Met up with Chico, Jen, Laredo, Lilyn, Mari, Quan, Tessa and William for the second leg of our perimeter walk.

Kaneohe Bay

Group photo where picking of the plants is not allowed.

Kaneohe Bay Drive

How many people does it take to pick a mango from a neighbor’s house when the tallest person watches from the sidelines?

Kaneohe Bay Drive

A bunch of bananas, not just talking about the botanical berries.

Kaneohe Bay Drive

Click your heels together three times and you’re still on Kaneohe Bay Drive.

Kaneohe Bay Drive

All that was missing was a half drunk cup of coffee. Preferably Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks.

Kaneohe Bay Drive

The shopping cart races. Trying to qualify for a spot in the Idiotarod.

Kaneohe Bay Drive

Best to stay retired.

Kaneohe Bay Drive

Look But Don’t Touch. This is not the neighbor’s house.

Kaneohe Bay Drive

Bathroom break for some at the Golden Arches.

Kaneohe Stream

Watching the tilapia swim upstream and preventing an unsafe and unsteady walk across the bridge.

Kamehameha Highway

Searching for a working pay phone amongst the roughly 3,600 iconic blue boxes that are scattered throughout the island. Viiz Communications bought all the pay phones from Hawaiian Telcom back in 2017, and agreed to rebrand them but looks like they decided to just leave them to rust away.

Kamehameha Highway

Trying to get a paid advertisement.

Kamehameha Highway

When you just can’t get enough.

Kamehameha Highway

Chico demonstrating that slats will not prevent him from sleeping on the bus bench. For a minute.

Kamehameha Highway

Fire trucks yielding to pedestrians before turning into King Intermediate. No emergency.

Kamehameha Highway

Joggers crossing the He’eia Stream.

Kamehameha Highway

I guess the sidewalk was too crowded for somebody.

Shoreline Trail

Taking a break from pounding the pavement to be closer to the ocean.

He’eia Estuary

Looking out at the wetlands that are slowly being restored by volunteers to support native birds and other species that used to thrive in this habitat.

He’eia State Park

Partial group photo at the entrance to the 18.5 acre state park.

Kamehameha Highway

When you have too much time on your hands.

Kamehameha Highway

Somebody needed some beach time.

Kamehameha Highway

Our walk got crashed by Scott and Rose who were looking for a shortcut.

Kamehameha Highway

Back on the road again as our ranks swelled by one. The other one drove off to find a parking spot. More shortcuts.

Kamehameha Highway

Looking out at the extremely low tide in Kaneohe Bay.

Kamehameha Highway

Where is the sidewalk?

Hygienic Store

Thanks to Chico for buying us ice cream at the landmark that was once the company store for Hygienic Dairy that was founded back in 1907.

Kamehameha Highway

Playing with plastic swine.

Kamehameha Highway

I hear you knocking, but you can’t come out.

Kamehameha Highway

Traffic mirror selfie.

Kamehameha Highway

We need to pick up the pace, we are not even registering on the radar speed sign.

Kamehameha Highway

Crossing over Waiahole Stream.

Waiahole Poi Factory

Lining up to get our lunch at the centuries old establishment that has seen life as a poi factory, art gallery and present day restaurant.

Waiahole Poi Factory

Most of the group ate their fix of Hawaiian food while Laredo sunbathed as his adoring fans honked at him from the street.

Kamehameha Highway

Thanks to Lilia for picking us up. Enjoying riding in the back of the truck while we can as Senate Bill 1040 would seek to ban such ridership based on faulty logic by Senator Lee that traffic fatalities are on the rise but very few deaths can be attributed to riding in the back of a truck. Classic case of politicians trying to justify their political existence.

All pau

Laredo has left the house!

GPS Tracks

Our second leg of the perimeter walk covered almost 11 miles through the Windward stretch of the island with a fun group.

Photos taken by Chico Cantu, Jen Odence, Lilyn Avendano, Mari Saito, Quan Haberstroh, 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. One should also always let somebody know of your hiking plans in case something doesn’t go as planned, better safe than sorry.

My wife and I tackled the mother of all extreme hikes today – Pu’u Ma’eli’eli or Digging Hill located by Temple Valley in Kaneohe.

Trailhead

We parked in the Temple Valley neighborhood and walked back up Kahekili Highway to find the trailhead that starts in the back of Hokuloa townhomes. You can’t miss it, just follow the guardrail until it ends and the trail starts to the left of the private property fence.

Bamboo orchid trail

The lower part of the trail was teeming with bamboo orchids on both sides.

First junction

Mari staying on the left trail at the first junction.

Second junction

Continue on the left trail, your other left! The trail is clearly defined and ribboned from this point.

Christmas tree

Some type of algae gift was growing inside this water filled ornament.

Noni

This Polynesian medicinal fruit has made the jump from native applications to MLM to Costco.

Campfire

Now all we need are marshmallows and some singing!

Thicket of trees

Hardest part of the hike – ducking and weaving amongst all these tangled trees.

End of the rope

The final push to the top.

Pu’e Ma’eli’eli

The Hawaiian name translates to Digging Hill, as legend has it that companion Gods, Kane and Kanaloa raced up this hill and had to dig with their hands to get to the top. At least that’s what the sign said.

Views at the top

The winds were kicking and the views spectacular at the top.

Panoramic view from the pillbox

Click here for the larger image.

The trail continues…

From the bunker, a trail continues down to Heeia State Park. Another hike for another day.

GPS Tracks

The 2.48 mile hike was an extreme undertaking to say the least. It took us 30 minutes to get to the top and 15 minutes to get back down. I need a lomilomi massage stat!