We went in search of a tunnel but found something close to it, but no cigar.

Windward

Met up with Art, Chris, Edgar, Jen, Lilyn, Marilyn, Mateo, Quan, Scott, and Tessa to take a morning stroll in the neighborhood.

Windward

Three distant cousins in the picture.

Windward

What time does the gate open?

Windward

Art climbing the stairway to nowhere.

Windward

I’m sorry, this outhouse is occupied. You can use the bush over there.

Omega Station

Approaching the Naval Radio Station that was built back in 1942 and closed in 1958. The thick concrete walls and ceilings were meant to withstand a 200 pound bomb blast. The Navy then transferred the property to the US Coast Guard, who operated it as the Omega Station from 1975 to 1997.

Omega Station

Scott just hanging around.

Omega Station

Exploring the lower level. Everything of value has long been stripped, burnt, trashed and vandalized.

Omega Station

Leaving the machinery and strewn debris behind us.

Omega Station

Chip off the old block.

Omega Station

Tessa making her way up the stairs.

Omega Station

Checking out the upper floors or whats left of it.

Omega Station

In the old days, fans had to be manually turned to provide air circulation. They also walked barefoot to school on a’a lava as well.

Omega Station

Climbing up the rooftop.

Omega Station

Edgar sitting on the roof with the sharply notched and angled ridge in the background that illustrates why Stairway to Hell was never completed.

Omega Station

Chris at the top, looking down.

Omega Station

Taking a panoramic picture is harder than it looks.

Omega Station

Outside looking in.

Omega Station

Shock the monkey. Who turned the power back on?

Omega Station

Chris using the ten ton crane for pullups.

Omega Station

Watching an artist at work.

Omega Station

How many hikers can cram into the hole? Apparently nine. Sorry Art.

Omega Station

Hole to hole view.

Omega Station

Looking up at one of two openings where the antennas that were hung across Haiku Valley were housed.

Windward

No trail here. Nothing to see here. Move along.

Windward

Approaching the most expensive public works project in Hawaii, that is until the rail came along.

Windward

Jen leaving the road for the well-trodden trail.

Windward

Chris has a knack for finding stuff in the woods.

Windward

We met up with Allison and Laredo who were going to guide us to Scott’s next wet dream, well moist dream.

H3

Tight fit. Lucky I’m on a diet.

H3

Laredo sliding his way through the crack.

H3

Art pulling himself up through the hatch.

H3

Group photo underneath the 38′ wide freeway.

H3

Going down the tunnel where stripped wiring littered the ground. That’s why we can’t have nice things.

H3

I don’t think somebody paid their electric bill.

H3

Shadows.

H3

Mateo crossing over one of the walkways that connected the tunnel sections.

H3

I think Laredo was doing a cavity search.

H3

Licking the front end.

H3

Licking the back end.

H3

This was like a field trip visiting the Urban Museum of Graffiti.

H3

Faster than a speeding bullet.

H3

It was quite the handful for Art.

H3

Catching a breath of fresh air, some of us dropped down from the tunnel and caught a glimpse of the highway slicing through North Halawa Valley.

H3

Tessa sitting on one of the walkways as vehicles rumbled over our heads.

H3

Scott test driving something he may need in a couple of years. Joke.

H3

Chris hanging above the exit hatch.

H3

Some choose the unassisted fall.

H3

Others choose the assisted ride down.

H3

Group photo underneath the highway that took over 37 years from inception to completion and cost $1.3 billion dollars to build.

H3

We found out we couldn’t do the round trip, so we hiked back through the forest trails, bridges and service roads.

Windward

Chris jumping on the ghetto version of the bouncy house.

All pau

Pressed into service to move away a shopping cart for a random driver and to shuttle hikers. Fun hike with a great group. Post hike meal at Mexican Food. What kind of food do they have on the menu?

Video by Edgar Gamiao of our Omega Station Hike.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VMp8GEQERU

Video by Edgar Gamiao of our H3 Tunnel Hike.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=on5rr8CigjA

Photos taken by Allison Banks, Art Young, Chris Bautista, Edgar Gamiao, Quan Haberstroh, Jen Odence, Lilyn Avendano, Marilyn Bermudez, Mateo Dea, Scott Dea, 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.

Stuart Ball called Bowman the most difficult of the ungraded ridge hikes in the leeward Ko’olau Range. With that being said, Chris wanted to try out the Bowman shortcut, which would chop three miles off the trail length. I only agreed because knowing the route would come in handy when the time came to tackle the Bowman side of Kalihi Saddle. Jasmin also joined our hike for today.

The road to Kalihi Ice Ponds

Parking at the end of Kalihi Street deep in the valley is extremely scarce. Carpooling is highly recommended if coming with a large group. Instead of going over the bridge and straight into Kalihi Ice Ponds, which I have yet to visit, we went up the dirt road to our left.

What commercial does this remind you of?

Anybody know the answer? I’ve been scratching my head to no avail.

Burmeister Overpass

We soon crossed the Overpass that was built by the state for the Burmeister family when construction of Likelike Highway cut off access to their land deep in Kalihi Valley.

Knock Knock

George Burmeister shot and killed a trespasser back in the 1960’s. He got off with five years of probation. I don’t know if the family is still around, from the looks of these abandoned buildings. Not wanting to push our luck, we soon took the trail that winds to the right of the buildings.

Is this the shortcut?

We followed the ribbons and barbed wire fence as we made our way up the spur ridge.

Kokua Kalihi Valley

Our progress up the shortcut ridge was soon halted by a group of surveyors that claimed this land was now private property. What? Where are the signs? Not wanting to push the issue, we took their suggestion to try the adjacent spur ridge. #1 Big mistake of the day.

Trail snacks

We backtracked our way down and crossed over to the next ridge. As we started to make our way up, the smell of ripe lilikoi (passion fruit) hung in the air.

Where is the shortcut?

The ridge soon disappeared into a thick tangle of vegetation and heavily eroded sections. Bushwhacking is an understatement. I must have muttered “What frigging shortcut?” too many times to count.

Sky staring

Checking out the cloud formations at the top of the junction for the Bowman trail.

Hanging around

I was glad to see Chris and Jasmin after waiting almost two hours. It was getting pretty lonely at the top. Photo by Jasmin Nepomuceno.

Swallowed by uluhe ferns

As we continued our hike on the Bowman trail, coming up the “shortcut ridge” had taxed Chris to his limit. He called and said he was returning back down the trail. I asked Jasmin if she wanted to join him or continue the hike. She opted for the latter. #2 Big mistake of the day. An hour into the hike, rumbling thunder cracked open the sky and the proverbial cats and dogs poured on us for almost two hours. The trail became a raging waterfall. I was more worried about being struck by lightning. I could just hear Chris laughing at us.

Where’s the rainbow?

The thunderstorm eventually turned into a drizzle as we approached the climb up Pu’u Kahuauli (Bowman).

Chances of waterfalls…

The intense soaking produced tons of waterfalls all around us. There were over a dozen of them coming down from Lanihuli.

..and partly cloudy

Looking back towards town. The air always smells fresher after an intense downpour, especially if you were caught in the middle of it!

Marshy meadow

After reaching the top of Pu’u Kahuauli at an elevation of 2,740′, we turned left towards Tripler Ridge.

Is that the sun?

The sun would peak out every now and then, teasing us with scattered cloudy views.

HECO trail

Heading down the slippery and muddy trail. HECO maintains this section due to the power lines, so there are ropes to keep you from sliding off the ridge.

Makeshift weather station

Total whiteout conditions from the top of the relay station. Bummers.

Smoky mountains

Looking back, the clouds partially cleared to reveal themselves wrapping around Lanihuli and Pu’u Kahuauali. Postcard perfect.

CCL Building

We soon passed the middle junction and the top of Pu’u Keahi a Kahoe at 2,820′ high above the clouds and made our way to the CCL building which marks the top of Haiku Stairs.

Losing daylight

The sun’s rapid descent as it pierced the heavy clouds made the climb down the stairs more urgent.

Stairway to Heaven

Top of the stairs at 2,800′.

Coming down

Jasmin climbing down the stairs, all 3,922 of them.

Sunset over Moanalua Saddle

Looking to our left, the sun was setting. Where was my headlamp? Oops.

Haiku Stairs

I believe this was the last of the five landings that breaks up the continuity of the stairs.

H-3

Watching the cars pass overhead on the H-3 as I waited for Jasmin. The guard was long gone. I could’ve used the company.

GPS Tracks

The roughly five mile hike marked a very long day. Chris picked us up and we all had dinner at Zippys. Food is especially tasty after a long hike.

When we last hiked to Haiku Stairs, I had heard about another lesser known stairs that was located across the valley on Haiku Ridge, called Haiku Hidden Stairs or Stairway to Hell. Not one to pass up the chance to check out a new hike, I met Glenn at the end of Iwaena Street in Halawa Valley at 6:30am.

Crossing the streambed

We entered the Halawa Xeriscape Garden through an access gate to the left of the main gate and pushed our way through chest high grass to get to the back of the garden, where the trail went to the left through more tall grass. Eventually, we came across a rain gaging station and crossed the dry streambed to regain the trail.

Underneath the H3 Freeway

The trail continues underneath the H-3 Freeway or more formally known as the John A. Burns Freeway.

Access Road

As we made our way out from underneath the H3, we had to push through more tall grass to get to an access road. We picked up the trail again by going up the hill right before the bridge. The trail is ribboned and roped in certain steep parts until we got to the top of Halawa Ridge, where we took a left on the dirt road which lead us into Halawa Valley.

Landslide and the Tetsuo Harano Tunnels

The trail is initially open and strewn with fallen trees and branches. A good sized pig startled us as it ran across the trail. After that, a couple hunting dogs started to follow us until they found their owners. Then the trail was swallowed by uluhe ferns and thick pockets of vegetation. Slogging through all that, made me long for a narrow ridge with thousand foot drops on both sides. We eventually came out of the valley to be greeted by a landslide that had taken a big chunk of the trail away, luckily there was a trail to the right that went around it.

H3 through Halawa Valley

Looking back at the H3 snaking it’s way through Halawa Valley. If it wasn’t for the Damon Estate and a certain petroglyph encrusted rock called the Pohaku ka Luahine, the H3 would have gone through Moanalua Valley instead. The trail then gradually wound its way through the sides of the mountain. No steep climb with rapid elevation gains here, this trail makes you work for the views.

Panoramic view from Haiku Ridge

We got to the top of Haiku Ridge around 11:30am to take in awesome views of Haiku Valley and Kaneohe. We could even see the CCL Building across the valley as we ate our lunch. Click here to see the larger panoramic view from Haiku Ridge.

Moanalua Saddle

Spending five hours trudging through the valley and the sides of the mountain, I was looking forward to the welcome break of climbing hills and ridges.

Geo Marker

When we got to the top of the hill, it was capped by a geo marker with commanding views of the Windward side of the island.

CCL Building

As we made our way along the trail, we encountered the now familiar A-frame foundations that once held antenna cables that was strung to the opposite side of the valley. That must have been an engineering feat to pull off back in the day.

Rusted stairs and cable

We soon came upon the first section of the rusted stairs, that gave way to staked cables that provided solid holds on the narrow ridge.

Bunker

After passing a bunker or storehouse, our destination was just over the hill.

Panoramic view from Haiku Hidden Stairs

We got to the stairs around 1:00pm, the view was more panoramic and stunning than one afforded by the Haiku Stairs. Click here to see the larger panoramic image from the top of Haiku Hidden Stairs.

Jungle Stairs

Did I mention that parts of the stairs are almost completely overgrown? Not only that, but the stairs are missing steps and railings on some sides going down. And what railings exist, may crumble to dust when you touch them as I found out when I was going down the stairs, one section of the railing literally dissolved into rusted dust when I grabbed it.

Stairway to Hell

I was sorely tempted to go down until the stairs terminated at about the middle of the ridge. However, the day was getting long and we still had to haul ourselves back to our cars. Luckily I stopped halfway down the stairs and we hiked back out the valley and got to our cars around 7:00pm just as darkness covered the island.