Having done Koko Crater to death, it was time to mix it up a bit today. I picked up Glenn from Koko Crater Botanical Gardens and drove around East Oahu to find a suitable place to ascend up the tuff cone from a different approach.

Trailhead

We parked behind Kaiser High School and found a construction road to gain access to the base of Koko Crater.

Ravine

A ravine presented the least resistance to starting our hike. As we hiked deeper into the ravine, resistance presented itself in the form of thick vegetation.

Out of the ravine

Glenn climbing out of the ridge to escape the overgrowth.

Heavy overgrowth

From the frying pan into the fire. More overgrowth.

Kuapa Pond

Looking back at the now diminished Fishpond Wall. Hard to believe it once covered 523 acres. Something had to give way for Henry Kaiser’s suburban vision.

Koko Crater Puka

Looking up at the puka. Hard to find, as most people walk right over it when hiking the rim.

Lepidoptera season

Butterflies were flittering and fluttering all around us.

Litter

Higher up, remnants from the WW2 bunkers were strewn on the slopes.

Splash of color

Purple flowers amidst a sea of green and reddish brown.

Hawaiian Picker

Glenn found what looked like to be an antique bottle. Maybe not. Dirt makes everything look old.

Rock face

Glenn climbing up the “hardest” section of the ridge.

Summit view

The view at the top, looking out towards Diamond Head.

Four legged hiker

Most of the four legged hikers put their two legged owners to shame on the tracks coming up.

Coming up the tracks

Jasmin took the “easy” way coming up the tracks to meet us at the top.

The less traveled path

We went down the sheeted rock trail that paralleled the tracks on the left. The tracks were bustling with rush hour hikers, while we had the zipper lane all to ourselves.

Koko Crater

Leaving behind Koholepelepe, the original Hawaiian name for this cinder cone, which translates to traveling vagina or fringed vulva. According to legend, Pele was being pursued by the pig demi-god, Kama-pua’a. Pele’s sister, Kapo sent her traveling vagina to lure Kama-pua’a away so that Pele could escape. Looking at Koko Crater on Google Maps, the resemblance to the Hawaiian name is obvious.

Koko Head Shooting Complex

Glenn had someplace to go and Jasmin was tired from her night work. I continued the hike solo by dropping behind the shooting range and followed the highway out.

49er ridge

I soon climbed up a spur ridge dubbed “49er ridge”, this is the same spot where the lava tube goes underneath the road and out to the rugged and rocky shoreline.

Trees, but no shade

The lower part of the ridge was covered by thickets of hard and sharp trees.

Hot, hot, hot

It was a scorcher of a day on the slopes of Koko Crater.

Rock dike

This section reminded me of the arch, but without the arch.

Looking back

Just one of many ridges that leads up to the crater rim. So many to explore.

Rock caves

Interesting rock caves formed by wind and erosion?

Too close for comfort

Scrambling up the ridge, the loud gun reports from the shooting range seemed uncomfortably close.

Panoramic view

Click here for the larger image.

Going down the rim

Hiking down the open and exposed crater rim.

Panoramic view

Click here for the larger image.

Dropping down into the crater

The crater floor is home to a botanical garden and horse stables. Come for the tracks and stay for the trees and horses.

Koko Crater GPS Tracks

The fun, short and hot hike covered 3.83 miles. Many more spur ridges and caves to explore on the crater.

Glenn and I joined J, Tom, Kilei and Bob to climb another Kaupo Cliff section – #3 to be exact. We all met at the Tom-Tom trailhead and ran into Marcus who was leading a new group of hikers up the Tom-Tom trail.

Into the bushes we go

The initial trail runs almost parallel to the homes on the left. It’s so close at times, that you can hear people talking and smell what they are having for breakfast.

Getting out of the bushes

About 15 minutes into the hike, we left the bushes and the homes behind as we started making our way up.

Kaupo Chute

Headed into the massive chute that separates Kaupo Cliffs #3 and #4.

Tree root climbing

As we climbed up these tree roots, Waimanalo Bob parted company with us and started contouring to the left to solo climb Kaupo Cliffs #2.

To root or not to root?

Who needs webbing when you have these solid tree roots to climb up?

Small kine rockface

Glenn climbing up a small rockface.

Little bigger rockface

Kilei climbing up another rockface.

Who’s that?

As we were climbing up another rockface, we all spotted Bob who was almost mirroring our progress on nearby #2.

Waimanalo Bob!

Waimanalo Bob waving at us from Kaupo Cliffs #2, another cliff section that I still have to do.

Climbing Kaupo Cliffs #3 – Photo by Bob Tyson

Another view of us climbing up #3, provided courtesy of Waimanalo Bob from #2.

Looking good!

Glenn making his way up.

Bigger rockface

J and Kilei climbing up one of the more challenging rockfaces.

More rock climbing fun

Kilei and Tom scrambling to the top.

The cross-over

Waimanalo Bob as he makes his way to the cross-over from #2 to #3. I understand that you can’t reach the top from #2, which explains the cross-over.

Top of Kaupo Cliffs #3

Group photo at the top: Top row left to right: Bob, Glenn and J. Bottom row left to right: Tom, myself and Kilei.

Hawaii Kai view

We made our way on the Koolau Summit Ridge Trail to meet up with Marcus and the other hikers he was “qualifying.”

Are we missing somebody?

Even experienced hikers can get lost or dis-oriented. As the trail meanders along the Koolau’s, there is a junction where you are supposed to take a right if you want to head down the Tom-Tom trail. However, the junction is not that clearly marked, so some folks follow the more obvious trail as it curves left towards Kamiloiki Ridge. This is what happened to Kilei who got separated from our group. Luckily, we were all re-united several hours later.

Who’s that down there?

We soon spotted the Caveman at one of the “proving grounds” that he uses to break-in new hikers to the group.

Falling rocks!

The new J clause that was created today. Never find yourself directly underneath a climber that is either going up or down if possible. Right after I took this picture, several rocks were dis-lodged that showered J who was checking out the geo-cache at the bottom.

Survivor of the Caveman Proving Grounds

The large rock that J is holding narrowly missed his head and bounced off his leg instead. He was very lucky that somebody was watching over him.

Caveman qualified

The graduating class of April 20, 2013 – Caveman qualified.

Top of Tom-Tom trail

Standing left to right: Glen, Lori, Bob, Kilei, Tom, J and Marcus. Sitting left to right: Kevin, Jessica, Will, myself, Kim, Leilani and Sara.

Going down the Tom-Tom trail

There were a couple more spots that Marcus took his crew to check out their climbing skills and then we all went down the Tom-Tom trail and back to our cars.

GPS tracks

The 3.8 mile hike took us a little under 5 hours, that included spending time at the proving grounds and recovering one of our “lost” hikers. Main thing was that everybody came out safe and had fun.

Chris and Kevin joined me today on a short and fun exploratory hike around the affluent Portlock area. I picked them up from the small dirt lot by the Hanauma Bay bus stop and drove past McMansions to park on Hanapepe Loop.

China Walls

Walking down the grassy slope of Koko Kai Beach Park and making our way through the trees, revealed a scene of high tides lapping at the base of the rocks. I had mis-read the tide table and had should have started the hike several hours later instead of at 9:30am. Oh well, time to get our feet wet.

Cave exploring

Kevin and myself exploring one of the numerous caves that dotted the coastline. Photo by Chris Hiona.

The other side

We briefly considered trying going through the cave, but decided to contour around the rocks instead. There is even some kind of bizarre goat skulls lookout on top of these rocks!

Jumbled rocks

There was one rock formation jutting out into the ocean that forced us to time the waves so that we could safely pass around it. It would also help to have tabi’s or reef walkers while walking on these slippery slabs of rocks, we just had to take it slow and safe.

Wave action

The waves were pounding the rocks today. Never turn your back on the ocean as the waves and currents can drag you out in the blink of an eye. On top of that, we were hiking during high tide!

Hello there!

The waves over countless and repeated poundings gave this area it’s unique carved look.

Spitting Caves

No spitting today. Didn’t see any jumpers willing to take the plunge from where Chris and Kevin are standing at. I heard you have to time it just right. There have been drownings in this area and China Walls over the years.

Leaving civilization behind

Leaving behind the million dollar homes with the million dollar views as we ascended up Koko Head.

Headed up Koko Head

As we were climbing up, there was a commotion in the water behind us. It turned out to be several whales breaching the water, quite the show.

Paraglider

We saw several paragliders catching thermals off the rocky skin of Koko Head and circling and skimming above  our heads.

Circle of LIfe?

Top of Koko Head.

Makai bound

Walking down the clearly marked trail and leaving the communication towers behind us.

Honeycombed rocks

As we made our way down towards the ocean, we met a mountain biker who was coming up! Talk about making your own trails.

Land Bridge

Three of us sitting on this often photographed land bridge with the water churning like a washing machine below us. It seems to have become quite the spot to get your picture taken at lately. We were no different.

Koko Head Marker

Taking a pose next to this weather beaten obelisk with Koko Crater and Makapu’u in the background.

No charge for locals

Chris showing us the “back door” to get into Hanauma Bay.

Forgot our snorkels!

Here we are in the clear and cool waters of Hanauma Bay and no snorkels!

Coned off

As we walked up towards the parking lot, we noticed an Hawaiian monk seal sunbathing on the sand, oblivious to all the attention it was gathering from the beachgoers.

GPS Tracks

The 4.24 mile hike was a fun little excursion. Time well spent.

Rain canceled our Saturday Pali Notches to Piliwale Ridge hike, so I tagged along with Chris and Kaimi for a Sunday hike from Makapu’u to Kamiloiki Ridge. Chris picked me up from Waioli Street and we met Kaimi at the Makapu’u lookout. Even security was there in the wee hours of the morning, in the form of Honolulu’s finest. Assured that our cars were safe as long as the donuts and coffee didn’t run out, we crossed Kalanianaole Highway around 6:14am to start our hike. 

Early Goats

We made our way up the rocky ridge following the chain link fence with danger signs plastered over them. As soon as we crested the top of the ridge, we noticed a herd of goats below us. After noticing our presence, they scampered away on their sure-footed hooves towards Sea Life Park. Now that’s what you call extreme hikers. 

Koko Crater

As we made our way along the ridgeline, views of Koko Crater and Kalama Valley opened up. 

Makapu'u Puka

The ridge soon robbed us of the elevation we had just gained, as we climbed down and took a brief break at the Puka. 

Makai Pier, Manana and Kaohikaipu Islands

We started climbing again as we made our way to Kamehame Ridge where a bird’s eye view of the Makai Pier, Rabbit and Turtle Islands greeted us. The sun also started coming out from the clouds, turning my face a bright beet red, despite the sunscreen that I had sprayed on earlier. In my opinion, this stretch of the Koolau’s is one of the hottest, rivaling those on the Waianae side.

Hang Glider Platform

No actual libation was involved in the making of this photograph at the second hang glider platform. 

Kamiloiki Stairs

We came down the steps from the second hang glider platform and made a right on the paved road which would lead us to the abandoned Nike Missile Station. Right before the locked gates, is a unlocked side gate that we went through to check out the Kamiloiki “Hidden” Stairs which like the Haiku Hidden Stairs only goes down partially towards Kamiloiki Valley.

Communication Tower

In an apparent oversight, some of the communication towers at the old Nike Missile Site are gated while others aren’t. Even the ones that are gated, can be easily circumvented as Chris ably demonstrates. 

Dead Man's Cat Walk

I have the runway, now all I need is a parachute.

Hang Glider

After waiting almost an hour at the Dead Man’s Cat Walk, one of the hang gliders took off from the second platform and put on quite an aerial show with his spins and turns. 

Waimanalo

Going down the saddle and climbing out of it, we made our way up to the grove of ironwood trees on the other side that would serve as our lunch spot.

Paragliders

As we munched on our bananas, granola bars and M&Ms; as that’s all the lunch wagon had left, a trio of paragliders circled lazily overhead. 

Panoramic view of Hawaii Kai and Waimanalo

 Click here to see the larger image.

Kamiloiki Ridge

We soon came to the summit of Kamiloiki Ridge and made our way down the ridge and came across a still smoldering campfire on the trail. Smokey says, “Only you can prevent forest fires.”

Pahua Heiau

The heat was bouncing off the clouds and rocks as we finally made our way down to the end of the trail which is marked by the Pahua Heiau. After we got into my car, we made a run for the border – Soft Taco’s and XL drinks with no ice.

This was our second chunk of the Koolau Summit Trail that we started last month. Today we only had half of the horsemen in attendance, Chance and myself. We checked in at the Hawaii Loa gated community and was told that they let visitors with Hawaii ID in once the sun was up. This contradicts what an earlier guard told us, which was 7:00am. We have a failure to communicate. Go with the 7:00am. We drove all the way to the top and into Paka Nahele Park and discovered we were the first of only 10 cars they allow up here.

Mariner's Ridge

We left my car at the park and drove in my friends car to the top of Kaluanui Road to start our hike to Mariner’s Ridge. Since we were early, we shared the trail with only a couple other hikers. Usually the place is packed with hikers going up and down the trail with their kids and dogs taking point. We got to the top of Mariner’s Ridge in half an hour and debated about continuing the hike as the weather looked sketchy.

Koolau Summit Trail

After spending some time watching the clouds rolling in from the ocean and talking story with some other hikers on the ridge, we decided to continue the hike by climbing down a small rockface to get on the Koolau Summit Trail.

Haha'ione Valley

The trail turned into crumbly rock and dirt as we made our way past Haha’ione Valley on our left. You can see Mariner’s Ridge on the left and Kuli’ou’ou Ridge on the right.

Koolau Mountains

As we made our way to Kuli’ou’ou, the trail became vegetated again and the clouds started to mask the top of the Koolaus. I was just hoping that Mother Nature wouldn’t decide to turn the faucet on while we were hiking up here.

Toy Soldiers

Somebody marked this particular stretch of the trail with toy plastic soldiers stapled to tree branches and cacti. They reminded me of the toy soldiers found on top of Pu’u Hapapa.

Power Lines

Here we are passing the first set of power lines that sits on top of the Koolaus. Luckily HECO work crews were not scheduled for today, as I heard they have to stop work when hikers are around for obvious safety reasons.

Kuli'ou'ou Summit

After passing a second set of power lines, we soon got to the top of Kuli’ou’ou where there was a bunch of people checking out the views. The Kuli’ou’ou hike is quite popular and can get very crowded on the weekends. After a short break, we continued past the warning signs where the trail started to get a little narrow and the drops seemed more pronounced.

Panoramic view from Kuli'ou'ou

Click here for a larger image of the view from the Kuli’ou’ou lookout.

Bear Claw

This is the lookout point where the Bear Claw trail from Waimanalo ends here at the top. Another hike to do on our bucket list.

Eroded trail

We came across this eroded part of the trail that looked the same from the last time I did this hike. The bark is worse than the bite, if you know what I mean.

Pu'u o Kona

The view from Pu’u o Kona was actually a lot better than the one we had at the Kuli’ou’ou summit. After taking another short break, we took a little while to find the trail that would allow us to continue the hike. It’s actually not marked, but we just basically followed the ridge to get back on track.

Kulepeamoa Ridge

The trail after Pu’u o Kona seemed less traveled and closer to the steep windward drop offs, so we concentrated more on watching our steps on the narrow and heavily vegetated trail and less on picture taking. We soon reached the top of Kulepeamoa Ridge which connects down into Niu Valley if so desired.

Hawaii Loa Summit

Chowing down at the top of Hawaii Loa, the lookout area is quite small but there was nobody else but us to share in the clouded view.

Headed down Hawaii Loa Ridge

It took us about two hours to get back to our car, along the way down we passed an abundance of red ohia lehua trees. In Hawaiian legend, Ohia and Lehua were lovers. Pele had eyes for Ohia, but he scorned her and hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. So she turned Ohia into a tree and the other gods took pity on Lehua and turned her into a flower to put on Ohia. We didn’t pluck any lehua flowers as it is said that when they are separated, the heavens fill with their tears which turns into rain. Trust me, you don’t want to come down from the top of Hawaii Loa ridge in muddy conditions.

This was my third time hiking Koko Crater. The first time I walked up and down the tram tracks. The second time we had hiked up the side of Koko Crater and walked down the tram tracks. This time, the plan was to climb up the side of Koko Crater and go down the rim and end up in Koko Crater Botanical Gardens.

Fishing Shrine

We staged one car at the Koko Crater Botanical Gardens which is right off Kealahou Street by the Queen’s Gate neighborhood in Hawaii Kai and drove to the parking lot for the Halona Blowhole to start our hike. The trailhead is roughly across the Japanese fishing shrine that is now maintained by Vietnamese Buddhists. There are no colored ribbons to mark the way, but the trail itself is well traveled and hard to miss.

Going up the crater side

We started off on the relatively flat and rocky ridge that connects to the crater walls and then we started the gradual climb up Koko Crater.

The arch

The rock arch spans a gulch that is roughly in the middle of the climb up the crater. The easiest way to get over the arch is on the left hand side where there are some steps that look like they were carved into the tuff lava.

Hanauma Bay

The climb and our breathing got a little harder after the arch, as we neared the top, Hanauma Bay and Koko Head came into view. We also passed three hikers coming down from the top, other than that we had the trail all to ourselves. Besides Mount Olympus, going up the stairs at Koko Crater was the only other hike I’ve done that has so much foot traffic.

Makapu'u Point

Headed towards the summit, we could see the botanical garden inside the crater and Makapu’u Point in the distance.

View from the top

We made the summit at 1,208 feet in under an hour. As usual, the top was packed with people, attesting to it’s popularity with the local crowd. 

Going down the rim

Going down the crater rim was marked with a gradual descent punctuated by rocky formations that we either climbed or contoured around.

Crater rim wall

We came across part of the crater wall that looked like it was fractured or split apart. That’s what I love about ridge hikes, you get fantastic views and interesting scenery to boot. You also have to stay focused and keep that mental edge, otherwise you may fall off that edge.

Koko Crater Botanical Garden

We ended the two and a half hour hike amongst the sweet smell of plumeria trees in Koko Crater Botanical Garden.

Wanting to do a twist on the Kamiloiki hike that I had done over a month ago, and not wanting to thrash my legs again, we decided to hike from Kamiloiki ridge to Makapu’u. We parked one car at the Makapu’u lookout and then drove to find parking on Waioli Street , where we walked up Makahuena Place to start our hike.

Pahua Heiau

I never knew or imagined that an ancient Hawaiian temple or heiau was located smack dab in the middle of the sleepy suburbs in Hawaii Kai. But then again, the temple was here long before Henry Kaiser turned Kuapa Pond into his planned residential development in East Oahu. The trailhead starts from the left side of the heiau, where we followed the trail through hale koa and dried grass to make the top of the ridgeline.

Rainbow over Kuapa pond

We quickly gained elevation and saw this beautiful rainbow over a drastically shrunken Kuapa Pond and Hawaii Kai neighborhood.

Rain over Kamiloiki Valley

Rainbows do not exist without raindrops, as we were about to find out when several passing clouds dumped rain on us as we walked on the exposed part of the ridge.  As we neared the summit, clumps of trees provided much needed shade from the hot sun, which quickly replaced the rain.

Waimanalo

We made the summit in about two hours, where blue skies greeted us along with views of Mount Olomana and Waimanalo.

Abandoned Nike Missile Site

We then followed the trail to the right which descended into a saddle and then back up to the ridge where the abandoned Nike Missile Site sits. It looks steep from afar, but once you get up close and personal, it’s just another climb up the mountain. Nothing to get excited about. Well, that’s what I kept telling my friend.

Koko Crater and Koko Head

After making our way through the abandoned Nike missile complex and checking out the views of Koko Crater and Hawaii Kai, we followed the paved road until we found the ribbon marking the Makapu’u trail on our left. Climbing up the dirt steps, we saw one of two hang gliding platforms which had fantastic views of the ocean and the Waimanalo coastline. Speaking of hang gliding platforms, that reminds me that I better use my Groupon coupon for paragliding lessons before it expires in November.

Rabbit Island

This part of the trail until Makapu’u is completely exposed, there is no shade from the withering sun. We brought sunscreen but failed to use it, so much for the supposed intelligence of some higher primates.

Makapu'u Puka

There is a natural rock formation coming down the trail that is called the Makapu’u Puka, which can also be seen from the road down below. Hawaiian legend has it that an archer saw a rat on the ridge and shot it with his arrow from his canoe, thus creating the hole that exists today. We also met another group that was doing the hike from the opposite way, after talking story a little bit, we went our opposite ways.

Makapu'u Lighthouse

We could see the Makapu’u Lighthouse in the distance, which was established in 1909 and has the largest lighthouse lens in the country.

Makapu'u Lookout

After hiking six hours in the hot sun and rocky cliffs, we arrived back at the Makapu’u Lookout. Now we had to complete the most dangerous part of the hike, crossing the road without getting hit or run over by the speeding cars.

This was my second hike to Mount Olympus, a trail that is a town favorite as evidenced by the abundance of hikers on the trail. The first hike was with the HTMC which was marked by rain, clouds and not making the summit. This time I was determined to reach the summit and hoped Mother Nature would cooperate and clear the clouds at the summit.

Trailhead

 We drove to the top of St.Louis Heights and parked at the Wa’ahila State Recreation Park which opens their gates at 7am daily. If you get there early, you can park outside and still walk inside.

Trail

The clearly marked trail goes up and down several times that are punctuated with rocky areas and the ever present strawberry guava trees whose fallen fruit had been trampled by countless hikers before us to release their strong, sweet smell.

Manoa Valley

We soon saw views of the city with Manoa valley taking center stage.

Up or down?

This marked the end of the lower trail, so we took the trail to the right to continue our hike to Mt. Olympus. The trail to the left continues down to Manoa Valley.

Palolo Valley

View of Palolo valley with Diamond Head in the background. Looking ahead we saw that the top of Mount Olympus was alternating between clouds and blue skies. We hoped to catch the latter when we made the summit.

Cloudy Mount Olympus

The last part of the trail is a somewhat steep hill that is mostly dirt, luckily there was a grassy trail to the left that we used to make the final push towards the summit. Clouds greeted us as we made the top of Mount Olympus at 2,486 feet. We stayed at the top for awhile hoping that the clouds would pass, we got several teasing glimpses of the windward side and then rain convinced us to turn back and go home.

NOTE: The Pahua Heia grounds are OFF-LIMITS as this is a sacred temple ground. Please respect the area and find other ways to access the ridge. Mahalo!

Unable to find any hiking buddies this weekend, I decided to do what I thought would be an easy hike by myself – Kaimiloiki Ridge. That’s what I get for thinking. I parked my car on Waioli Street in Hawaii Kai and walked up Makahuena Place where the Pahua Heiau marked the start of the trailhead.

Pahua Heiau

The trail starts to the left of this agricultural Hawaiian temple built circa 1400 and restored in 1985. I picked my way carefully as I made my way up the rock face and climbed several switchbacks to gain the ridge.

Kuapa Pond

Looking back at Kuapa Pond from the ridge, this ancient Hawaiian fishpond used to harbor over 500 acres until it was dredged to form the residential tract known as Hawaii Kai today.

Kamilonui Valley

Going up the ridge, I could see the few remaining farms in Kamilonui Valley to my left. I wonder if they are still going to be around after their Bishop Estate leases expire in 2025.

Got Marshmallows?

After walking along the grassy and rocky trail for about an hour, I entered an ironwood grove and passed this campfire spot, where there was enough dry tinder lying around to light up more than just a campfire.

Waimanalo

The trail flattens out a bit before a short, steep climb to the summit that tops out around 1,200 feet. This is the perfect spot to grab a bite as you’re afforded a birds eye view of Olomana and the town of Waimanalo.

Abandoned Nike Missile Launchers

After a short rest and not wanting to turn back, as this is where the usual Kamiloiki trail ends, I went down a saddle and went up the ridge where the abandoned Nike Missile Launchers loomed above me.

Kamiloiki Valley

After pushing my way through chest high grass, a taste of what was to come, the trail opened up to the abandoned missile complex site. I followed the fenceline until I found an unlocked gate and found some stairs that I didn’t know existed. I thought, all right, it’s the Hawaii Kai version of Haiku Stairs! The stairs soon petered out and my descent into hiking hell began.

Where is the trail?

I was trying to find the trail that connects Kamiloiki Ridge with the Valley. Key word of the day – try. I actually found a few ribbons as I tried to maintan the ridgeline going down, but I was soon detoured by countless rock faces, kiawe trees and shrubs that shredded my legs. Lucky I’m not a leg model or I would need to find another day job. Towards the end, I had to push my way though thick, chest high grass which just drained me on top of a typical hot Hawaii Kai day. After three exhausting hours, I finally climbed over the fence and followed the drainage ditch to solid ground, where I made my way back to my car. I’m sure glad that hike was over!

After catching the cloudy sunrise at the beach that ushered in the New Year, I met up with the Hawaiian Trail and Mountain Club at the Halona Blowhole parking lot. Every New Year’s Day, the club hikes the back of Koko Crater. After being told the obligatory “hike at your own risk” speech and the most dangerous part of the hike is crossing the highway to dodge rushing cars, we started off with a group that numbered in the 40s.

The knob

After we crossed the road, we climbed up the connecting ridge that lead to the main slope of Koko Crater. The trail naturally lead to the pointy rock formation sticking up from the crater rim or more commonly known as “the knob.”

The arch

This is a natural stone arch that spanned a gully. An advance party had strung up some rope to help us get over the arch. It was a nice touch as club members were wishing everyone Happy New Year as they helped us scramble over the arch.

The rim

As soon as we hit the knob, we made a left and started for the summit. I personally thought that hiking up the back crater of the rim was much easier than going up the tram tracks.

Scenic view

Once everyone was gathered at the top, some of the club members had brought along non-alcoholic champagne to toast the New Year. Another nice touch.

Going down

Here we are headed down the tram tracks and running into a bottleneck, as hikers going up and down meet at the part where the tracks bridge a gully. Some hikers elected to take the more sure-footed trail to the left as seen in the picture above.

"Secret" Tunnel

After we hit the bottom of the tracks, we took a trail that lead us past the Shooting Range, which was the driving reason the city tried to close the Koko Crater hike back in 2008. They cited the potential danger from errant bullets hitting hikers, even though there have been no reported close calls. Luckily, the city changed their mind about the closure, for now. After getting back on the highway leading back to the Blowhole, we passed a scenic sign point and then hopped over the guardrail into a gully. The gully lead us into a tunnel that went under the highway, luckily we entered while it was still low tide, I’m not sure if the tunnel is submerged during high tide, nor did I want to find out.

Splash

We walked in the semi-dark tunnel for about 15-20 feet before emerging on the other side to be greeted by waves crashing onto the shoreline.

Fishing Shrine

The Honolulu Japanese Fishing Club put this lava boulder with a Buddhist guardian, Jizo, carved into the West face in 1939. Overlooking Bamboo Ridge and Halona Point, the shrine was to protect the fishermen. Since 2007, Vietnamese Buddhists began to take care of the shrine after they placed a statue of Quan Am Nam Hai, a Vietnamese goddess on the South side.

Halona Cove

Looking down into Halona Cove. This beach is famous for the iconic scene with Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr in the movie “From Here to Eternity.”

Halona Blowhole

We approached the Blowhole from the beach side. Respectful of the ocean, we kept our distance from the natural lava rock spout that can shoot seawater up to 20 feet in the air. You can also see the white warning sign that marks where fishermen have drowned in the past. Back in 2002, a California tourist straddled the hole and got sucked in and died. His family filed a lawsuit against the State, claiming that not enough signs were posted to warn people about the dangerous conditions and also petitioned to have a metal grate installed over the hole. I’m sorry for his loss, but not for his lack of common sense. Why is that people can not just take accountability for themselves and their actions, and instead try to assign responsibility to others? The entire hike took around three hours and is relatively easy, it was a nice leisurely hike to start the New Year.