there, people are trying to sleep!

Ka’a’awa

Sunday Showing was canceled, so we popped over to the next bunker.

Ka’a’awa

The second bunker was open for showing that showcased ocean views and cross ventilation. This was the affordable section of town.

Ka’a’awa

The view from the rock, can you see the group for the distance?

Ka’a’awa

Follow the arrow if you can see it for the group.

Ka’a’awa

View from the studio sized bunker.

Ka’a’awa

Go back out there and catch the rainbow. Be quick about it.

Ka’a’awa

I couldn’t even taste the Skittles. Let alone that the bag of sugared candy are missing blue and violet colors, so it would have been an incomplete taste test as nonsensical arguments goes.

Ka’a’awa

Leaving the man-made structure for natural rock formations.

Ka’a’awa

The hard part was over per Allison. Easy peasy lemon squeezy. Whew.

Ka’a’awa

Looking down at Huilua Fishpond located in Kahana Bay, believed by some to have been built by the legendary menehunes.

Ka’a’awa

Short climb to the top of the ridge.

Ka’a’awa

Akira should be DJing instead of dancing.

Ka’a’awa

We got the mountain views.

Ka’a’awa

Tessa perched high on the rock with her ocean views.

Ka’a’awa

Cristy with her coastal views.

Ka’a’awa

Group photo on the overlook rock. How many people can perch on this spit of a rock, safely?

Ka’a’awa

Aida wanted to show off her dance moves too.

Ka’a’awa

Making our way down to the saddle.

Ka’a’awa

Hugging the cliffs as we made our way to the crouching lion rock formation. Hawaiian legend has it that the formation is actually of the demigod Kauhi’?makaokalani, or large dog that was sent from Tahiti to guard the area. He was trapped by roots and turned into stone when trying to escape the goddess Hiiaka’s siren song.

Ka’a’awa

“What we have here is failure to communicate.” I thought Allison meant we were doing the loop trail to Kahekili, she meant the loop trail back down. Oh well, let’s take a group photo before going up towards the rock formation.

Ka’a’awa

Scrambling up the rear of the “lion.” Or shall we call it a dog now?

Ka’a’awa

The girls were not going any higher.

Ka’a’awa

We coaxed and cajoled Kenny into joining us for the views to no avail. The acrophobia is still strong with this one. Work in progress.

Ka’a’awa

Standing on the head of the “lion.”

Ka’a’awa

Akira climbing down the direct descent. No contouring.

Ka’a’awa

Step back from the edge.

Ka’a’awa

Look who’s talking.

Ka’a’awa

360 views of the four of us shoved into this faint resemblance of a cave.

Ka’a’awa

Leaving the eroded section for greener pastures.

Ka’a’awa

Allison walking down the “runway.”

Ka’a’awa

Fond farewell to the “large dog” or “crouching lion”, however historically accurate or not you want to be.

Ka’a’awa

Somebody was making the most of their anniversary gifted IPhone 17 Max. Tessa’s birthday is coming up.

Ka’a’awa

Descending back down to civilization.

Ka’a’awa

Over and under going down the trail.

Ka’a’awa

Back on the road again.

Ka’a’awa

Talks of further explorations and lunch were abruptly cut short when somebody locked their keys in the trunk. Don’t blame the duck either. Googling and YouTubing didn’t help matters much either. Let’s eat. Better to think on a full than empty stomach.

The Crouching Lion

What better place to eat than at a restaurant named after our hike? ‘Nuff said.

The Crouching Lion

Sampling the culinary creations of the restaurant that just reopened last year after a decade of being shuttered. The dishes were small, pricey and tasty. We also had the freshest rice we ever had in our life per our waiter. Say what? We are in Hawaii right? Just had to check.

The Crouching Lion

Raise your hands if you have the keys to your car. Tessa, put your hand down! Our bellies full, Akira and I drove to Pearl City to Kalihi and back to Ka’a’awa to get his spare key. Road trip. The rest of the group would go look for that plane wreckage that Allison had told us about.

Ka’a’awa

The group spent over an hour trying to find the plane wreckage. They had a lot of time on their hands.

Ka’a’awa

Success!

Ka’a’awa

Exploring the wrecked fuselage.

Ka’a’awa

Posing in front of the plane that turned out to be a former movie prop, likely a Bristol Britannia from the 1950s.

Ka’a’awa

Everybody wants to be a pilot until the crash.

Ka’a’awa

Reunited!

All pau

Walking back to our cars, keys in hand, our day was finally over. That is how we turned a two-hour hike into a full day filled with fun, food, and good company that turned a bad situation into a good one. Now you know the rest of the story.

Photos taken by Aida Gordon, Akira Suzuki, Allison Banks, Cristy CM, Kenny Lui, Mari Saito, 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.

Jasmin dropped Ferlino and myself off on the North Shore side for our Sunday exercise. Photo by Art Young.

Trailhead

We were surprised when we saw Aida, Art, Chris and Tessa at the trail. I guess hiking minds think alike.

Crouching Lion Trail

Going up the eroded trail partly shaded by the hala trees.

Crouching Lion Trail

Memorial with a stunning view of Kahana Bay. Photo by Aida Gordon.

Crouching Lion Trail

Panoramic view of the trail as it splits into two destinations. We were going for the farther one.

Pu’u Manamana Trail

Starting our stiff climb up the ridge. Photo by Aida Gordon.

Pu’u Manamana Trail

Tessa climbing up with the backdrop of the Crouching Lion rock formation. Can’t see the feline for the rocks.

Pu’u Manamana Trail

Ferlino perched on a knob with a sweeping view of the remote bay and valley.

Pu’u Manamana Trail

Patiently waiting for the photo shoots to run their course. Photo by Ferlino Carinio.

Pu’u Manamana Trail

The group resuming the hike under scattered cloudy skies. Photo by Aida Gordon.

Pu’u Manamana Trail

Chris traversing the narrow ridge.

Pu’u Manamana Trail

Aida basking on the rocks.

Pu’u Manamana Trail

Waiting for another photo shoot to run its course. Photo by Aida Gordon.

Pu’u Manamana Trail

Ferlino spotting Art as he climbs down a steep rock face. I think we lost the trail runner at this point that was drafting us from the bottom. Photo by Aida Gordon.

Pu’u Manamana Trail

Its always hump day somewhere in the mountains.

Pu’u Manamana Trail

Aida contouring her way through some protruding rock formations. Photo by Art Young.

Pu’u Manamana Trail

Art pushing up the last hill towards the first summit. Photo by Aida Gordon.

Turnover

Group photo left to right: Art, Chris, myself, Ferlino, Tessa and Aida.

True Manamana Trail

Dropping from the 2,027′ summit to hit the uluhe infested trail. Photo by Ferlino Carinio.

True Manamana Trail

Pulling myself out of a uluhe hole. Photo by Aida Gordon.

True Manamana Trail

Looking for the trail as I tried to clear my nasal cavities from the constant infiltration of pollen and dust. Photo by Tessa Bugay.

True Manamana Trail

It pays to have a face mask on this trail. Coronavirus and social distancing notwithstanding. Photo by Tessa Bugay.

True Manamana Trail

The group slogging through the tangled thicket of green and dry uluhe ferns. Quite the nasty combination to encounter on trails. Photo by Art Young.

True Manamana Trail

Is this the trail?

True Manamana Trail

Aida on a relatively cleared spot of the trail with Pu’u Kanehoalani ahead of her in Ka’a’awa Valley. Photo by Tessa Bugay.

True Manamana Trail

Tessa dropping down to the 1900 Lookout. Photo by Aida Gordon.

True Manamana Trail

To go or not to go? Photo by Tessa Bugay.

True Manamana Trail

Art is going. Photo by Aida Gordon.

True Manamana Trail

Climbing and contouring our way around the assorted boulders that interrupted the narrow ridge. Photo by Tessa Bugay.

True Manamana Trail

Tessa and the rest of the group on the “edge.” Photo by Art Young.

True Manamana Trail

Taking a Captain Morgan break. Photo by Art Young.

True Manamana Trail

Dipping down into one of the numerous saddles on the ridge. Photo by Tessa Bugay.

True Manamana Trail

Some like to be on top. Photo by Ferlino Carinio.

True Manamana Trail

Others like to be in the hole, teeth enamel erosion notwithstanding.

True Manamana Trail

Looking back at the group about to contour a large spade shaped rock on the ridge. Photo by Tessa Bugay.

True Manamana Trail

Almost there. Photo by Ferlino Carinio.

True Manamana Trail

Let’s pick up the pace!

True Manamana

The summit space has shrunk considerably due to overgrowth which forced us to be closer than we socially wanted to be on the cramped summit.

True Manamana Trail

Time was ticking, so we took our leave of the postage stamp sized summit. Photo by Ferlino Carinio.

True Manamana Trail

Some lingered for further photo shoots.

True Manamana Trail

Going down the rock face without webbing was much easier than trying to go back up without it. Photo by Ferlino Carinio.

True Manamana Trail

The rest of the group wading through the uluhe trail previously trampled. Photo by Aida Gordon.

Turnover

The tent was looking very tempting but it was occupied by a snoring hiker. Photo by Tessa Bugay.

Cemetery Ridge

We put on our headlamps as we were not going to beat the sun going down. Photo by Aida Gordon.

All pau

I was so over the hike as we went down the steep and moss blanketed ridge line. Somebody else was over the hike as well. As in head over heels over. Cap, glasses and flashlight were left as souvenirs to the mountain.

GPS Tracks

Our 5.4 mile hike was paid for with blood, sweat and tons of scratches and cuts. Misery loves great company. Thanks to Jasmin for picking us up at the bus stop since OTS wasn’t stopping for us. Post hike meal at Casa Carinio’s house where we ate Filipino leftovers washed down with ice cold Coke from McDonald’s.

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.

We managed to coax a 10x veteran from retirement to join us on today’s hike. Met up with Agnes, Anne, Chris, Daryl, Lee and Mia at the beach park. Thanks to Alexis for dropping me off.

Ka’a’awa

The most dangerous start to any hike, crossing the road to get to the other side. Luckily, we made it without incident and it didn’t hurt that we were wearing bright colors.

Trailhead

Group photo left to right: Agnes, Sleepy, Mia, Daryl, Lee, Anne and Chris.

Cemetery Ridge

We skirted the cemetery and made our way up through the hala grove.

Cemetery Ridge

Climbing up the steep, rocky section.

Cemetery Ridge

Lee and Mia standing on Picture Rock, with views of Pu’u Piei and Kahana Valley. Photo by Agnes Bryant.

Cemetery Ridge

The ridge widened at certain parts but kept the steady incline.

Cemetery Ridge

Agnes climbing up the moss carpeted ridge using the trees.

Cemetery Ridge

Daryl burrowing through the uluhell overgrowth.

Cemetery Ridge

The ridge leveled off somewhat with cloudy views of our destination to the right.

Cemetery Ridge

The right and wrong way of doing the oppa finger gesture. Photo by Agnes Bryant.

Cemetery Ridge

The ridge picked up the pitch as we approached the top.

Turnover

Group photo at the 2,027′ summit of Manamana ridge.

Trail

Agnes plunging ahead into the mud and overgrowth.

Trail

Sitting in Agnes spot. Photo by Agnes Bryant.

Lookout

Panoramic view from the 1,900′ spot before dropping down into the saddle.

Trail

Climbing down the steepest section before I realized this was where webbing would have helped. I didn’t even recognize this spot from five years ago.

Trail

Chris lashing his webbing to the rock for the rest of the crew. Photo by Agnes Bryant.

Trail

Sweeping view of Kanehoalani, the detached spur mountain range, that sits on Kualoa Ranch.

Trail

Traversing the undulating saddle.

Trail

Mia contouring around a boulder on the narrow ridge. Photo by Daryl Cacatian.

Puka

Peering into Ka’a’awa Valley. Photo by Agnes Bryant.

Trail

Daryl contouring on the Windward side around a knob.

Trail

Passionately psychedelic flowers on the ridge. Photo by Mia Garrison.

Trail

Panoramic view of Pu’u Manamana and True Manamana.

Trail

Heading to the summit that was reportedly first ascended back in 2010. Photo by Daryl Cacatian.

True Manamana

Group photo at the roughly 1,530′ summit. What it lacked in elevation, it more than made up for the sweeping views of the valleys, ridges and mountains from our tiny little perch.

True Manamana

The Pepsi Challenge, going strong since 1975. Photo by Agnes Bryant.

True Manamana

This tour helo buzzed us pretty close. Photo by Agnes Bryant.

True Manamana

Trying to bushwhack through the back door. Nobody’s home. Checking out another interesting ridge dropping off Pu’u Ohulehule. Another hike for another day.

True Manamana

Leaving the postage stamp sized summit.

Trail

Making the return trip on the crumbly and jagged ridge.

Puka

How many hikers can you fit into a puka? Apparently only three. Photo by Agnes Bryant.

Trail

Making our way out of the saddle.

Trail

Lee climbing her way back up the steep section. Photo by Agnes Bryant.

Trail

Pushing our way up through the uluhell overgrowth. Photo by Agnes Bryant.

Turnover

Mahalo for the mountain hospitality.

Manamana Ridge

Rainbow sighting off Kahana Bay.

Manamana Ridge

Going down the broad section of the ridge. Photo by Agnes Bryant.

Manamana Ridge

It was a magical moment to witness the sunbeams piercing the clouds and bathing Kahana Valley. Photo by Mia Garrison

Manamana Ridge

Passing through the forested section of the ridge.

Manamana Ridge

Climbing our way up the steep, rocky ridge section. Photo by Agnes Bryant.

Manamana Ridge

Making our way down towards the pointed and narrow peaks of the ridge.

Manamana Ridge

Mia climbing her way up to join Chris and Daryl at the top.

Manamana Ridge

Looking back at the sun slowly settling down behind the mountain range.

Manamana Ridge

Following the well trodden path on the ridge.

Manamana Ridge

The group negotiating their way down the rock face.

Manamana Ridge

Daryl the praying mantis whisperer.

Manamana Ridge

Chris pointing to one of many interesting curios left behind in the mountains for others to witness.

Manamana Ridge

Descending down towards the Crouching Lion rock formation.

Manamana Ridge

The ridge soon broadened and leveled off as we neared Kahana Bay.

All pau

We made it down to Kam Highway under the cover of darkness. Thanks to Richie for giving us a hop back to our cars.

GPS Tracks

Our dawn to dusk hike covered 4.46 miles with a super fun group. Agnes can now put this hike back into retirement. Post hike meal at Zippy’s. Segregated by gender. I should’ve ordered the usual Oxtail Soup. Mahalo to Daryl for driving me home.

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.

Having hiked Pu’u Manamana back in February, I wanted to try a different connecting trail from Kahekili to Manamana . With that being said, we drove to Ka’awa on the Windward side and parked at Swanzy Beach Park.

Start of the trail

We walked up North on Kamehameha Highway and turned left into Huamalani Street right by the fire station. The trailhead is at the end of the street between two houses, can’t miss it, just try to ignore the sounds of the large dogs barking and hope they are leashed.

View towards the ocean

The beginning of the trail is flat with low hanging trees which quickly turned into an uphill climb as we pushed into Makaua valley. Within mere minutes, we had gained enough elevation to look into the valley below.

Pu'u Kahekili

The ridge trail to Pu’u Kahekili, which is the triangular peak looming over Ka’awa Valley, flattened out and we soon came across an old pillbox or military bunker left over from the war days. 

Near the peak

The flat part of the trail soon gave way to steep climbs up the mountain, that was partially assisted by ropes strategically placed by unknown hikers. Views of the Kualoa Mountains and the front part of Ka’awa Valley opened up to us as we neared the peak.

Peak of Pu'u Kahekili

We made the peak of Pu’u Kahekili in about an hour, we didn’t actually climb to the top of the peak as the trail contours to the right of the peak and down into Makaua or Hidden Valley.

Down to the valley

Scrambling down into the thicket of tangled tree branches and roots made for an interesting descent down into the valley.

Stream

We made it to the bottom of this stagnant streambed that was feeding a waterfall trickling into the valley below, but didn’t stay long as clouds of mosquitoes were feasting on us for lunch.

Pu'u Manamana

We pushed our way up though the heavily overgrown vegetated trail consisting mostly of uluhe ferns. Wearing long pants on this hike is highly recommended. From the top, we had a better view of the Kualoa Mountains and as far as the eye could see to Kaneohe. Looking at the Kualoa Mountains, I was wondering if it’s possible to climb them?

Going down the ridge

I believe there are three ways of going down the mountain. One of course is the way we came up from Kahekili. The other two are the trails going down Cemetery Ridge and Pu’u Manamana Ridge, we chose the latter which is the trail to the right as you face the ocean.

Kahana Valley and Bay

Going down the ridge is pretty much all downhill, affording us some great views from Kahana Valley stretching to Laie.

Up and down

Well, the ridge is not exactly all downhill as there are various rock formations we had to climb up and down. But that’s what makes ridge hikes fun!

Looking back

Here is a panoramic view of the Kahekili ridge and part of the Manamana ridge.

Still going down

As we came down closer to the ocean, we could see the knob to the right known as Crouching Lion which overlooks the restaurant bearing the same name. We had already climbed to the rock formation on our last hike, so we bypassed it going down.

Kamehameha Highway

Five hours later, we were on Kamehameha Highway walking South back to our car. We stopped at the 7-11 and had a quick lunch at the beach park. It’s amazing how a simple tuna sandwhich and a can of soda tastes after you’ve had a good hiking workout.

We were looking for a challenging hike this weekend, and we found it in the Pu’u Manamana trail. We drove towards the Crouching Lion Inn in Ka’a’awa and parked on Trout Farm Road. We walked back towards the Crouching Lion Inn and right after the Route 83 sign, we saw the pink ribbons on the trees to the right that marked the trailhead.

Kahana Bay

We made our way through ti plants and Christmas Berry shrubs and eventually broke out onto an open grassy area, where we had a commanding view of Kahana Bay. To our left was the Crouching Lion rock formation. If you’re going to do this hike, you have got to make the short detour to climb to the top of the Crouching Lion!

Crouching Lion

Once I made it to the top, stunning views from Laie Point to Kaneohe Bay were just fantastic and gorgeous.

Slippahs

We resumed our steep climbing along the ridge, when we noticed somebody had left a pair of slippers on the trail. That must have been a better man than me that can do this hike in slippers!

Makua Beach

After climbing several steep rock faces, we made it to the main ridgeline, with sweeping views of Makua Beach to Kaneohe Bay.

Ridge view

We continued our push up the ridge, passing a Christmas Berry grove and a couple of eroded spots on the trail. Looking back down the ridge we had come up, the sun bouncing off the mountains and ocean gave it some cool colors.

Another ridge view

At this point, the ridge started to level off a bit, allowing us to catch our breath.

Rock face

After we went around this rock face, looking back, it looked as if some menehune hands had put this together.

Steep rock face

We then descended this pretty steep rock face, with the assistance of ropes. The trail then became quite narrow, at one section, it was about a foot wide. The ridge eventually widened and was covered with native plants such as ohia trees and uluhe ferns and other sorts of plant life. We then tackled at least five rollercoasting knobs before we finally made it to the top, known as Turnover, elevation of 2,027 feet.

Kualoa Ranch Mountains

Looking towards Kaneohe, we saw the Jurassic-looking mountains that were by Kualoa Ranch. The side trail to go back down is marked with a pink ribbon, but I can see how others have missed it as the vegetation is quite thick up there. We passed it on our right as we made our way to the clearing, for good measure, my friend stuck his water bottle in the tree to plainly mark the trail.

Kahana Valley

Coming down or sliding down, as the downward trail starts off muddy and steep, we had a nice view of Kahana Valley, which is Hawaii’s only public ahupua’a, it stretches from Kahana Bay to Pu’u Pauao at 2,670 feet. I believe that about 30+ Hawaiian families live in the valley today.

Cemetery Ridge

The trail then became quite narrow, as the ridge seemed to be held together with rocks and tree roots, carpeted with moss. At least, there were a lot of trees to brake our descent, as we lost elevation in a hurry.

Rock croppings

The ridge eventually widened but the descent didn’t slack up. We passed these rock croppings that reminded me of silent stone sentinels. After passing through a hala grove, we ended up in a graveyard, which explains how Cemetery ridge got its name. Making sure we didn’t step on anybody’s grave, we emerged onto a lawn on Trout Farm Road and our truck was parked right in front of it. The entire hike took us about five hours and while many say this is one of the most dangerous hikes, I would say it was difficult and challenging.