We hiked to the highest point on the island today to visit a post-WW2 wreckage as gloomy weather derailed the original plan to saddle up. Thanks to Jasmin for dropping us off deep in Waianae Valley.

Trailhead

Is this a slipper optional hike?

Waianae Ka’ala Trail

Heading deep into the valley, streambed was bone dry. No waterfalls today.

Waianae Ka’ala Trail

Rooting up the trail. Photo by Ferlino Carinio.

Three Poles Junction

Is it time to shed the slippers yet?

Three Poles Junction

Group photo left to right: Anne, myself, Ferlino and Analyn.

Waianae Ka’ala Trail

Who said you can’t be in two places at the same time? Photo by Analyn Baliscao.

Waianae Ka’ala Trail

Looking ahead to the steep climb ahead of us to the top. We only had to climb up roughly 1,425′ more of mountain to make it to the top.

Waianae Ka’ala Trail

Reflecting towards Waianae Valley on the first boulder section.

Waianae Ka’ala Trail

Taking the ladder and ladder-less way up on the second boulder section. Photo by Anne Fai.

Waianae Ka’ala Trail

Pitching up the steep rocky climb to the summit.

Waianae Ka’ala Trail

Who needs hiking shoes? Not Analyn.

Mount Ka’ala

Hikers in the bog. Photo by Ferlino Carinio.

No hat, no salute

Somebody is not getting a salute today.

Lunch break

Most people get leg cramps, a few get mouth cramps. I heard they can be pretty painful. Photo by Ferlino Carinio.

Mount Ka’ala

After lunch, we skirted the barbed wire fence surrounding the FAA tracking station to go exploring down a ridge.

Mount Ka’ala

Descending from the 4,025′ flat topped mountain towards Waialua.

Ridge

Making our way through the moss encrusted ohia trees as we followed the fence line down.

Ridge

Looking out towards the North Shore.

Ridge

Anne hopping over the fence.

Trail

Bushwhacking our way through suffocating ginger plants and prickly thimbleberry bushes as we tried to pick up the trail.

Trail

Stepping on history as we followed the trail of wreckage that soon lead us … Photo by Ferlino Carinio.

B-24

… to the crashed remains of the B-24 bomber “Evelyn.”

B-24

Exploring what remains of the plane that crashed on July 30, 1945 at 0910. Unfortunately, the eleven crew members did not survive the impact and were retrieved the next day and buried with full military honors.

B-24

Leaving the crash scene. Photo by Ferlino Carinio.

Trail

You go that way and I’ll go this way. Photo by Ferlino Carinio.

Ridge

Pausing after the short, steep and humid climb back up to the summit.

Mount Ka’ala

Up. Down. Across. Repeat. Photo by Ferlino Carinio.

Mount Ka’ala

A poorly coordinated dragonfly interrupting somebody’s photo session. Photo by Ferlino Carinio.

Mount Ka’ala

Group photo overlooking the central plain of Wahiawa and points beyond.

Mount Ka’ala

Circling our way around the tracking station.

Mount Ka’ala

Our last group photo at the top before taking our leave of the summit of “the awakening.” Photo by Analyn Baliscao

Waianae Ka’ala Trail

Coming down from the highest mountain on the island.

Slip’n’Slide

Where are those cardboard boxes when you need them?

All pau

Slipper in. Shoe out. Mahalo to Jasmin for coming back to get us, despite Makaha not being Waianae. Fun group hike that explored a different side of the tallest peak on the island. Post hike meal at Pho My Vi, the best phocking rice noodles on the Windward side. Or that’s what I was told. Can’t believe everything you eat.

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.

Met up with Gen, Justin and Matt on the West side with the intention of doing a camp over. Sweeping rain showers that inundated the highest point on the island dictated otherwise. Besides camping in the rain was getting old already. Just a week old. Photo by Justin Hirako.

Waianae Valley

Group photo by Justin Hirako, left to right: Matt, Justin, myself and Gen in front of our reserved parking space.

Trailhead

The road to the highest mountain on the island.

Prickly Pear

Harvest time.

Trail snacks

Peel carefully, lest you get some spines lodged in your hands. Just ask Matt. Photos by Justin Hirako.

Dirt road

Trading the paved road for a dirt road.

Picnic shelter

Nothing to see here. Hike along. Photo by Justin Hirako.

Waianae Kaala Trail

A sign is needed here to prevent hikers from going astray and getting lost or rescued.

Waianae Kaala Trail

Slow, steady climb. Photo by Justin Hirako.

Waianae Kaala Trail

Halfway there.

Three Poles

Group photo by Justin Hirako.

Waianae Kaala Trail

Follow the fence.

Waianae Kaala Trail

Gen and …

Waianae Kaala Trail

… Justin made short work of the slippery boulder sections.

Mount Ka’ala

Rain, rain go away. Group photo by Justin Hirako.

Ka’ala bog

Hitting the boardwalk.

FAA tracking station

No hat. No salute. Talk of camping went away as fast as the rain came our way.

What’s cooking?

We ended up eating lunch. Chicken noodle soup and Chicken pho.

Solitude

Catching the scenery when the clouds gave us a break.

Trematolobelia kaalae

Spectacular flowering of this endemic bellflower plant.

Community service

We ran across some volunteers who volunteered to give us a ride back down to Waialua. So we volunteered to help pull those thorny blackberry plants and other invasive plants from the bog. One by one. Ouch by ouch.

Mount Ka’ala Bog

Adopt a plant.

Mount Ka’ala Road

Letting the tires do the riding and not our feet do the walking for a change. Photo by Justin Hirako.

Hawaiian tree snails

The volunteers pulled off the road a short distance down to show the group these endemic tree snails.

Mount Ka’ala Road

The road is slippery when wet … Photo by Justin Hirako.

Stoppe!

… and so are the mountains. Just ask the two Norwegian girls who had been hiking from Three Corners and saw our cars and flagged us down in the rain. Talk about timing and luck. Photo by Matt Vidaurri.

Sjokolade

The best chocolate in the world. Well, according to the girls from Norway.

All pau

The volunteers dropped us off in Waialua and we dropped the girls off at their friends place. Pay it forward. Driving back to Waianae Valley, we even saw one of Marvin’s models in a photo shoot. None other than Kat Sweets. Photo by Justin Hirako.

GPS Tracks

While our hike didn’t go as planned; we got to meet some awesome volunteers, including Ken Lee, pulled some invasive plants from the highest mountain on the island, ate the world’s best chocolate and met a facebook famous model. All in all, it was a great day well spent with friends. Post hike meal at Tacos and More. More salsa please.

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.

For the last hike of the year, we decided to climb Mount Ka’ala, the highest mountain on Oahu. Initially, we had signed up to go with the Sierra Club, but the coordinator called back and said they would not go past the boulder section due to it being “sketchy.” In other words, not going all the way to the top. So we decided to do it ourselves and drove all the way to the end of Waianae Valley Road and parked before the locked gate. We started walking up the slightly inclined paved road, passing a water tank and some buildings. The paved road soon gave way to a red dirt trail and got a little steeper. We passed a picnic table and a parked off road vehicle, somebody had the keys to the locked gate! It sure wasn’t us, that would have saved us a couple miles of walking.

Tunnel Trail

After going up the trail, we ran across this tree tunnel, where we made a left bearing off the ridge and crossed a stream and made another left to pick up the trail going up the summit. See that small orb of light to the right? It could have been a reflection from the flash, but from what? There was no metal or anything. In some circles, that would be a spirit of some soul that has long passed.

Ka'ala ridgeline

After working our way through uluhe ferns and koa trees, we popped up on the ridgeline marked by power poles, and turned a right towards the top of Ka’ala.

Pu'u Kalena

To the right we saw Pu’u Kalena, the second highest mountain, but we were shooting for the highest mountain. Pu’u Kalena would be for another day.

Where is the trail?

At times we seemed lost as the trail was very faint amidst heavy vegetation, but we just followed the ridgeline going to the top. Unless your legs are protected by extremely thick body hair that will protect you from numerous cuts and scratches inflicted by the vegetation as you slog you way up, I would recommend wearing long pants.

Boulder section

We came across this section of boulders, that we scrambled over with the ropes already there and carved footholds which helped. It’s not as bad as some make it out to be, just take it slow and watch what you are doing. Once we got over the boulders, there were a couple more steep sections that we had to climb with the assistance of more ropes.

Ka'ala Bog

We finally made it to the Ka’ala Natural Area Reserve which is home to a blanket blog or mountaintop bog.

Follow the planks

The planks wound their way through the bog for about 3/4 of a mile, giving us a self-guided tour. Being that Ka’ala is broad and flat,the rainwater collects to form this bog that is home to many native plants and snails. Much of the plants and trees are stunted, as most top off at 6-7 feet.

FAA tracking station

As we came out of the bog, the FAA tracking station came into view, partially obscured by rolling clouds. We bordered the fence to get a better view on the other side. I heard that other hikers had encountered armed guards that had ordered them to keep a distance from the fence. Luckily, we did not receive such a greeting.

End of the trail

We made it to the top of Ka’ala at an elevation of 4,025 feet. It took us approximately three hours to reach the summit.

North Shore view

This is the view from the other side of the FAA tracking station that overlooks Haleiwa and the North Shore. Our views were somewhat blocked by clouds that would roll in and out. But they were fantastic! It took us about 3 1/2 hours to make it back down. Going down was definitely harder on the knees than going up. This hike is relatively difficult due to the steepness of the trail and the return trip coming back down.