Rainy weather diverted us from one section of the Ko’olaus to another section. That’s how Gen, Jose, Justin, Thessa and myself found ourselves in Laie. Thanks to Matt who woke up early to ferry us to the other side. For naught. Back to sleep.

Morning yoga

We had some time to join together as we waited for Thessa.

Trailhead

Bodily functions taken care of. Alcohol transferred. Ready to hike. Photo by Justin Hirako.

Panoramic view

Click here for the larger image.

Pine trees

Norfolk or Cook Pine – Which is it?

Strawberry guava trees

Leaving the shaded corridors of pine and strawberry guava trees and mud behind.

Laie Falls

Passing the swimming hole and twin waterfalls fed by Kahawainui Stream.

Trail

The rest of the hike to the summit was on a graded trail through native forest.

Fire in the hole

These trenches were dug back in WW2 and were to be filled with explosives to block the trail, in case of a Japanese land invasion.

Laie trail

The Wahiawa Camp of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) finished Wailele Trail in 1935. After WW2, the trail became known as the Laie Trail.

Laie Summit

Group photo by Justin Hirako, left to right: Thessa, Gen, myself, Justin and Jose.

Laie Summit

Another group photo at the windy 2,240′ top looking out towards the Waianae Mountain Range.

Big Island Boy

I don’t smoke … ( pause ) … tobacco.

Trail

Talk of past and desired relationships forced us off the summit and back on the trail.

Trail

The crew climbing out of the bowl shaped depression.

Fence line

Our first contact with the infamous KST fence. Love it or hate it.

Fence line

The fence soon lead us straight to the cabin. Just like bread crumbs.

Outhouse

I smell no sh*t. I see no sh*t. It was pretty nasty. Photo by Jose Luis Delaki.

Koloa Cabin

Justin opening the door to his first cabin visit. His cabin cherry was broken.

Cabin life

Our original plan was to push towards the Army Cabin and overnight there. Given the distance left and the looming rain clouds, we decided to stay put. Photo by Justin Hirako.

Cabin fever

Birthday cupcake. Is that a spam musubi in your underwear or are you just glad to see me? Abused animated characters. Well at least one was abused.

Cabin idol

Somebody please take Kikaida and Mickey Mouse away from them! Just blame the alcohol laced hot chocolate.

Cabin mouse

“Twas the rainy and windy night on the Ko’olaus, when all through the cabin; rustling space blankets were stirring under snug and restless hikers; when there arose such a calamitous clatter, as our collective slumber was pierced by riotous screaming and a body falling; I struggled from my bunk to see what was the matter; a f*cking mouse pitter – pattered by my face was the colorful expletive that was offered.

Goodbye cabin

Group photo of us checking out from the best KST cabin.

Hello sunrise

It was a chilly morning to catch the cloudy sunrise. Photo by Justin Hirako.

Trail

Making our way on the Windward side of the trail.

Scenic rock

Sometimes you just have to stop and soak in the Leeward views. Photo by Justin Hirako.

Trail

Switching back to the Windward side.

Mud circle

Taking stock of our muddy footwear. The worst was yet to come.

Trail

Crossing over to the sheltered and overgrown Leeward side.

Trail

Switching back to the Windward side. Back and forth. Up and down.

Koolau Range lobelia

Glimpse of a rare native plant in bloom.

Trail

Passing through a small stand of native loulou palm trees.

Trail

Burrowing through some overgrowth.

Papali junction

Let’s take a break, shall we?

Spartan Mud Race II

When push comes to shove. Photo by Justin Hirako.

Trail

Back on the fence line again.

Mud

Knee deep. Not that bad.

Junction

Left? Right? Photo by Justin Hirako.

Mud

Waist deep. Seriously? Photo by Genesaret Balladares.

Trail

We soon approached the wooden cabin, that had mountain views and a kitchen sink!

Cabin life

Hello and goodbye. Photos by Justin Hirako.

Opaeula Cabin

We left the cabin behind along with Gen and Jose who decided to stay another night in the mountains.

Mud

Justin wanted to see for himself if the mud was really that deep. It was.

Trail

Back on the KST.

Trail

Goodwill was alive and well in the mountains. Need a spare glove?

Trail

Justin and Thessa making their way along the fence line.

Trail

Looking ahead as the fence line wrapped around the ridge and disappeared into the clouds.

Trail

Justin and Thessa making their way across the open field to re-connect to the KST.

Boot Junction

Watching the clouds rolling into the mountains. Photo by Justin Hirako.

Trail

Pu’u Ohulehule rising from the floor of Kahana Valley.

KST

Looking out towards the contour trail carved below the ridgeline of the Ko’olau Mountains.

Shaka

Sharing some aloha on the trail. Photo by Justin Hirako.

Trail

Are we there yet? Not quite.

Cabin interruptus

We met Dave Fahrenwald who had hiked in from Poamoho and was headed towards the Army Cabin. Photo by Justin Hirako.

Wind gauge

Passing the wind gauge station. We picked up our pace as we knew the summit was close.

Poamoho Summit

Group photo by Justin Hirako at the 2,520′ summit. Hey, we actually got a view!

Trail

Time and weather did not look favorable for a cabin visit, so we headed down the muddy trail.

Got mail?

No mail for hikers, just hunters.

End of unmaintained trail

All smiles now. The rest of the trail was graded and downhill. Photo by Justin Hirako.

Trail

Justin trotting down the trail.

Sunset

Photo by Justin Hirako.

Poamoho trailhead

Trail meets road. Photo by Justin Hirako.

Ribbit

If I kiss you, will you turn into a 4×4?

Rainy road

What’s better than walking down a six mile jeep road? In the dark. In pouring rain. Yeah. That’s the ticket. The one way ticket.

All pau

Shout out to Chris Bautista who picked us up and drove us to Laie and Moanalua Valley to retrieve our cars. Post hike meal at Zippy’s. Justin appreciated the extra wait for his food. Made it more tasty.

GPS Tracks

The two day cabin hike covered 23.05 miles over and through the rugged and wild Northern Ko’olaus. Fantastic fun filled weekend with great friends.

I joined the OHA ( Oahu Hikers & Adventurers ) group to drive and hike up Poamoho Trail today. You will need a permit (free – click on this link) and 4 wheel drive to make it up the trail. We met at the parking lot right before the entrance to Helemano Military Reservation at 8:00AM or something close to that. I picked out a familiar rainbow colored hair in the form of Laredo who arrived fashionably late. Everybody else was a first time greeting.

The long road up

Udom, who was the hike leader, gave a short briefing on what to expect in terms of hike conditions and duration and then took our group photo. The group then split into three 4×4 vehicles and made our way to the first of three gates along the six mile jeep road. Udom who had the combinations that came with the permit was nice enough to hop out and open and close each gate. Along the way, we saw numerous cattle grazing and the views of the valley opened up as we gained elevation.

Trailhead

Group photo at the trailhead. Left to right: myself, Laredo, John, Rebecca, John, Amelia, Jim, Rene, Cindy, Vivian, Fanny, Elmer, Terrence, Cody and Udom (sitting).

Easy trail

We pushed off and started making our way along the relatively wide open trail carved out of the side of the mountain. I understand this trail receives periodic maintenance from DLNR. Thanks guys!

Hole in the clouds

 Checking out the nice cloud formations in the sky.

Poamoho stream

Looking down into the valley, we spotted Poamoho stream.

Mango break

Udom was nice enough to share her ono mangos with us as we took a short break and another group photo. Top row left to right: Cindy, John, Rene, John and Cody. Middle row left to right: Fanny, Vivian, Rebecca, Amelia, Elmer and Terrence. Bottom row left to right: Udom, Jim and myself. What happened to Laredo? He had broken off from the group and speed hiked his way to the summit. That guy is in super shape.

It gets harder?

After this point, the trail became narrower, steeper and muddy. Real hiking!

Stream junction

We soon crossed the stream junction, turned left and resumed our way to the summit.

Waianae Mountain Range

Crossing the meadow and looking back towards the flat topped mountain of Ka’ala.

Cline memorial

This rock memorial was built in 1978 to honor Geraldine Cline, an avid hiker. It marks the junction where the Poamoho summit meets the KST.

Panoramic view of Punalu’u Valley and Kahana Valley

Click here for the larger image. The windswept vista views at Poamoho summit are hard to beat. You have to see them in person to truly appreciate the views!

Check out the view!

Pu’u Manamana, True Manamana, Kualoa Mountains and Pu’u Ohulehule behind me. The views were just fantastic. One could sit here for hours soaking them up.

Poamoho cabin

After the rest of the group caught up to us at the summit, we turned right along the muddy trail to Poamoho cabin. We signed the guestbook, some used the outhouse and we all climbed up the small hill to have our lunch.

Celebrity hikers!

Soon we saw some other hikers returning from their snail hunting expedition. They turned out to be left to right: Tom, J, Nate and Agnes. Back in 2012, Agnes fell 300′ off the Pali Notches trail and lived to hike another trail! Rene from our group had to have her picture taken with them. Their fame in the hiking community had preceded them! Photo by Udom.

You got 12 seconds!

We took a last group photo from the top of the hill looking down towards the cabin. The camera was set on 12 second timer and Jim volunteered to press the shutter and run down the slippery and muddy slope to ham it up for the picture. Sporadic rain signaled it was time to start heading back.

Marsh

As we made our way back towards the summit junction, we saw some interesting scenic spots such as this marsh…

Kahuku windmills

…and the windmill farm over at Kahuku. Arriving back at the summit junction, the cloud deck had lowered and blotted out the tasty views we had enjoyed earlier.

Bench with a view

Where was Laredo again? It turned out that he had some kind of baby shower to attend, so he ran down the six mile jeep road. What a hiking beast! The rest of our group made our way back down the trail, to the cars and rode down the six mile jeep road.

GPS Tracks

The entire trail was 19.57 miles, but subtract the 12 miles of the jeep road, and we actually only hiked 7.57 miles round trip. But if you have the chance, hike this trail to some of the most amazing views on this island! You will not be disappointed.