Met up with Jasmin and Jose to do a short ridge loop trail in Hawaii Kai.

Small climb

Climbed up a small cliff thick with bougainvillea bushes. Nothing like a poke in the morning to get the juices flowing.

Watch your step

Small mountain ball cacti.

Follow the poles

Jasmin and Jose following the electric poles to the top of the ridge.

Fact or fallacy

Glad to know that. I can sleep better at night now.

Mauna o Ahi Ridge

Looking back towards Maunalua Bay.

Which way does the wind blow?

Let me lick my finger and find out.

Exposed ridge

We were buffeted with blustery winds and blessed with overcast skies.

Not in season

Trail snacks not ready for plucking.

Canopy cover

Towering trees started to dominate and cover the ridge.

Make yourselves at home

Taking a short break.

Going up

Short cardio climb to the top, as the ridge took on a steeper slant.

Timber

Uprooted tree.

Mauna o Ahi summit

Group photo at the 1,735′ summit left to right: Jasmin, Jose and myself.

Mauna o Ahi Windward

Looking back at another steep Windward Ridge.

KSRT

We turned right on the Ko’olaus to continue the trail that weaved between the Windward and Leeward sides of the mountains.

Scenic view

Windward views of Waimanalo, Mokulua Islands and Kaneohe Bay.

Power lines

Providing power since 1891.

Ko’olau Mountains

It was a nice day on the mountains. Photo by Jose Luis Delaki.

Detour

Flower power. Wilted orchid.

Pyramid Rock

We contoured on the Windward side to stay on the KSRT.

Flip side

Jasmin looking back at the Pyramid Rock from the Leeward side.

Rocky area

Looking out towards Hahione Valley and Koko Head.

Crumbly rock

Jasmin coming up the hard way.

Mariner’s Ridge Summit

Jose headed towards the lonely 1,361′ summit.

To the right

Your other right.

Panoramic view

Click here for the larger image.

Kaluanui Ridge Summit

The original plan was to hike to Makapu’u, but due to time restrictions, we had to bail out at Mariner’s Ridge. A trail that is now closed to the general public. Several hiking clubs are granted limited access.

La, la, la

Jasmin be limbo. Jasmin be quick. Jasmin go unda limbo stick.

No traffic

The once bustling trail was now eerily empty going back down.

Petroglyph?

Signs of modern man.

Going back to nature

The trail is slowly being reclaimed by Mother Nature.

All pau

The trailhead is now blocked by a wrap around gate. Greased from top to bottom. Left to right. Jiffy Lube?

GPS Tracks

The breezy ridge loop hike covered 4.97 miles. Post hike meal at Aina Haina Chop Suey. Family Style. Pass the rice. Post hike run to Kaimuki Laundromat. Got quarters?

I had met John on the Poamoho trail and he had asked me to take him and some friends on an intermediate hike one day. Today was the day. 

Leaving our truck behind

Joining me on this repeat hike, was John, Lyle, Maiko and Naoko. Lyle was the designated driver today and he picked me up from the top of Kaluanui Road and shuttled all of us to the Makapu’u Lookout.

Sunrise

We scrambled up the mountain in time to catch a twin sunrise – the sun and the Makapu’u Lighthouse.

Coming up to the powerlines

The group making their way up to the powerlines.

Ready for some rock climbing?

We have to climb on those rocks?

Isn’t this fun?

It’s amazing what some people with a fear of heights will do. Photo by Naoko Takaso.

There’s room up here!

Actually there wasn’t that much room. Photo by John Garrity.

Makapu’u Puka

We met three other hikers at the puka, they had hiked up from the lookout earlier than us. This was their return point. This was just our photo opportunity stop. Photo by Naoko Takaso.

Puka Junior

Passing another puka in the making.

Hiking to the moon

Small kine grinder. Only 238,900 miles.

All I need is a paraglider

Hanging out at the paraglider platform. Photo by John Garrity.

Looking out towards the ocean

A nice view of Manana (Rabbit) and Kaohikaipu Islands. Both are designated seabird sanctuaries. Jutting out from the coastline is the University of Hawaii’s Makai Research Pier.

Paragliding platform

Group photo left to right: myself, Maiko, Naoko, John and Lyle.

Hang gliding platform

Another group photo.

Kamiloiki Valley

Looking into Kamiloiki Valley, with Koko Crater and Koko Head in the background. The gate to access the “Hidden Stairway” is now padlocked.

Signal should be strong up here

Don’t be standing in front of those microwave dishes, unless you like it medium rare.

The Dead Mans Cat Walk

This spot has seen heavy traffic recently, as evidenced by the large amounts of graffiti that hikers have left behind. Heck, there were even two lawn chairs there! Leave it as you find it. Otherwise, access may be denied or severely restricted in the future. Look at Haiku Stairs.

Leaving Kamehame ridge

The group leaving the communications facility behind as they make their way down.

The rope is your friend

“Isn’t there another way down?”

Coming down the ridge

When you are hiking these ridges, most people never realize actually how close to the edge they are. This photo puts it in perspective.

Stopping and smelling the roses?

Checking out these tiny colorful flowers as I waited for the group.

Lunch spot

Taking our lunch under the shade of the pine trees and cooled by the trade winds.

Picture taking time

Everybody taking pictures at the same time. Who can blame them? It was a beautiful day on the Koolau’s.

Kamiloiki Summit

We ran into two hikers at Kamiloiki Summit who snapped our group picture. Mahalo!

Going to the Tom-Tom trail

Making our way to the Tom-Tom trail and a little something extra for me – Bell Tower, which is the rock formation in the middle of the photo.

Red Baron?

I noticed this vintage plane buzzing around the Koolau’s. The plane resembles a Bellanca CH-300 Pacemaker, Hawaiian Airlines first aircraft to fly in the islands.

Watch out for the canyon

The group making their way up to the Tom-Tom trail.

Tom-Tom trail

The Tom-Tom trail. We were not descending back down into Waimanalo today.

Bell tower

The last time we were on this trail, some in the group talked about tackling Bell Tower. Marcus said a hiker named doRito made the first documented climb. So it’s also known as doRito Tower.

Face to rock

John had agreed to accompany me down the crumbly spur ridge to the tower to act as my spotter. I found a brand spanking new piton and stake lying at the base of the tower. Perhaps somebody was planning on top roping the tower to make it easier for others to climb?

Climbing up the tower

The tower looked somewhat intimidating seeing it up close and personal. It didn’t help that John advised me not to make the climb. After checking it out from ground level and it seemed within my meager climbing ability, I started my way up. It was just a matter of finding the right handholds and footholds. I had a small “diaper change” moment when one of the rocks I was holding onto with my right hand came off the tower and plunged into the valley. John prudently stepped back after that. Photos by John Garrity and Maiko Nakagawara.

Top of the tower

Working from left to right up the tower, I was soon at the top. What a feeling! Now the hard part, making my back down. Photos by John Garrity and Maiko Nakagawara.

Carpet of ferns

After the fun was over, we got back on the trail to Mariner’s Ridge.

Almost to the top

Looking back at the Koolau Mountains. Another beautiful day in paradise.

Mariner’s Ridge Summit

Taking a last group photo at the 1,640′ summit of Mariner’s Ridge. We didn’t spend much time at the top, as the girls had a happy hour event waiting for them, so we took the trail back down to my car.

GPS Tracks

The 6.4 mile hike was a fun filled day with new hiking buddies and with a twist (Bell Tower) thrown in for good measure.

Needing to stretch out my sprained ankle from my last hike, I went with Chris, Andy, Ryan, Will, Kelly, Catherine and Bob to hike up Kaupo Cliffs #2 on Kamehameha Day. Nice to be off on a weekday! We staged some cars at the top of Kaluanui Road and met at the Tom-Tom trailhead.

Taller than the grass

Wading through chest high grass was not a problem for one of our hikers. Andy towered over the grass and some of the trees at 6’10”.

Heading up the hills

We soon left the grassy trail behind us as we started to make our way towards the easiest of the Kaupo Cliffs – #2.

Heading into the chute

This massive chute never ceases to amaze me due to its sheer size and depth. Photo by Chris Hiona.

Contouring

We descended into the chute and passed the trailhead for #3 to contour around the cliff base.

Root climbing

Climbing up the tree roots at the trailhead for #2, almost identical in appearance and roots to #3.

Enjoying the view

Taking a short break to enjoy the fruits of our hike – spectacular views of Waimanalo and beyond.

Kaupo 3

Looking to our right at Kaupo #3.

Rock climbing

Finally! Some rock faces to break up the monotony of the terrain. Photo by Will Lee.

Scenic point

 Group photo back to front: Will, Kelly, Ryan, Bob, Catherine, Chris, Andy and myself.

How’d I get up here?

That’s it for the rock scrambling? Photo by Will Lee.

Traffic jam

The rest of the crew making their way up.

Kaupo 1

Looking at Kaupo #1. There has been some debate if this cliff is even doable. Where there’s a will, there’s a way! Will, you up for it?

Scrambling to the top

Earlier we had debated if we would take the ridge straight to the top, but decided that the difficulty was not worth it. We would make it to the traditional crossover from #2 to #3.

The crossover

Group photo back to front: Will, Ryan, Andy, Chris, Catherine, Kelly, Bob and myself.

Koolau Summit Ridge Trail

 It was a perfect day when we hit the top of the Koolau Summit Ridge Trail.

RIP Panasonic

It was also a little breezy. This is the last photo taken before the trade winds toppled my camera and tripod face down into some rocks. Ryan soon parted company with us and went down Kamehame Road.

Caveman Proving Grounds

Will and Chris check out Catherine down climbing some rocks while Kelly spots her. Bob was making bets that the tree wouldn’t survive a certain hiker coming down. The tree is still there!

doRito Tower

Looking down into the valley where doRito Tower sits from the top of the Tom-Tom trail. This gnarly rock formation was first free climbed by a hiker named doRito. Photo by Bob Tyson.

Tom-Tom trail

Chris going down the Tom-Tom trail. As the rest of us continued our way to Mariner’s Ridge, we came across four hikers who were almost finished with their three day hike from Manoa Falls to Makapuu. They had camped out at Mount Olympus and Kuliouou. Unfortunately, they were almost out of water. Fortunately, Kelly and Catherine had extra fluids to spare to the group.

Mariner’s Ridge Summit

Looking back from where we had come from. As usual, the summit was teeming with two-legged and four-legged hikers, some even wearing slippers. True hardcore hikers!

Heading back down

Nice views of Koko Crater and Koko Head going back down the trail. There has been some controversy swirling around this trail as Kamehameha Schools which owns the trail and not the summit, has reportedly placed it off limits. But you couldn’t tell that by the heavy traffic on the trail. I hope this doesn’t turn into another Haiku Stairs situation.

GPS Tracks

This short and fun hike was a little over 3.6 miles. After that, we fed our faces at Teddy’s Bigger Burgers.

Apparently I had not got my fill of hiking up steep Windward ridges, that is why I found myself with Chris going up Mariner’s Windward on Easter. Photo by Chris Hiona.

Finding the breadcrumbs in Waimanalo

We started off at the Tom-Tom trailhead and made our way through the Waimanalo forest as we crossed dry riverbeds and pushed our way through these green things called trees. By following the scattered pink ribbons and the GPS tracks that J let me have, we eventually made our way to the ridge.

I feel the need for micro-spikes

As the grade got steeper and the dirt become more abundant than those green things, Chris decided to slap on his micro-spikes for better traction. Once again, I found myself the lone man out.

Let’s go find some rocks

As we rapidly gained elevation on the ridge, those green things returned with a vengeance. I was so happy to break off from all that undergrowth when the opportunity presented itself and scrambled straight to the rocky ridgeline. Photo by Chris Hiona.

Nice day on the Koolau’s

Picture perfect conditions on the Koolau’s. Nothing is more rewarding than being able to see both sides of the Koolau’s as far as the eye can see. Photo by Chris Hiona.

The fun begins

After a bunch of picture taking, we resumed our hike up the rocky ridge. It did get steep in certain sections but there were ample footholds and handholds. Those pesky trees also provided convenient handholds as well. Photo by Chris Hiona.

Nice view of Waimanalo

Chris taking a break to soak in the views of Waimanalo.

The fun continues

We soon resumed our scrambling up the ridge. Photo by Chris Hiona.

Crumbly rocks

Crumbly rocks or choss seem to make up most of the rocks found on the mountain ranges in the islands. I was just about to warn Chris that this section was super crumbly, when all the rocks underneath me gave way and sent me sliding 30 feet down the mountain. Luckily those pesky trees arrested my fall.

Better view of Waimanalo

Chris taking in the higher elevation views of Waimanalo. These views never get old for me.

This is where the real fun begins

As we sized up our next major rockface that we had to climb, we spotted the only rope we saw during our entire hike up the ridge. That must mean something, right?

Panoramic view of Waimanalo

Click here for the larger image.

Made it!

Sometimes the direct way up doesn’t click for me. Figuring that was too hard, I decided to scoot my way around the crumbly and narrow ledge to contour my way around the rockface and climb up. Chris decided that was not the path he was going to follow and after some effort, finally made it the direct way up. He made the right choice.

Is this rope safe?

After Chris climbed up the ledge, I swung the rope over to him to give him some assistance climbing up. I don’t know how long that rope has been there, but the outer layer was frayed and coming off in copious pieces. Most of which flew into my nose and mouth, not very appetizing.

Last hump to the top

We crashed our way through some more thick undergrowth, which led Chris to lose his camera boom. After that, it was a quick scramble to the top.

Mariner’s Windward Ridge

Top of Mariner’s Windward Ridge. Photo by Chris Hiona.

Mariner’s Ridge Summit

Top of Mariner’s Ridge with great views of the Koolau’s and Olomana in the background.

Hawaii Kai in the background

The original plan was to continue the hike to Makapu’u, but Chris started cramping up as we made our way up the ridge, so we decided to end it by going down the Mariner’s Ridge Trail.

GPS Tracks Mariner’s Windward to Mariner’s Ridge

The entire hike was a little over 4 miles and Chris decided not to go back down and get his camera boom. I don’t blame him.

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.

This was our first hike towards completing the entire Koolau Summit from Makapu’u to Pupukea. Of course we plan on breaking it up into manageable chunks, not everybody can be Chase Norton. Mad props to that guy for hiking the entire Koolau Summit in eight days. I parked my car at the top of Kaluanui Road where the hike would end and my friend picked me up and we all met at the Makapu’u Lookout to start our hike. This was our first hike as a group that one of us called the Four Horsemen which included Glenn, Chance, Jason and myself.

Makapu'u

We made our way up the ridge following the chain link fence that had danger signs plastered over them. Looking back, we saw Makapu’u Point which means “Bulging Eye” in Hawaiian, sandwhiched in between the Makapu’u Lighthouse on the left and Pele’s Chair on the right, a natural rock formation that in Hawaiian legend, was the last place Madam Pele left on Oahu before settling on the Big Island. Speaking of fire, this part of the trail has zero shade, so it’s best to lather on the sunscreen or be prepared to be seared lobster red.

Sea Life Park

Further up the ridge, we were treated to views of Sea Life Park and the islands of Manana (Rabbit Island) and Kaohikaipu (Turtle Island). The sounds of barking seals from Sea Life Park punctuated the morning silence as we made our way up the ridge.

Early Goats

We followed the rocky ridgeline as we passed numerous interesting rock formations, some of which looked like jagged teeth protruding from the ground. We also noticed a herd of goats that were keeping an eye on us from the next hill over.

Rock climbing the Makapu'u Puka - Not

We also started dropping altitude as the ridgeline gradually dipped towards the Makapu’u Puka. Hawaiian legend has it that a warrior named Kaulanaakaiole threw either a spear or shot an arrow at a rat that created this hole or puka.

Three monkeys on a platform

After passing the puka, the ridgeline started to climb again as we gained elevation and reached the top. We passed some old Army barracks atop Kamehame Ridge that is now home to a teen program called Winner’s Camp. We then passed a rickety looking platform used by hang gliders and then came across another one where we clowned for the camera. 

Robin's Nest

The trail turned left from the second hang glider platform and we followed the stairs down and hung a right onto a paved road that led to the old Nike Missile Site, which was last used in the mid-60’s. Eventually a locked gate blocked us from continuing further up the road, but a hole in the fence on the left side allowed us to continue. From one of the abandoned towers that we climbed, we peered directly down into the Anderson Estate, which became famous for being used as “Robin’s Nest” in the popular 80’s TV show, Magnum PI.

Down in the saddle

After poking around the old Nike Missile Site, we picked up the somewhat indistinct trail masked in heavy bushes behind the last building and eventually went down a saddle that dropped several hundred feet in elevation. We then climbed out of the saddle up towards a clump of ironwood trees that provided much needed shade to have our lunch and enjoyed the views of Waimanalo.

Kamiloiki Ridge

We stopped briefly at Kamiloiki Ridge to see Mount Olomana and tried to locate Bumpy Kanahele’s 45 acre sanctuary, otherwise known as Pu’uhonua o Waimanalo.

Headed down the ridge towards the Tom-Tom trail

It is very easy to miss the right turn, ribboned branches and all, that will keep you on the Koolau Summit Trail and headed towards Mariner’s Ridge. We found this out as we continued to walk straight on the trail from Kamiloiki Ridge, luckily we figured it out pretty early and backtracked to the right turn. The trail rollercoasters until you reach the top of a hill where there are three poles, this marks the spot where the Tom-Tom trail descends down into Waimanalo.

Mariner's Ridge

As we pushed on past the Tom-Tom trail, the ridge went down and up a couple more times until we reached the top of Mariner’s Ridge. After that, it was a short and sweet stroll back down the trail towards our car on Kaluanui Road and next stop – Zippys.

UPDATE AS OF JANUARY 22, 2014: PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT KAMEHAMEHA SCHOOLS, THE PROPERTY LANDOWNER OF MARINER’S TRAILHEAD HAS DECLARED THE MARINER’S RIDGE HIKE TO BE CLOSED. IF YOU WISH TO HIKE THIS TRAIL, YOU MUST CONTACT THE SIERRA CLUB OR THE HAWAIIAN TRAIL & MOUNTAIN CLUB TO GAIN LEGAL ACCESS.

Looking for an easy hike that has great views and where you can bring your kids and pets? Then, look no further than the Mariner’s Ridge or Kaluanui Ridge hike. This has got to be the easiest and shortest ridge hike to the Ko’olau summit. I drove all the way to the end of Kaluanui road in the Mariner’s ridge community and parked at the dead end. There is a distinctive, shingled house on the right side of the dead end that a lot of locals refer to as the “gingerbread house.” Don’t be put off by the no tresspassing sign at the entrance to the trail head, as this is a public hike and open to all.

Koko Crater

Going up the rocky and dirt trail, I could see Koko Crater dominating the Hawaii Kai skyline.

Hahaione Valley

Looking to the left, you can see Hahaione Valley, Kuapa pond and Koko Head.

View to the West

After about 30 minutes, I got to the summit at an elevation of 1,361 feet. I heard this hike is very popular and often crowded, but this particular morning, I had the place all to myself. One of the advantages when you start at the crack of dawn, I guess.

View to the East

Looking to the right, you can see Makapu’u Point from the flat area of the summit.

Spine of the Ko’olau Mountain Range

Looking to the left, you can see that you can actually continue hiking to Kuli’ou’ou Ridge, Hawaii Loa Ridge and points beyond.  But that is for another day and hike. This hike is easy, as there are no steep grades or dropoffs. It took another 30 minutes to get back down the trail, where I actually started running into other hikers and dogs.

GPS Tracks

The 2.4 mile hike can easily be done after work or for a quick filler.