We managed to coax a 10x veteran from retirement to join us on today’s hike. Met up with Agnes, Anne, Chris, Daryl, Lee and Mia at the beach park. Thanks to Alexis for dropping me off.

Ka’a’awa

The most dangerous start to any hike, crossing the road to get to the other side. Luckily, we made it without incident and it didn’t hurt that we were wearing bright colors.

Trailhead

Group photo left to right: Agnes, Sleepy, Mia, Daryl, Lee, Anne and Chris.

Cemetery Ridge

We skirted the cemetery and made our way up through the hala grove.

Cemetery Ridge

Climbing up the steep, rocky section.

Cemetery Ridge

Lee and Mia standing on Picture Rock, with views of Pu’u Piei and Kahana Valley. Photo by Agnes Bryant.

Cemetery Ridge

The ridge widened at certain parts but kept the steady incline.

Cemetery Ridge

Agnes climbing up the moss carpeted ridge using the trees.

Cemetery Ridge

Daryl burrowing through the uluhell overgrowth.

Cemetery Ridge

The ridge leveled off somewhat with cloudy views of our destination to the right.

Cemetery Ridge

The right and wrong way of doing the oppa finger gesture. Photo by Agnes Bryant.

Cemetery Ridge

The ridge picked up the pitch as we approached the top.

Turnover

Group photo at the 2,027′ summit of Manamana ridge.

Trail

Agnes plunging ahead into the mud and overgrowth.

Trail

Sitting in Agnes spot. Photo by Agnes Bryant.

Lookout

Panoramic view from the 1,900′ spot before dropping down into the saddle.

Trail

Climbing down the steepest section before I realized this was where webbing would have helped. I didn’t even recognize this spot from five years ago.

Trail

Chris lashing his webbing to the rock for the rest of the crew. Photo by Agnes Bryant.

Trail

Sweeping view of Kanehoalani, the detached spur mountain range, that sits on Kualoa Ranch.

Trail

Traversing the undulating saddle.

Trail

Mia contouring around a boulder on the narrow ridge. Photo by Daryl Cacatian.

Puka

Peering into Ka’a’awa Valley. Photo by Agnes Bryant.

Trail

Daryl contouring on the Windward side around a knob.

Trail

Passionately psychedelic flowers on the ridge. Photo by Mia Garrison.

Trail

Panoramic view of Pu’u Manamana and True Manamana.

Trail

Heading to the summit that was reportedly first ascended back in 2010. Photo by Daryl Cacatian.

True Manamana

Group photo at the roughly 1,530′ summit. What it lacked in elevation, it more than made up for the sweeping views of the valleys, ridges and mountains from our tiny little perch.

True Manamana

The Pepsi Challenge, going strong since 1975. Photo by Agnes Bryant.

True Manamana

This tour helo buzzed us pretty close. Photo by Agnes Bryant.

True Manamana

Trying to bushwhack through the back door. Nobody’s home. Checking out another interesting ridge dropping off Pu’u Ohulehule. Another hike for another day.

True Manamana

Leaving the postage stamp sized summit.

Trail

Making the return trip on the crumbly and jagged ridge.

Puka

How many hikers can you fit into a puka? Apparently only three. Photo by Agnes Bryant.

Trail

Making our way out of the saddle.

Trail

Lee climbing her way back up the steep section. Photo by Agnes Bryant.

Trail

Pushing our way up through the uluhell overgrowth. Photo by Agnes Bryant.

Turnover

Mahalo for the mountain hospitality.

Manamana Ridge

Rainbow sighting off Kahana Bay.

Manamana Ridge

Going down the broad section of the ridge. Photo by Agnes Bryant.

Manamana Ridge

It was a magical moment to witness the sunbeams piercing the clouds and bathing Kahana Valley. Photo by Mia Garrison

Manamana Ridge

Passing through the forested section of the ridge.

Manamana Ridge

Climbing our way up the steep, rocky ridge section. Photo by Agnes Bryant.

Manamana Ridge

Making our way down towards the pointed and narrow peaks of the ridge.

Manamana Ridge

Mia climbing her way up to join Chris and Daryl at the top.

Manamana Ridge

Looking back at the sun slowly settling down behind the mountain range.

Manamana Ridge

Following the well trodden path on the ridge.

Manamana Ridge

The group negotiating their way down the rock face.

Manamana Ridge

Daryl the praying mantis whisperer.

Manamana Ridge

Chris pointing to one of many interesting curios left behind in the mountains for others to witness.

Manamana Ridge

Descending down towards the Crouching Lion rock formation.

Manamana Ridge

The ridge soon broadened and leveled off as we neared Kahana Bay.

All pau

We made it down to Kam Highway under the cover of darkness. Thanks to Richie for giving us a hop back to our cars.

GPS Tracks

Our dawn to dusk hike covered 4.46 miles with a super fun group. Agnes can now put this hike back into retirement. Post hike meal at Zippy’s. Segregated by gender. I should’ve ordered the usual Oxtail Soup. Mahalo to Daryl for driving me home.

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 three-week hiatus from hiking, I hooked up with Marcus again, along with Scott, Francis, KiLei, and Pete. Having hiked Pu’u Manamana and Pu’u Kahekili, I jumped at the chance to hike True Manamana with an experienced guide like Marcus. I had heard a lot about this hike, how it was quite challenging and that it was no joke. We all met at Swanzy Beach Park at 7:45am and piled into Scott’s truck, who then drove us to Trout Farm Road where we parked.

Kahana Bay

We pushed off at 8:05am and made our way up Cemetery Ridge from the old graveyard that sits at the foot of the trail. Right off the bat, the going up is a slow and steep climb up  a ridge that alternated between dirt, green moss and tree roots holding everything together. Within 20 minutes, we already had commanding views of Kahana Bay and Kahana Valley.

Ka'a'awa Valley

We reached Turnover, which is the highest point on Manamana at an elevation of 2,027 feet, at 10:10am. Mother Nature was graciously giving us excellent weather as we could see spectacular views of Ka’a’awa Valley and the Kualoa Mountains. Despite the sunny weather, the trail near the top of Turnover to the Lookout was extremely muddy, the type of mud that can suck your shoe(s) off your foot if not careful.

Lookout

Twenty minutes later, we found ourselves at the 1,900 foot point known as Lookout. We could clearly see our objective dead ahead, True Manamana, with Pu’u Ohulehule squarely behind it. To lighten our loads a bit, we stashed our extra water at this point. It was best to carry light as possible hiking this narrow and crumbly ridge.

Rockface

Half and hour later, we climbed down what is probably the hardest part of the trail, an approximately 50′ rockface. If you’re confident in your climbing skills, you can “no rope” it going down, I elected to use the ropes to help me going down. Better safe than sorry.

Narrow ridge

We dropped nearly 600 feet going into the saddle between the Lookout and True Manamana. In between, the ridge was a combination of up and down climbs that provided crumbly and rocky footing and trees that would provide support as often as blocking the ridge, where we would have to swing to the side to get back on the ridge.

Approaching the Puka

Scattered on the ridge, were also numerous rockfaces and formations that we either climbed around, over or simply contoured around them.

Puka shot

Marcus suggested we all take a group photo in this puka (hole) formation. But most of the group had already passed this on the way to the summit. We were supposed to have taken it on the way back, but I guess everybody forget except Scott and myself.

More narrow ridge

The ridge seemed to get a little more narrower and crumblier as we approached the summit. It could have been my imagination.

Scramble to the summit

Making the final uphill push to reach the summit. I was already winded, and we had still had to reverse hike going back. Time to hit those elliptical machines to build up my cardio!

True Manamana Summit

We reached the summit of True Manamana at 1,650 feet at 12:30pm. The views were outstanding as we could see Pu’u Manamana, Ka’a’awa Valley, Kualoa Mountains, Pu’u Ohulehule, Waimanalo to Kahana.

Panoramic view from the top of True Manamana

Click here to see the larger image.

Going back down

No rest for the weary, after a short break, we all headed back down the same way we came up.

Headed back to the Lookout

Took us exactly 8 hours to finish this four mile hike. But what a four mile hike it was! We called it a day by having something to eat at Uncle Bobo’s, which is right across Swanzy Beach Park, BYOB!