Met up with Aida, Art, Chris, Janell, Katie, Lilyn and Tessa at the top of the neighborhood watch to begin our rainy day hike.

Kuli’ou’ou Trail

Starting off on the ten switchbacks that would eventually take us out of the valley. Photo by Katie Bingham.

Kuli’ou’ou Trail

Walking through the grove of pine trees with the needle droppings that carpeted the trail.

Picnic Shelter

Halfway break at the halfway house. Photo by Janell Tuttle.

Campsite

Nobody was home. All the hollering was for nothing.

Planet Fitness

Katie showing her best side at 40%.

Kuli’ou’ou Trail

Aida making her way up the puddle soaked steps. Photo by Tessa Bugay.

Kuli’ou’ou Summit

Group photo at the eroded and wet hill, left to right: Chris, Katie, Lilyn, Art, myself, Tessa, Aida and Janell.

Ko’olau Summit Ridge Trail (KSRT)

Leaving the 2,028′ summit for wetter pastures. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

KSRT

A picture is worth a thousand rain drops.

Mary Poppins

I believe I can fly. Until my umbrella folds up. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

KSRT

We contoured around Hahaione Pyramid until we climbed to the flat scenic spot that afforded muted views of the coastlines.

Mountain Yoga

That’s one big step for Lilyn, one last leap for the hiker. Photo by Tessa Bugay.

Mariner’s Summit

Climbing up the slippery rocks to the top of Kaluanui. Photo by Chris Bautista.

Mariner’s Summit

Watching the group make their way up, while Art and Chris decided to take the contour path. What contour trail? Learn something new everyday.

Mariner’s Summit

Seeking what scant shelter we could find under the pine trees that filtered the rain water down to our soggy lunches. Are we having fun yet? Photo by Katie Bingham.

Mariner’s Windward Summit

Group photo at the terminus of the ridge that drops down into Waimanalo.

KSRT

Leaving the lonely summit.

KSRT

Plunging into the feathery soft patch of ferns. which was infinitely preferably than the usual clawing and scratching uluhe ferns.

KSRT

Katie and Janell climbing back onto the ridge line.

KSRT

Art living life on the edge.

KSRT

Tessa dropping down the contour. Photo by Aida Gordon.

Rito’s Tower

Looking down at the crumbly rock formation that some have done and others haven’t. Today was not the day to check off that list.

KSRT

Scenic spot overlooking the town of Waimanalo and the Tom-Tom summit. Photo by Aida Gordon.

KSRT

The others queuing up for their turn on the photogenic rock.

KSRT

Chris decided to get away from the crowds. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

KSRT

Taking pictures of the picture takers. Photo by Chris Bautista.

Tom-Tom Summit

A happy tree hugger. Are there any other kind? Photo by Aida Gordon.

KSRT

Making our way over the rolling and exposed rocky hills under the cover of rain.

KSRT

The group hiking up to the now abandoned proving grounds. Photo by Aida Gordon.

Kamiloiki Summit

Isn’t there a camp around here? Camp Awesome?

KSRT

Approaching the saddle as we passed through the stand of pine trees to make our descent down into the dip.

KSRT

The group climbing out of the depression. Photo by Aida Gordon.

KSRT

Approaching the abandoned Nike missile defense tower and the somewhat fenced communication tower.

Kamehame Road

Pounding the pavement as we made our way down to contour back to the ridge line. Photo by Aida Gordon

KSRT

Christmas is alive and well in the mountains.

KSRT

Passing the second hang gliding platform with the islands of Manana and Kaohikaipu in the background.

Booty Grab

What happens in the mountains, has apparently stayed in the mountains. Photo by Chris Bautista.

KSRT

Panoramic view of the low lying coastal terrace.

KSRT

Katie making her way down the extremely rocky terrain.

Makapu’u Puka

Group photo at the hole in the ridge.

KSRT

Making our way through what I call the Stonehenge of Makapu’u, due to the numerous vertical and horizontal rock slabs on the edge of the cliff.

Makai Pier

Looking down at the long pier that are home to scientists, divers and fishermen.

KSRT

Chris making his way over the barren and rocky terrain. The only saving grace was that the rainy weather kept us cool on the exposed trail.

KSRT

Following the fence line down. Photo by Aida Gordon.

Blue Light Special

Making our way to the parking lot where one of our rides were waiting to pick us up. We didn’t want the other ride to pick us up. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

All pau

Our nearly eight mile hike ended with us running into fellow hiker, Nandor at the parking lot. Always great to run into a friendly and dry face. Thanks to Quan and Sally for picking us up. Post hike meal at Mama Pho’s, where hot soup does a cold body good. Not to mention a borrowed blanket.

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.

A filled parking lot and somebody not waking up on time dictated a change of hiking venues today.

Trailhead

We joined the steady stream of hikers that were going up one of the more popular trails on the East side of the island.

Kuli’ou’ou Ridge Trail

Going up one of multiple switchbacks as we climbed out of the valley.

Kuli’ou’ou Ridge Trail

Makahiki in the mountains. Time to lose that seven pounds. Photo by Analyn Baliscao.

Kuli’ou’ou Ridge Trail

Time to get away from nature and check ones messages and social media. I thought it was the other way around?

Full Metal Jacket

Do you mean to tell me that you cannot do one single pull up? I’ve been watching too many movies lately.

Kuli’ou’ou Ridge Trail

Warming the bench and briefly enjoying the valley views. Photo by Analyn Baliscao.

Kuli’ou’ou Ridge Trail

Looking back at how far we had climbed up.

Kuli’ou’ou Summit

We joined the slowly growing crowd at the 2,028′ eroded hill. The sweeping Windward and Leeward views never gets old from this vantage point.

Ko’olau Summit Ridge Trail (KSRT)

Time to leave the congested summit as we made our way on the exposed ridge line before …

KSRT

… being swallowed up into the iron wood forest.

KSRT

When the student becomes the teacher. Photo by Analyn Baliscao.

KSRT

Skirting the pine needle covered hill side.

KSRT

Analyn on the flat topped hill with Hahaione Pyramid in the background.

KSRT

Climbing to the abandoned top of Kaluanui. Photo by Analyn Baliscao.

Mariner’s Summit

Group photo at the 1,361′ summit, which is one of the lowest summits on the Ko’olau Mountain Range.

KSRT

Who said there aren’t snakes in Hawaii?

KSRT

Passing through a patch of feathery fronds, infinitely preferred than traveling through the clawing and scratching uluhe ferns.

KSRT

We left the canopy cover as we descended down the flank of the exposed ridge.

KSRT

This scenic spot on the rocky ridge line once took up over two hours of countless photos on a previous trip. Hiking time that was traded for countless photographic memories.

Tom-Tom Trail

Looking down into the country town of Waimanalo and points beyond.

KSRT

Hand feeding the land shark that lives on the ridge.

KSRT

Crossing the open ridge line pocked with grassy fields as we beelined it to the tree line to gain shade from the sun.

KSRT

Pushing our way through the hairy California grass.

Kamiloiki Summit

The gap was not wide enough to allow the complete views in.

KSRT

We broke out of the covered ridge line and made our way to the saddle with views of Manana and Kaohikaipu islands.

KSRT

Birds eye view of the saddle as the sheer cliffs dropped down towards the coastline.

KSRT

Analyn climbing out of the saddle.

KSRT

We detoured around the communications tower, skipped what was left of deadman’s cat walk and left the road to regain the ridge line.

KSRT

Just hanging around. Photo by Analyn Baliscao.

KSRT

We left the hang gliding platforms to continue our hike on the now tree less ridge line, perfect place to get toasted and tanned.

KSRT

Making our way along the rocky ridge before it dipped down to more rocks of assorted sizes. I call this area the Stonehenge of Makapu’u.

Makapu’u Puka

Hello from the other side.

KSRT

Looking down into Sea Life Park and the seabird sanctuaries offshore.

KSRT

We’re almost there!

All pau

Our hike ended after 7.7 miles on the mountains. Mahalo to Chris for picking us up. Post hike meal at Pieology where you can make a mountain out of a molehill if so desired.

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.

I tagged along with Marcus and another extreme hiker crew consisting of Scott, Wendy, Toney, Russell and Tess to complete Bear Claw by hiking up the Right Fork. We parked at the same place in Waimanalo when we did Left Fork last week, but had to do a quick and dirty “ninja” move to get to the trailhead of the right fork by climbing over a fence and rushing into the bushes to avoid detection. Talk about getting your heart beating in a hurry!

Toney and Scott going up

As Marcus mentioned before, the right fork is a tad steeper and harder going up than the left fork.

Hardest rockface

There was one major rockface that was considerably harder than the others coming up. Scott took the lead and threw down webbing for those that didn’t feel comfortable free climbing the rockface. Surprisingly, I didn’t need to use it going up.

Pays to be flexible

While the presence of the inter-locking formosan koa trees was not as prevalent on the right fork as it was on the left fork, there were more rockfaces that had to be climbed.

No flat ground here

Right fork is basically a steady uphill climb consisting of numerous rockfaces punctuated by the formosan koa trees.

Left and Right Forks, the twain shall meet - Photo by Tess Cochran

We took a short break in the grove of ironwood trees, right after the junction where the two forks meet. There is also a geocache located here, but it was ruined by exposure to the elements.

Mushroom Rock

As we made our way over the formation known as “Mushroom Rock”, the clouds started to spill over from the Koolau’s.

Everybody stand up - Photo by Marcus Griego

We took a group photo going up the ridge, but obviously I missed the message to stand up.

Island in the Sky - Photo by Scott Bowling

Looking back as we climbed up the ridge, we had a great view of Waimanalo and Bellows Field.

Caveman or contour?

As with most hikes, there are always the “easy” way and the “hard” way. Marcus aka Caveman climbed over the rock formation while the rest of us elected to take the easier way by contouring around to the left of the rock formation.

No HFD helicopter this time

I was half expecting to see the HFD helicopter hovering above our heads again as they did last weekend when we were almost at the summit. This time, I had my camera ready, but no show for the helicopter.

Bear Claw Summit

We all got to use our “right claw” at the top of Bear Claw, as clouds masked most of the view of Waimanalo in the background.

Kuli'ou'ou Trail

After another short break, we took a left and then proceeded down the Kuli’ou’ou Trail.

All pau

Thanks to Marcus taking the lead and using the “shortcuts” that bypassed most of the switchbacks, we made it down to Kuli’ou’ou Valley in less than an hour from the summit.

Glenn and I had the chance to tag along with Marcus and his extreme hiker crew consisting of Scott, Matt, Jay, Shelly, KiLei, and Aaron today to tackle Bear Claw Left Fork. We all met at the end of Kalaau Place in Kuliouou Valley and piled into Scott’s truck, where we drove to Waimanalo and parked off of Waikupahana Street by a ranch, with the manager’s permission. Our group of nine hikers pushed off around 8:40am as we made our way past two gates and a water tank.

Cardio Hill

The trailhead was surprisingly well ribbonned for a supposedly unsanctioned trail. Right off the bat, we were steadily pushing ourselves up the hill, I was already breaking a sweat this early in the hike. Good morning Bear Claw!

Rockface #1

We came upon the first rockface that has two metal spikes pounded into the rocks and ropes. Under Marcus’s guidance, he instructed us to use the bottom spike as a foothold and the top spike as a handhold and work our way up to the top, where Scott and Matt were acting as spotters.

Rockface #2

The second rockface can either be climbed straight up if one’s climbing skills are solid or contoured to the left where there are some blue webbing that made it a little easier to get up.

Formosa Koa Trees

This tangled thicket of koa trees that we had to climb under, over and to the sides would stay with us until we got to the junction where the two ridges or forks meet.

Left meets Right

Passing the junction where the left fork meets the right fork and continues up a single ridge to the summit. Marcus informed me the right fork is a tad harder and steeper than the left fork coming up. I was glad to finally get out on the open ridge as the tradewinds started to cool us down, as it was hot and humid coming up the left fork. 

Mushroom Rock

As we made our way along the ridge, there was a mushroom shaped rock that we had to climb over. I never get tired of seeing all these different types of rock formations on the trails.

Dike section

Glenn and Marcus coming over a narrow dike section.

Some climbing involved

Jay climbing up the ridge.

Proceed with caution

Scott and KiLei look at the spot where Leslie Merrell fell back in March. The area above their heads is where the boulder that he was holding onto came loose, resulting in his tragic fall. A somber reminder that rocks on these trails are very brittle and loose.

HFD Helicopter

We soon noticed that a HFD yellow helicopter was making repeated passes over our heads, pilot probably muttering “darn hikers on unsanctioned trails.”

You can contour to the left...

There was this somewhat daunting rock formation on the ridge that you can either contour to the left, or if you want a little challenge…

...or go over the top

…you can do what Matt did, and just climb over the rock to regain the ridge.

Bear Claw Ridge

This hike had a little bit of everything to keep it interesting and challenging – nice cardio climb, narrow dikes and ridges, some rock climbing and most of all, spectacular views that money can’t buy.

Final dirt push to the summit

As we were scrambling up the last 30-50 feet of dirt and grass before the summit, the HFD helicopter came back and started hovering 10 feet above Scott who was in the lead. Talk about a Kodak moment! The helicopter was so close, I could almost see the color of the pilot’s eyes, he stayed for about 10-20 seconds before peeling off.

Made it to the top

We made the summit of Bear Claw at around 11:30am. It took us about 3 hours to hike less than a mile going up, but we gained over 2,000 feet in elevation.

Group photo at the summit

Everybody making the left claw pose for the camera.

Panoramic view from the top of Bear Claw

Click here for the larger image.

Headed towards Puu O Kona

After a short break, the group with the exception of Aaron who went down the Kuliouou trail, decided to continue on towards Puu O Kona.

Windward Panoramic view from Puu O Kona

Click here for the larger image of the Windward side as seen from the top of Puu O Kona.

Leeward Panoramic View from Puu O Kona

Click here for the larger image of the town side as seen from the top of Puu O Kona.

Headed down into Kuliouou Valley

It was a brisk descent going down into Kuliouou Valley as we got back to our cars around 1:30pm. It was a great experience hiking with Marcus’s crew as it showed that I needed to work a little more on my cardio and climbing skills so that I can keep up on future hikes with his crew.

This was our second chunk of the Koolau Summit Trail that we started last month. Today we only had half of the horsemen in attendance, Chance and myself. We checked in at the Hawaii Loa gated community and was told that they let visitors with Hawaii ID in once the sun was up. This contradicts what an earlier guard told us, which was 7:00am. We have a failure to communicate. Go with the 7:00am. We drove all the way to the top and into Paka Nahele Park and discovered we were the first of only 10 cars they allow up here.

Mariner's Ridge

We left my car at the park and drove in my friends car to the top of Kaluanui Road to start our hike to Mariner’s Ridge. Since we were early, we shared the trail with only a couple other hikers. Usually the place is packed with hikers going up and down the trail with their kids and dogs taking point. We got to the top of Mariner’s Ridge in half an hour and debated about continuing the hike as the weather looked sketchy.

Koolau Summit Trail

After spending some time watching the clouds rolling in from the ocean and talking story with some other hikers on the ridge, we decided to continue the hike by climbing down a small rockface to get on the Koolau Summit Trail.

Haha'ione Valley

The trail turned into crumbly rock and dirt as we made our way past Haha’ione Valley on our left. You can see Mariner’s Ridge on the left and Kuli’ou’ou Ridge on the right.

Koolau Mountains

As we made our way to Kuli’ou’ou, the trail became vegetated again and the clouds started to mask the top of the Koolaus. I was just hoping that Mother Nature wouldn’t decide to turn the faucet on while we were hiking up here.

Toy Soldiers

Somebody marked this particular stretch of the trail with toy plastic soldiers stapled to tree branches and cacti. They reminded me of the toy soldiers found on top of Pu’u Hapapa.

Power Lines

Here we are passing the first set of power lines that sits on top of the Koolaus. Luckily HECO work crews were not scheduled for today, as I heard they have to stop work when hikers are around for obvious safety reasons.

Kuli'ou'ou Summit

After passing a second set of power lines, we soon got to the top of Kuli’ou’ou where there was a bunch of people checking out the views. The Kuli’ou’ou hike is quite popular and can get very crowded on the weekends. After a short break, we continued past the warning signs where the trail started to get a little narrow and the drops seemed more pronounced.

Panoramic view from Kuli'ou'ou

Click here for a larger image of the view from the Kuli’ou’ou lookout.

Bear Claw

This is the lookout point where the Bear Claw trail from Waimanalo ends here at the top. Another hike to do on our bucket list.

Eroded trail

We came across this eroded part of the trail that looked the same from the last time I did this hike. The bark is worse than the bite, if you know what I mean.

Pu'u o Kona

The view from Pu’u o Kona was actually a lot better than the one we had at the Kuli’ou’ou summit. After taking another short break, we took a little while to find the trail that would allow us to continue the hike. It’s actually not marked, but we just basically followed the ridge to get back on track.

Kulepeamoa Ridge

The trail after Pu’u o Kona seemed less traveled and closer to the steep windward drop offs, so we concentrated more on watching our steps on the narrow and heavily vegetated trail and less on picture taking. We soon reached the top of Kulepeamoa Ridge which connects down into Niu Valley if so desired.

Hawaii Loa Summit

Chowing down at the top of Hawaii Loa, the lookout area is quite small but there was nobody else but us to share in the clouded view.

Headed down Hawaii Loa Ridge

It took us about two hours to get back to our car, along the way down we passed an abundance of red ohia lehua trees. In Hawaiian legend, Ohia and Lehua were lovers. Pele had eyes for Ohia, but he scorned her and hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. So she turned Ohia into a tree and the other gods took pity on Lehua and turned her into a flower to put on Ohia. We didn’t pluck any lehua flowers as it is said that when they are separated, the heavens fill with their tears which turns into rain. Trust me, you don’t want to come down from the top of Hawaii Loa ridge in muddy conditions.

Instead of carving pumpkins or going trick or treating, we hiked the Kuli’ou’ou Ridge Trail and Pu’u o Kona on Halloween Day. We were hoping to be treated to stunning views and not tricked into getting lost! After parking at the end of Kala’au Place in Kuli’ou’ou, we started off by signing our names in the log that kept’s in the hunter’s mailbox at the beginning of the hike.

Trail Marker

The beginining of the trail consists of a lot of switchbacks as you start climbing the ridge. Early on in the hike, we came across this trail marker which clearly points to the right going up the ridge. If you miss the marker and proceed straight ahead, you will walk into Kuli’ou’ou Valley instead of Kuli’ou’ou Ridge.

Tree Formation

About half-way to the top, we ran across this bunch of tangled trees that almost looks like a doorway. That’s another great benefit to hiking, you always run across something you don’t see everyday or that’s eye catching.

Hawaii Kai

Looking back at Koko Crater, Kuapa Pond, and Koko Head. Kuapa Pond was at one time the largest fish pond on Oahu, until urban development shrank the pond to what you see now. Almost to the top!

Stairs to the top

More stairs to climb, similiar to the ones found on the Hawaii Loa Ridge hike. Keep in mind that these are not regular stairs, but plastic slats built into the side of the mountain, so expect erosion at certain spots, sometimes it was like walking over minature hurdles.

Top of the summit

Getting to the top of the summit at 2,080 feet. It took us little over an hour to make it to this point. Those stairs at the end gave us a good cardio workout.

Looking towards Manana Island

After catching our breath and taking a short break, we decided to go past the end of trail sign that tells you to turn back. If you continue past the sign to the left, it will take you to Pu’u o Kona and eventually loop around Kuli’ou’ou valley.

Looking back towards the summit

As we pressed on, the trail became more noticeably eroded and drop-offs on the sides became more pronounced. Looking back, we saw the clouds rolling in and hoped Mother Nature wouldn’t shower us with her tears.

Clouds rolling in

The cool part I love about ridge hikes, is the fantastic views afforded to you. Another thing, is you can be walking in dazzling sunshine, and the next minute, you are enveloped in cool clouds.

Kuli'ou'ou Valley

Looking back towards Kuli’ou’ou Valley, as I mentioned before, the views are just fantastic on these ridge hikes.

Landslide

We came across this old landslide that took part of the trail down the mountain. I wonder in time, if another landslide, will eventually make this trail unpassable.

Going up

I have got to thank whomever installed these ropes, shaky as they may be at some points, on these hikes. Otherwise, it would make these hikes that much harder, as even with the ropes, sometimes we were scrambling for any solidly rooted plants for support to help pull us up.

Pu'u o Kona

It took almost us another hour to reach the summit of Pu’u o Kona at an elevation of 2,200 feet. You can see Diamond Head and Waikiki in the background.

The trail home

Heading back down towards the valley, our knees started to get a tad wobbly. Maybe that’s where the Hawaiian meaning for Kuli’ou’ou came from, “Sound of the Knee.” The way going down was more difficult than coming up the other way due to more narrow ridgelines and steep descents. It took us another 90 minutes or so to finally get back down to our cars. This hike is difficult as there are steep ascents/descents and narrow ridgelines that must be carefully climbed and hiked. If you just hike to the top of Kuli’ou’ou and return back, then the hike would be easier. Keep in mind that these are just my opinions, other hikers may find it duck soup or hard as heck. It all depends on the individual.