I met up again with the Hawaiian Trail and Mountain Club at the Makapu’u Point or Ka Iwi State Scenic Shoreline parking lot. The lot fills up real fast, as late comers ended up parking on the outside road. After a quick introduction, we started on the the paved trail that goes up to Makapu’u Point and shortly after the entrance, we struck off onto a dirt trail that lead us to the rocky coast.

Pele's Chair

We stopped at this natural lava rock formation known as Pele’s Chair, for obvious reasons. Legend has it that this was the last place Pele, a Hawaiian goddess of fire, lighting, dance and volcanoes, was on Oahu before she left to find her home on the Big Island. Climbing down towards the coastline, we spotted a monk seal sunbathing on the rocks, perfectly camouflaged unless you looked and squinted real hard.

Tide pools

The Makapu’u coastline is dotted with numerous tide pools teeming with marine life. Expect to get your feet wet. Or you can be like these hikers and contour these rocks to get around the tide pools. Just don’t slip, otherwise you may get more than your feet wet.

Splish Splash

Besides getting wet, we had to watch and time the ocean waves that were crashing onto the shoreline, when crossing parts of the Makapu’u coast. Some of these waves looked like they could wash you out to sea, if you’re not careful.

Cave

We all took a break at this cave and ventured inside to take a look see. One hiker took a photograph with his digital camera and claimed to have captured a spirt or orb. There was also a small opening at the end of the cave that seemd to go somewhere. Nobody volunteered to find out.

The Moon?

After the cave, we made our way down this particularly rocky and hilly part, that if you didn’t watch your step, you could take a tumble.

Dragon's Nostrils

Most of us took our lunch next to these spectacular twin blowholes known as the “Dragon’s Nostrils.” It put on a much better show than the Halona Blowhole.

Uphill

After enjoying our lunch and nature’s show, we hiked up the mountain to the top of Makapu’u Point. I mistakenly contoured more to the right and ended up taking the steeper trail up, while the smarter ones took the less steep trail to the left.

Makapu'u Lighthouse

This is the view from the top of the mountain where you can see the Makapu’u Lighthouse which was first illuminated in 1909 and completely automated in 1974. The lighthouse boasts the largest hyperradiant lens at 12′ high in the country. I heard some hikers have actually made it to the lighthouse, but the trail is blocked by a locked gate. I’m sure where there is a will, there is a way.

Manana Island

We made our way down from the top back towards the parking lot. Here we had a better view of Manana Island or Rabbit Island, which was once home to rabbits, but now is a seabird sanctuary.

Makapu'u Crag

Hiking down, we passed the Makapu’u crag, where folks come to practice rock climbing and rapelling.

Makapu'u Beach

Coming down we had a nice view of Makapu’u Beach and Waimanalo. The entire hike took about four hours and was a nice scenic stroll along the coastline.

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.