Our camping weekend on the Big Island got postponed, so we did the next best thing. Hiked the highest mountain on Oahu.

Waianae Valley

Thanks to Jasmin and Lilia for dropping us off deep in the valley of barking dogs and broken glass. Somebody didn’t like the rain falling out of the sky and decided to take double secret probationary status instead. Why is it still dark at 0630? 31 more days until winter officially ends and spring rolls around.

Ka’ala Trail

Lights are on but nobody’s home.

Ka’ala Trail

Crossing the surprisingly dry streambed as we made our way on the trail.

Ka’ala Trail

Passing a perfectly good shelter against the rain. The hike must go on.

Three Poles

Sticker envy.

Ka’ala Trail

Chico and Akira scrambling up the first of two rock fragment sections that interrupts the trail.

Ka’ala Trail

Going up the second boulder section was made short work thanks to the bolted ladder.

Ka’ala Trail

Steady climb to the highest peak on the island.

Ka’ala Bog

Standing on the boardwalk that prevents us from sinking deep in the mud that is home to native fauna and flora.

Ka’ala Bog

Exiting the bog as we couldn’t see the radome for the rain clouds.

Ka’ala Summit

Group photo at the highest peak at 4,025′ elevation.

Waianae Summit Trail (WST)

One would think that your cell phone would have better connectivity near a cell tower. One would think.

WST

Does the pushup match the grade?

WST

No views on both sides.

WST

Mother Nature showing who’s boss in these mountains. The rock fall protection fence is a futile attempt to resist the mountain reclaiming the road that was blasted out of the mountains in the 1940s, similar to the coastal seawalls built in an attempt to retard beach erosion. It’s only a matter of time.

WST

Transitioning from asphalt to densely packed uluhe ferns.

WST

Not out of the woods yet. Still got a stretch of bushwhacking in the third degree.

WST

Hopping over the fence line more times than illegal migrants to avoid the dense overgrowth.

Three Corners

Group photo at the spot with the non-existent views of the valleys of Makua, Makaha and Mokuleia.

WST

The Gloved One looking out over Makua Valley, and still losing pigmentation as well.

WST

We’re too stoned to know what time it is
I’m not swinging through the trail
My hike’s not getting harder
But you’re still my Mary Jane
And you smoke my Marijuana
*poetic license corruption of Spider Man 2 (Toby’s version)

WST

Proof that rats do live outside of Diamond Head.

WST

Following the fenced trail as we bordered Makua Valley.

WST

Group photo with the “parent” valley, whose lease to the US Army expires in 2029. How much did the military pay for the lease that was “signed” in 1964? One sawbuck. One dollar.

Mokuleia Shelter

We dropped off the ridge line and ran into a HTMC group who were having their annual President’s Day Camping Weekend. Picked out a couple of familiar faces that included Nalo Bob and Casper Rorie.

Mokuleia Trail

Leaving the Pahole Nature Reserve Area.

Peacock Flats

Walking underneath the towering pine trees that were introduced to the islands in the 1870s.

Mokuleia Access Road

Pounding the unyielding pavement as we went down the 3.5 mile road to the highway.

Mokuleia Access Road

Chico showing our fruit pickings from the shelter site. Thanks to Ferlino for climbing and plucking the oranges and avocadoes for us. Refreshing snacks.

Mokuleia Access Road

Distant relative of the “hairy balls” milkweed plant. More like “thorny balls.”

Mokuleia Access Road

The boys having their bromancing moment on the heart shaped tree.

All pau

Mahalo to Jasmin and Lilia for picking us up on the other side of the island.

GPS Tracks

Our Waianae to Waialua, rainy to sunny hike traversed 12.6 miles through the Waianae Mountain Range. Great hike with good friends. Post hike meal at Jerry’s Pizza.

Photos taken by Akira Suzuki, Chico Cantu, Ferlino Carinio 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.

Lack of a 4×4 ride resulted in additional cardio for our hike today. Thanks to Robert for dropping Art, Lilyn and myself off on the side of the highway where a directionally challenged, sunrise seeking person stopped by to give us greetings instead of a ride.

Mokuleia Road

Group photo by Aida Gordon, left to right: Art, myself and Lilyn.

Mokuleia Road

I didn’t know Biki had a station way out here.

Mokuleia Road

Sometimes I don’t know if I’m coming or going. Photo by Art Young.

Mokuleia Road

When you got to go, you got to go. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

Mokuleia Road

We could soon finally see the pine trees for the camping grounds. Photo by Art Young.

Peacock Flats

The end of our 3.5 mile hike up the road. Photo by Art Young.

Peacock Flats

Don’t we know that red-headed stepchild? Photo by Art Young.

Mokuleia Trail

Stepping foot on a trail that is part of the sprawling 658 acres of the Pahole Natural Area Reserve.

Mokuleia Trail

The trees were fruiting but not quite ready for picking.

Waianae Summit Trail (WST)

Climbing up the short stretch to gain the ridge line.

WST

Bench with a view of Makua Valley. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

WST

Only one hour to the next summit?

WST

Post with a view. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

WST

Pushing our way through the endemic overgrowth.

Three Corners

You can’t be in two places at the same time. But you can be in three places at the same time. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

WST

Swimming in overgrowth. At least it was native. Photo by Art Young.

WST

We soon could see the road for the overgrowth. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

WST

Trying to take a video and climbing down a steep fence is harder than it looks. Photo by Art Young.

Ka’ala Road

Hiking koan. Two reflections and one hiker. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

Ka’ala Road

Walking up the paved road. At least it wasn’t cluttered with native overgrowth.

Ka’ala Road

Art admiring the views of the nearby valleys and ridges. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

Ka’ala Road

Halfway there. Photo by Art Young.

Mount Ka’ala

Somebody finally lucked out with a view from the top but struck out on the bathroom. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

Mount Ka’ala

Anybody in there that can give us a ride back down? Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

Ka’ala Bog

The sign took the words out of somebody’s mouth. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

Ka’ala Bog

Looking for endemic fauna. Not very successful I might add.

Waianae Ka’ala Trail

Our view as we descended from the highest peak on the island. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

Waianae Ka’ala Trail

The tree was just waiting for somebody to belt out the rendition made famous by a certain yawyaw.

Waianae Ka’ala Trail

Art descending down the steeper section of the trail.

Waianae Ka’ala Trail

Taking the easy way down. Photo by Art Young.

Waianae Ka’ala Trail

I don’t think this is what bouldering is all about.

Waianae Ka’ala Trail

Following the fence line to its lowest point on the saddle. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

Three Poles

Leaving the ridge line for the verdant valley.

Waianae Ka’ala Trail

Skipping and sliding down the leaf covered trail.

All pau

We met some hunters coming up the road. One was more heavily armed and less camouflaged than the others. We also found out that three cars had been victims of “smash and grab.” Not to be confused with DoorDash.

GPS Tracks

Our 12 plus mile hike started with a long road and ended with a long road that was filled in between with great scenery and good company. Thanks to Quan for picking us up and saving us a visit from Safelite AutoGlass. Post hike meal at Ono Steak & Shrimp as the Puerto Rican eateries were closed on Sunday.

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.

After a week of pounding rain and wind, we hoped today would be a nice day to hike Pu’u Kawiwi to No Name Peak to Tiki Ridge. Glenn and I met Chris at the end of Waianae Valley Road at about 8am to be greeted by windy and dark cloud conditions. Wasn’t looking good.

Recycling at work

The paved road led us to a clearing on the left that marked the start of the trailhead. We followed the barbed wire fencing as it made it’s way past a dry riverbed and a taro patch guarded by a sun bleached cow skull. Eventually we had to crawl under a spot in the barbed wire fence to get to the ridge.  

Climbing up the ridge

As we climbed our way up the ridge, the winds started to pick up from the valley and send it howling over our heads. On top of that, we were being sprinkled with intermittent rain showers. Fun combination on a ridge hike. Not really.

More climbing ahead

The ridge to the top goes straight up. There are no switchbacks. Lots of rock climbing involved. Loads of fun. If you get tired of rock climbing, there are side trails that contour most of the rock formations.

Hikers on Kamaile’unu Ridge

While waiting for Chris and Glenn, I spotted a bunch of hikers on the nearby ridge of Kamaile’unu. I found out later they took our pictures as well.

Tricky Crack

The last major rock obstacle to climb over. You can go around to the right or left, if you’re not feeling up to it.

I don’t need rope!

Glenn climbing his way up the rock. The last time we hiked this ridge, he went around as there was a traffic jam waiting to go up. This time around, he wanted to climb the tricky crack. Made it look easy.

Top of Pu’u Kawiwi

We made it to the 2,975′ summit of Pu’u Kawiwi to take in the views of the Waianae Mountain Range. I could pick out a couple points of interest, such as Ohikilolo, Kamaile’unu, Kea’au, Ka’ala, Kalena and Hapapa.

Expect rainbows and high winds!

The winds which never died down from the start of the ridge, seemed to increase in intensity as we stood at the top of Pu’u Kawiwi. Photo by Chris Hiona.

Panoramic view from Pu’u Kawiwi

Click here for the larger image.

The ridge to No Name Peak

We made our way down for more rock scrambling. It wasn’t really hard. What made it tricky, was the wind gusts that were all over us. It was like we were doing the hike with the Pali Lookout winds thrown in for good measure.

Follow the fence

As we descended down the ridge, the goat fence popped up to offer handy holds.

Rainbows and high winds still in effect

This stretch of smooth faced boulders jumbled together was the last major section of rock climbing fun in store for us.

Top of No Name Peak

We got to the top of 3,000′ No Name Peak with the howling winds still at our back, front, and sides. I don’t know why somebody has yet to name this peak, instead of just calling it No Name.  

Panoramic view from No Name Peak

Click here for the larger image.

More fence to follow

Going down the ridge was helped by the now familiar goat fence that seems to be part of the Waianae mountain landscape.

Poor imitation of a petroglyph

We stopped at these “tiki” rocks which marks the tiki ridge going down into Waianae valley. That was our original hike route, instead we pressed forward on the trail, not knowing we had passed it.

There’s Tiki Ridge!

After realizing that we had overshot tiki ridge, we decided to continue on to Ka’ala trail, rather than going back to tiki ridge. We would save tiki ridge for another hike for another day. The winds also died down at this point, after we had climbed along the hardest parts of the trail. Mother Nature’s sense of humor.

Three Poles marks the trail

The well maintained trail and fence lead us to three poles where we turned right onto the Waianae-Ka’ala trail that took us back into Waianae Valley and our cars. This was a very fun 5.6 mile hike that I would gladly do again, preferably without the Pali Lookout winds. Don’t get me wrong, I like breezy winds to cool me off just as much as the next hiker. But the crazy winds we had on the ridges, were pushing us around like nobody’s business. If we all had umbrellas, we could have made like Mary Poppins!