Having done Warrior Dash and Makahiki Challenge last year, I was not too impressed with the obstacles. They were both fun, but not that challenging. I heard the Spartan Race was different and tougher. When Chris put out the call to join his team for the Spartan race, I decided to see if the course lived up to its hype.

We are Spartans!

Kreyz Oshiro, radio personality from Island 98.5, exhorting everybody to be Spartans. Let’s do this!

Stairs

Running and walking on the stadium stairs. Down. Up. Repeat.

No stairs!

Heading towards the spiral walkways.

Bear crawl up

Crawling and ducking underneath the strings.

Stairs again

Up in the nose bleed section.

Walls

Climbing over walls. At least no stairs. For now.

Aloha Stadium

Making our way around the stadium.

Tire pull

Pulling up tires. Drop it slowly, otherwise get a nasty rope burn.

Bear crawl down

It was easier crawling down than up. Something to do with gravity.

Jerry cans

Carrying buckets filled with sloshing water as we went down, across and up the stairs. Some folks carried two buckets. I was fine with my one bucket.

Traverse wall

Scooting on small blocks across a wall and ringing a bell. Running around in a man-made maze in the stadium. Why does this sound Pavlovian?

Hercules hoist

Hoisting up a bucket filled with sand and rocks. They had lighter ones for women. Hope I picked the correct gender assigned bucket.

Monkey bars

Swinging on the bars. Failure to be met with 30 burpees. Failure is not an option.

Football toss

Playing Monday Morning QB. Yes, I’m using it out of context. Had nothing else. Literally. Drop and give me 15 burpees.

Spear throw

Trying to stick it. Nope. Drop and give me 15 burpees.

Walls

Let’s climb more walls.

Musical chairs

Sitting on each chair in the row without using your hands. Pays to have a heavy bottom for this one.

Movie seats

Remember doing this in the movie theaters when you wanted to change seats without having to go back in the aisle? Finally paid off.

Trio of walls

Over, under and through. Let’s try to follow instructions.

Box jumps

Start hopping and give me 15.

Burpees!?!

Drop and give me 15 burpees. Just because.

Rope climb

Climbing on either the knotted or un-knotted ropes. Ring the bell at the top. So close, yet so far.

Release push-ups

Give me 15 release push ups! You don’t know what they are? Let me demonstrate!

Cargo net

Clambering up and down. Watch your feet, that’s my face.

Hurdle

“You’re almost at the finish line!” Get outta my way then.

Pugil sticks

Running straight down the middle to the finish line.

Grab your medals and T-shirts

Group photo at the finish line, standing left to right: Albert, Sheldon and myself. Kneeling left to right: Chris and James.

It’s not free?

Looking at a finisher riding the zip line. You had to pay $35 one way or $50 round trip. I paid enough already.

GPS Tracks

The course was a little over 4 miles, round and round through the stadium, which lived up to its hype. This was only the entry level course in the Spartan “Family” – the others being Spartan Super and Beast. Great fun with a great team. Next time, if there’s a next time, I will train and not just wing it.

I had a free week off in between jobs, so I visited my parents on the Big Island and squeezed in a couple of fun hikes.

Kaumana Caves

My first stop was Kaumana Caves which is a 15-20 minute drive from downtown Hilo.  The place has a sheltered picnic table, restrooms and drinking water. All the comforts a hiker can ask for.

Watch your step

Steep stairs descended into a mini-rain forest sprouting out of the breach of a 25 mile long lava tube that was created by an 1881 lava flow from Mauna Loa.

The right cave

I explored the smaller cave opening to the right side first.

Come to the dark side

Making my way down into the cave, the light soon left me, to be replaced by total darkness. Pitch black. Not a speck of light. Except for my headlamp.  

Got light?

The cave narrowed considerably at times, forcing me to duck and even crawl on all fours. I bumped my head more than once. On the solid lava ceiling. Ouch. 

Drip. drip. drip.

The constant dripping of water was my only company on this hike. Lava stalactites that were formed during the 1881 lava flow.

Grafitti!

Grafitti in the cave. Didn’t see no petroglyphs. Lighting was a problem. After stumbling in the semi-darkness for half an hour, I turned around.

The batcave!

I made my way to the larger cave opening on the left side.

Going down the rabbit hole

Appearances can be deceiving. The larger opening lead to a smaller opening.

Crawling is mandatory

I crawled under a ledge to start my second cave exploration.

Follow the lava tube

It was cool, literally, to be inside a pitch black lava tube, with only a headlamp to help navigate. It’s not just a hike, it’s an adventure.

Left or right?

Unlike the cave on the right, this one had sections with ceilings that looked at least 40′ high and even split lava tubes.

Time to turn back

Soon the cave floor became a maze of jagged and jumbled lava rocks, time for me to turn around. One could probably make a day of exploring the entire length of the caves in both directions. Just make sure you have backup on top of backup lights. Without lights, it would not be safe and fun getting out of there.

No rainbow?

I drove down the road to Wailuku River State Park for the easiest hike to a waterfall yet. Can’t even call it a hike. You park and Rainbow Falls is there, literally. No rainbows were present but at least the falls were gushing. Sometimes Mother Nature turns the waterfalls off due to lack of rain.  

Rainbow Falls

Rainbow Falls is also known as Waianuenue in Hawaiian. There is a trail by the sign that will take you to the top of the falls.

Wailuku River

There are another set of falls further upstream, known as Peepee Falls which feeds the famous pools known as Boiling Pots. Another hike for another day.

Top of the falls

Checking out the 80 foot drop. Now it was off to have an early dinner with my parents at Lava Rock Café. Try their Southern Fried Chicken. Tasty.

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.

1:30pm starting time + traffic = not going to make it. I had persuaded Glenn to sign up for the Warrior Dash, which is a 3 mile obstacle course which benefits the St. Jude Hospital. But first we had to get to Dillingham Ranch in Waialua on the North Shore, where the race was being held. Traffic was backed up all the way on Kaukonahua Road due to an earlier accident. To make matters worse, Glenn’s empty fuel tank alarm had just gone off. Luckily, we made it to a gas station in Haleiwa and took the back roads to Dillingham Ranch, where we merged with cars either parking on Farrington Highway to save the $10 in parking fees or parking on the ranch grounds.

Grab your horns and start running!

We made our way towards the booths to pick up our registration packets and faux viking hats. It seemed that nobody cared or checked what starting times people were in, as we just made our way to the starting line. We had to wait about 15 minutes before our batch was released onto the course at 2:30pm. Just as we passed under the start banner and the twin puffs of fire, Mother Nature turned on the sprinklers.

Obstacle #1 – Barricade Breakdown

Jogging and walking the first mile in rain got the trail nice and muddy. The rain stopped as we got to the first obstacle. Climbing over and under barricades. Warm up.

Water Break #1

Water already? Just enough to moisten the mouth and spit the rest out.

Obstacle #2 – Storming Normandy

On our hands and knees. Crawling under a net and weaving in between obstacles with butts in your face. Hoping nobody would butt burp.

Obstacle #3 – Mud Mounds

Lamest obstacle on the course. Bunch of mud piles. Most runners just passed on the edge. Including myself.

Obstacle #4 – Mud Trenches

A quick crawl underneath wooden planks. Ho-hum. Where are the obstacles?

Obstacle #5 – Cliffhanger?

Going up and over, slowed by some girls who were afraid of heights. Are you kidding me?

Obstacle #6 – Leader’s Ledge?

Now this was fun. Balancing on foot wide planks going up and down. A nice splash on the bottom if you trip and fall.

Obstacle #7 – Mud Slope

Running down the muddy slope and back up the slippery slope.

Obstacle #8 – Vicious Valley

Climbing up mud encrusted blocks of wood over and over. Mud made it a bit slippery to climb up. I got some mud on my GoPro here and it stayed with me until the very end. Gotta rub some Rain-X on my case next time.

Water Break #2

Used the water to rinse my muddy hands. Why bother? Use the grass instead.

Obstacle #9 – Deadweight Drifter

Taking a cold plunge in chest high waters and pulling your water soaked body over these floats.

Obstacle #10 – Hard Rain

Time to take a shower while climbing over this obstacle.

Obstacle #11 – Cargo Climb

Climbing the cargo net. Just like back in the Army days, only easier.

Obstacle #12 – Warrior Roast

Jumping over two small fire lines. Marshmallows anybody?

Obstacle #13 – Muddy Mayhem

Nothing like a cool and refreshing mud bath while floating to the finish line, underneath barbed wire.

Don’t forget your medal!

Almost missed the folks giving out the medals. Where’s my turkey leg?!

The Last Obstacle

Standing in a sea of mud caked runners waiting to rinse off. Waiting my turn probably took longer than the entire race! This was a fun race, expected more challenging obstacles but hey it was all for good fun and a good cause.

Exploring Mauna Lahilahi on the Waianae side is a nice little climb up the world’s smallest mountain. I wouldn’t by any stretch, call this a hike. Glenn and I met Chris on Lahilahi Street and went over the rock wall. Sign says the park is open from 5am to 10pm, but the gates were still locked at 7:00am. Hawaiian time.

Which trail shall we take up?

There appeared to be several trails that leads up to the top, some from the ocean and mountain sides. We took the most obvious trail going up on the mountain side.

Nice little climb

We made short work of the rocky hill. It’s not very challenging at all, although there are some spots you can climb, otherwise just contour around the rock formations.

Top of Mauna Lahilahi

We arrived at the 230′ summit roughly 10 minutes after we had started from the bottom.

Looking towards Kaena Point

A nice view looking towards Kaena Point and the semi-private beach below us. We saw a guy doing his early morning stand up paddle boarding and a dolphin excursion boat skipping along the deep blue waters, country living at it’s finest.

Sun breaking over the mountains

Catching the sunrise breaking over the Waianae mountain range.

Deep blue Pacific Ocean

Looking at the end of Mauna Lahilahi or “thin mountain” extend and drop into the Pacific Ocean, this view offers a closer and different perspective than most other climbs and hikes that we have done.

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.

Pop trivia question. What is the highest mountain in the world? If you answered Mount Everest, try again. It’s Mauna Kea located on the Big Island in the Hawaiian Island chain. If you measure Mauna Kea from the bottom of the ocean, it rises a staggering 33,500 feet which towers over Mount Everest’s 29,029 feet. Yes, only 13,796 feet of the volcano protrudes from the Pacific Ocean; but it still holds the title. We flew into Hilo and piled into my father’s friends 4×4 which would take us to the top. We went over Saddle Road, once notorious for it’s bad conditions, now suprisingly smooth and straight in most places.

Onizuka Visitor Center

We got to the Onizuka Visitor Center which is located on the slopes at an elevation of 9,199 feet. After about 30 minutes of getting acclimatized to the high altitude, we set out for the summit.

Mauna Loa

Looking back at Mauna Loa, which is the world’s largest shield volcano and tops out at 13,679 feet. One day, I plan on hiking the historic Ainapo Trail to the summit of Mokuaweoweo.

Bringing home Xmas

We passed local residents shoveling snow into the back of their pickups to take home for the keiki ( children ) to play in, a holiday Hawaiian treat.

Mauna Kea Observatories

As we drove up the road, some of the observatories popped into sight. I believe they are from left to right; Maxwell, Gemini, Subaru and the Keck Observatories.

Submillimeter Arrays

We saw several snowboarders trudging up the snow covered slopes in search of that perfect “pineapple snow.” I believe there are several areas to ski/snowboard with colorful names such as Poi Bowl, Pele’s Parlor, Warrior’s Run, Alii Run and the King Kamehameha Run.

Panoramic view from the top

Click here to see the larger image taken from the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope.

Snowball fight?

The snow at the top of Mauna Kea was not fine like Matsumoto’s Shave Ice, but rather coarse and granular ice. The only things I forgot to do when I was up there was make a snowman and snow angel.

This was our second attempt at hiking Palehua Ridge in the Waianae Mountain Range. A week earlier, we had drove to the end of Umena Street at the top of Makakilo and had obtained the combination to the gate, which Camp Timberline changes every month, which soon lead to another locked gate, but no key. So we parked our truck and walked up and down the road in a frustrating attempt to find the trailhead. Not knowing that we had literally come within yards of the trailhead when we had walked to the top communications site. Luckily, the Palehua Ranch caretaker found us and politely told us that nobody is allowed to be walking on Palehua Road, as it’s considered private and leads to scores of homes sitting on land leased from the Campbell Estate. He told us that for a $100 deposit and signing a liability waiver form, he would give us the key to the second gate which would allow us to drive all the way to the top of the upper communications site where the trailhead was located. Being beat, we said we would do it another day, which was today. After we parked our van at the top, we found the trailhead, which is to the right of the communication buildings. The stairs lead us to a bamboo grove which leads to a knob called Mauna Kapu.

Nanakuli Valley

Reached the top of Maunu Kapu, which means “Sacred Mountain” in Hawaiian.

Boulder Tunnel

Scrambling through some large boulders stacked on top of each other, making it sort of a boulder tunnel.

Cook Island Pine Trees

Walking a narrow trail to the stand of pine trees in the distance. After we got within the pine trees, there is a large fenced area that we climbed over, I believe it’s meant to keep the feral pigs out.

Palikea

Arrived at the summit of Palikea at 3,098 feet, which is marked by a clump of ti leaf plants. It took us about an hour to reach the summit, luckily the trailhead starts at about 2,200 feet, so we only gained about 800 feet in elevation. You can see Lualualei Valley and Makaha in the distance.

Waianae Mountain Range

Looking back at where we came from, it’s the two communication towers poking up from the ridgeline in the middle. Soon after this, things took a turn for the worse. We got lost and were just trying to follow the fence and the colored ribbons fluttering from the tree branches. We were stumbling around for three hours, before we finally found our bearings and re-traced our steps back to the trailhead. We were trying to find the trail that is supposed to loop past an abandoned cabin and come out at the lower communications site.

Pearl Harbor

Walking down the trail, we caught this great view of Pearl Harbor or Pu’uloa in Hawaiian, which means long hill, home to the shark goddess, Ka’ahupahau. Diamond Head and the Ko’olau Mountain Range can also be seen in the distance. This hike is relatively easy, as there is not much gain in elevation, as your car does most of the climbing up the mountain. Just don’t get lost, like we did. Then again, sometimes half the fun of hiking is just walking around and exploring, as long as you can get back and don’t have to call 911!

Haiku Stairs or Haiku Ladder or Stairway to Heaven is one of the “outlaw” hikes on the island. The State closed the hike to the public in 1987 when vandals and years of hiking took its toll on the stairs making it unsafe. Yet in 2002, the State spent a reported $875,000 to fix the stairs to avoid liability as people continued to hike the stairs, but failed to get an agreement over land access, so the stairs remains closed to the public. Determined not to let our tax dollars go to waste, we got up before the crack of dawn and parked in Haiku Valley. This was our second attempt to climb Haiku Stairs, as almost a month ago we were turned away by the guard that watches over the trailhead. We slipped through the gates and found the well-trodden path going into a bamboo forest, popped into a clearing and went back into the bamboo forest. After going through the hole in the chain link fence and following the road to your right which takes you to the trailhead, we were in luck as the guard was not at his post yet, but found almost a dozen hikers ahead of us making their way around the gate that blocks the stairs.

Going up

Keep in mind that Haiku Stairs is on the windward side of the island, the side that rains a lot. Today was no exception. Going up the stairs, a passing rain shower dumped buckets of water on us and was gone after a couple of minutes.

Stairs and more stairs

The metal stairs are quite narrow, all 3,922 of them, which makes passing other hikers sometimes problematic. But it wasn’t a problem for us. If somebody stopped ahead of us, it was a good reason for us to catch our breath!

H3 Freeway

Stopping and looking back down, the H3 Freeway snakes through Kaneohe and disappears into the Koolau mountains. Resist the urge to wave to the cars below you, as some drivers have mistaken the friendly waves for distress signals and called 911.

Rainbows

There are five platforms on the way to the top, where you can take a well-deserved breather and take in the awesome sights, such as this triple rainbow that briefly appeared from the first platform.

Stairway to Heaven

As we left the first platform, the clouds started to roll in, obscuring the top. We were climbing into the clouds via the “Stairway to Heaven.”

Motivation

Some hikers have left inspiring messages on the handrails to keep you motivated to reach the top.

View to the North

Looking to the North, you can see from Kaneohe to Kaawa.

Kaneohe Bay

You can see Kanoehe Bay and Mokapu Peninsula, home to a Marine base, that partly encloses the Southern end.

View to the South

Looking into Kailua and the three peaks of Olomana.

Stairway to Heaven

The top of the mountain that stands at 2,720 feet. It took us close to two hours to reach the top. The view from the top was completely socked in with clouds, the view was actually better going up than when we got to the top.

Communications Control Link

The top of the CCL building which was once used to communicate with the Wahiawa communication station until it was closed back in the 1950’s. We waited around to see if the clouds would clear up, no such luck. Going back down the stairs took about an hour. The guard didn’t bother us when we got to the bottom, as he seems to be there to prevent people from going up, but I have heard that sometimes HPD is called to issue citations. The hike is moderately hard in terms of effort, but easy in the sense that it goes straight up and down and you have support in the form of the stairs and the rails. Also, please remember this hike is closed to the public.

Koko Crater at 1,028 feet high, dominates the Hawaii Kai skyline. If you look closely, you can usually find ants of people going up and down the mountain. After reading countless posts about what a great hike this is and how it beats a stairmaster, I decided to give it a try. After driving into Koko Head District Park and parking next to the baseball field named after Mike Goeas, a former police officer that founded the PAL football program in Hawaii Kai. I followed the road until I hit the tram tracks that starts the climb towards Koko Crater.

Trailhead

There are reputedly 1,048 railroad ties or steps to the top. The tram tracks was built by the Army during WW2 to haul supplies to the top of the mountain. And no, I didn’t bother to count the steps going up. I was too busy just trying to make it to the top!

The Bridge

About half-way to the top, the ground gives way to a gully that’s about 10-15 feet deep. So now, the tram tracks serves as a bridge of sorts. It was around this point, that I kicked myself for leaving my water bottle in the car. I thought I wouldn’t need it. Wrong! The sun beating down on me didn’t help matters much. I thought about going back to get the water, but knew if I did, that I wouldn’t be coming back. So after a break, I continued my climb to the top.

Back on solid ground!

About 50 feet or so, the gully ends and the tracks are back on solid ground. For those leery of heights or not as sure-footed, there is a trail to the right that goes around the gully and connects to the tracks when it meets solid ground again.

Give me some water!

I felt sorry for this dog, as he didn’t look too keen on making this climb. At least, he was going back down. Coming down, hikers and dogs have the right of way, just step to the side and let them pass.

Are we there yet?

I believe this is the steepest part of the mountain. When I finally made it to the top, I found two older women chatting away, congratulating me on getting to the top. They told me that they do this every week! I really need to get back into shape!

View from the top

It took me roughly 35 minutes to make it to the top of Koko Crater or Pu’u Ma’i. I heard the “regulars” shoot for 20 minutes and some even run up and down the tracks. I was happy with my time! You can see Kuapa Pond in Hawaii Kai and Diamond Head in the distance from the top of the abandoned heliport.

Hanauma Bay

Looking to the left, you can see the breached volcano crater of Hanauma Bay and the companion tuff cone of Koko Head.

Botanical Garden

Peering over the crater rim of 200 acres of the Koko Crater Botanical Garden, looks all the same from up here! You can also see Makapu’u Point in the distance. After soaking in the views, it was time to go back down and guzzle my water that I left in my car! This hike is relatively easy, as it’s straight going up and down, parts of the ground supporting the tram tracks are eroded and you just have to watch your step, especially going down and always bring water.