Having done Koko Crater to death, it was time to mix it up a bit today. I picked up Glenn from Koko Crater Botanical Gardens and drove around East Oahu to find a suitable place to ascend up the tuff cone from a different approach.

Trailhead

We parked behind Kaiser High School and found a construction road to gain access to the base of Koko Crater.

Ravine

A ravine presented the least resistance to starting our hike. As we hiked deeper into the ravine, resistance presented itself in the form of thick vegetation.

Out of the ravine

Glenn climbing out of the ridge to escape the overgrowth.

Heavy overgrowth

From the frying pan into the fire. More overgrowth.

Kuapa Pond

Looking back at the now diminished Fishpond Wall. Hard to believe it once covered 523 acres. Something had to give way for Henry Kaiser’s suburban vision.

Koko Crater Puka

Looking up at the puka. Hard to find, as most people walk right over it when hiking the rim.

Lepidoptera season

Butterflies were flittering and fluttering all around us.

Litter

Higher up, remnants from the WW2 bunkers were strewn on the slopes.

Splash of color

Purple flowers amidst a sea of green and reddish brown.

Hawaiian Picker

Glenn found what looked like to be an antique bottle. Maybe not. Dirt makes everything look old.

Rock face

Glenn climbing up the “hardest” section of the ridge.

Summit view

The view at the top, looking out towards Diamond Head.

Four legged hiker

Most of the four legged hikers put their two legged owners to shame on the tracks coming up.

Coming up the tracks

Jasmin took the “easy” way coming up the tracks to meet us at the top.

The less traveled path

We went down the sheeted rock trail that paralleled the tracks on the left. The tracks were bustling with rush hour hikers, while we had the zipper lane all to ourselves.

Koko Crater

Leaving behind Koholepelepe, the original Hawaiian name for this cinder cone, which translates to traveling vagina or fringed vulva. According to legend, Pele was being pursued by the pig demi-god, Kama-pua’a. Pele’s sister, Kapo sent her traveling vagina to lure Kama-pua’a away so that Pele could escape. Looking at Koko Crater on Google Maps, the resemblance to the Hawaiian name is obvious.

Koko Head Shooting Complex

Glenn had someplace to go and Jasmin was tired from her night work. I continued the hike solo by dropping behind the shooting range and followed the highway out.

49er ridge

I soon climbed up a spur ridge dubbed “49er ridge”, this is the same spot where the lava tube goes underneath the road and out to the rugged and rocky shoreline.

Trees, but no shade

The lower part of the ridge was covered by thickets of hard and sharp trees.

Hot, hot, hot

It was a scorcher of a day on the slopes of Koko Crater.

Rock dike

This section reminded me of the arch, but without the arch.

Looking back

Just one of many ridges that leads up to the crater rim. So many to explore.

Rock caves

Interesting rock caves formed by wind and erosion?

Too close for comfort

Scrambling up the ridge, the loud gun reports from the shooting range seemed uncomfortably close.

Panoramic view

Click here for the larger image.

Going down the rim

Hiking down the open and exposed crater rim.

Panoramic view

Click here for the larger image.

Dropping down into the crater

The crater floor is home to a botanical garden and horse stables. Come for the tracks and stay for the trees and horses.

Koko Crater GPS Tracks

The fun, short and hot hike covered 3.83 miles. Many more spur ridges and caves to explore on the crater.

I joined Will and Chris on a slightly different route up Koholepelepe or Koko Crater Rim today.

Free admission

Instead of starting from the end of the rim, we were going to take a “shortcut” and go up from the spur ridge that was inside the crater.

Spur ridge

The spur ridge is quite noticeable once you look for it past the stripped tree tops. The waning moon was still visible as well.

Nature call

Not often that you find one of these on a hiking trail. Luckily we were in the middle of a botanical garden.

Equipment shed

We soon passed a equipment shed on our left, indicating that we were on the right trail. Thanks to Baron for the directions and idea.

Balls of cacti

If you see this, you have gone too far. Turn around.

Bushwhack time

The base of the ridge is just a stones throw from the equipment shed. Not really bushwhacking, but watch out for the sharp as steel cacti lurking in the tall grass. It hurts like a bee and then some.

Out of the bushes

Now we can see where we are going.

Time to go up

There was nothing tricky or technical with this ridge.

Still going up

Basic scrambling up a nicely inclined ridge.

Slab section

I took a shine to this spur ridge and will use this route when traversing the crater rim in the future.

Made it to the rim

Gusty winds greeted us at the top of the rim.

Watch your step

Dragon Fruit Cacti are in abundance on this section of the rim. Fruiting season occurs June to December.

Climbing up

Chris trying out his climbing skills. For those less inclined, the rim can be contoured on the left on fairly level ground. Photo by Will Lee.

Traffic jam

As we neared the summit, we met another group coming down. Who yields? The one that seizes the opportunity to pass the gap.

Photo bombed

The winds were making for a bad hair day.

Waiting our turn

Great town views at 1,208 feet high. Group photo left to right: Chris, myself, and Will.

Traffic jam

Going down the makai or ocean side of the rim, we ran into a couple that had come up from the arch. The crater rim seems to be getting a lot more traffic lately.

Elusive puka

Looking across the crater floor to see that puka or hole in the rim that I have yet to see up close.

Halona blowhole

The Halona Blowhole parking lot was surprisingly open, considering that this was the weekend.

Easy climbing

The last rock to climb on the rim. After this, it was all downhill.

Going down

We took the left trail down, which sits opposite the spur ridge that we had taken up.

Koko Crater Stables

I don’t think many people realize that there is a horse stable tucked away here.

Now you tell us

Looking back at the trail that we had just descended, we noticed this sign. Oops.

GPS Tracks

By most accounts, Koholepelepe means “traveling vagina” in Hawaiian. The route we had taken today, resembles something that visits said passage. Or is it just my imagination? I think I had too much sun today.

I met up with Glenn and Chris at the Koko Head Botanical Gardens to do a nice Sunday stroll up the entire Koko Crater rim, we have hiked up from the arch and from the tracks. But never have we completed the entire Koko Crater rim.

Koko Head Botanical Gardens and Makapu’u

The grassy and kiawe trees eventually changed to the rocky and cacti inhabited rim of Koko Crater or Kohelepelepe which means traveling vagina. Take a look at Koko Crater on a topographical map and you will see why.

Cracked Rim

Going up the rim presents an interesting view of the fractured rim and presents numerous climbing possibilities. This is a different perspective of Koko Crater that you don’t experience if you just go up and down the tracks.

Kamiloiki and Kamehame Ridges

Our hike was blessed with a nice thick cloud layer which blocked most of the scorching sun rays. Unfortunately, vog conditions were in effect as well, producing hazy viewing conditions.

A little climbing

Heading to the lookout is a nice and steady climb up the rim, punctuated by several opportunities to rock climb or for those less inclined, to simply contour around.

Going into the bunker

We had brough headlamps and flashlights to root around these long abandoned bunkers at the top of the summit that was left over from World War 2. The tunnel leading to the bunker was actually very low, forcing us to crouch over as we stepped on scattered debris and rubbish on the floor that was partially illuminated by our headlamps.

Inside the bunker

If you’re claustrophobic and nyctophobic, going into these bunkers would not be a good idea. It was pretty cool and anti-climatic at the same time when we got to the bunker, as it was just filled with more debris on the floor and a shaft that went up to the surface. Two things prevented me from trying to climb up the shaft, the bottom part of the ladder was torn off and the middle of the shaft looks like it’s blocked by some sort of ventilation shaft.

Top of Puu Mai

The top of Puu Mai was teeming with hikers that had come up from the tracks. This hike gets a lot of activity, especially on the weekends. I can see why, as it’s a relatively short hike that has payoffs with great views waiting at the top.

Hanauma Bay and Koko Head

As we started to climb down the rim, the plinking and cracking sounds coming from the rifle range were really cranking that morning. Must be a result of all those increased gun sales.

Counter-clockwise on the rim

We spent some time at the top, checking out the views and enjoying the breezy tradewinds that had just picked up. Going down the rim, the rocky parts continued until the knob formation.

Molokai

Once past the knob, the rim leveled off and it was a nice gradual slope on the way back down as we caught views of Halona Blowhole, Sandy Beach and the islands of Molokai, Lanai and Maui. We got back to our cars around 9:30am and had brunch at Zippy’s, thanks Glenn!

This was my third time hiking Koko Crater. The first time I walked up and down the tram tracks. The second time we had hiked up the side of Koko Crater and walked down the tram tracks. This time, the plan was to climb up the side of Koko Crater and go down the rim and end up in Koko Crater Botanical Gardens.

Fishing Shrine

We staged one car at the Koko Crater Botanical Gardens which is right off Kealahou Street by the Queen’s Gate neighborhood in Hawaii Kai and drove to the parking lot for the Halona Blowhole to start our hike. The trailhead is roughly across the Japanese fishing shrine that is now maintained by Vietnamese Buddhists. There are no colored ribbons to mark the way, but the trail itself is well traveled and hard to miss.

Going up the crater side

We started off on the relatively flat and rocky ridge that connects to the crater walls and then we started the gradual climb up Koko Crater.

The arch

The rock arch spans a gulch that is roughly in the middle of the climb up the crater. The easiest way to get over the arch is on the left hand side where there are some steps that look like they were carved into the tuff lava.

Hanauma Bay

The climb and our breathing got a little harder after the arch, as we neared the top, Hanauma Bay and Koko Head came into view. We also passed three hikers coming down from the top, other than that we had the trail all to ourselves. Besides Mount Olympus, going up the stairs at Koko Crater was the only other hike I’ve done that has so much foot traffic.

Makapu'u Point

Headed towards the summit, we could see the botanical garden inside the crater and Makapu’u Point in the distance.

View from the top

We made the summit at 1,208 feet in under an hour. As usual, the top was packed with people, attesting to it’s popularity with the local crowd. 

Going down the rim

Going down the crater rim was marked with a gradual descent punctuated by rocky formations that we either climbed or contoured around.

Crater rim wall

We came across part of the crater wall that looked like it was fractured or split apart. That’s what I love about ridge hikes, you get fantastic views and interesting scenery to boot. You also have to stay focused and keep that mental edge, otherwise you may fall off that edge.

Koko Crater Botanical Garden

We ended the two and a half hour hike amongst the sweet smell of plumeria trees in Koko Crater Botanical Garden.