Something old. Something new. That was the theme for today. Something survivable as well.

Pali Puka Trail

Mahalo to Ferlino for dropping us off at the Pali Lookout. Catching the breaking sunrise as we broke free of the valley floor and onto the exposed ridge line.

Pali Puka Trail

Are we climbing that? No, we have enough excitement scheduled on today’s hike.

Pali Puka

Group photo at the hole in the mountains where we also bumped into Kassaundra and her friend that we met on an earlier West side hike.

Ko’olau Summit Ridge Trail (KSRT)

Scrambling up the steep flank to regain the ridge line.

Nu’uanu Saddle

Time to change formation.

Nu’uanu Saddle

Psst! This way.

Nu’uanu Saddle

Climbing our way up the path of least resistance or less crumbly. Whichever is more convenient.

Nu’uanu Saddle

Going up and around the leaning tree of Nu’uanu.

Nu’uanu Saddle

Scrambling up the ridge line that subtly changes her character with each visit.

Nu’uanu Saddle

Climbing and contouring the Incisor Rock Formation.

Nu’uanu Saddle

Akira making his way up to the narrow rock dike.

Nu’uanu Saddle

The group looking for their next handhold and foothold.

Nu’uanu Saddle

Roger scrambling his way that much closer to his KST finish.

Nu’uanu Saddle

What goes up must come back down.

Nu’uanu Saddle

Walking on the edge of the cliff with the sun on your back. Just another day in the mountains.

Nu’uanu Saddle

Making our way towards the 23rd letter of the alphabet.

Nu’uanu Saddle

Dropping down the Leeward side of the cliff to regain the ridge line.

Nu’uanu Saddle

Threading our way through the triple diked formation.

Nu’uanu Saddle

The rest of the group making their way up.

Nu’uanu Saddle

Sitting room only.

Nu’uanu Saddle

Straddling our way down the narrow rock dike.

Nu’uanu Saddle

Crumbly much?

Nu’uanu Saddle

Roger climbing his way up the “new” anvil route. Tell the next person to not shake the tree please.

Nu’uanu Saddle

Pulling ourselves up the steep section made bearable by a weathered rope.

Nu’uanu Saddle

Akira coming up with the expansive Windward views behind him.

KSRT

The “hard” parts of the saddle were behind us. Taking time to soak in the views.

KSRT

Time to switch formation.

Lanihuli Summit

We eat pretty well in the mountains thanks to Chef Suzuki.

Lanihuli Summit

Group photo at the 2,700′ summit where the swirling heavens were thankfully absent.

Nukohe Ridge

Stepping foot on “new” territory for our group as we switched formation again. Thanks to Nandor for the beta.

Nukohe Ridge

Descending down the noticeably overgrown ridge.

Nukohe Ridge

Trying to stay on track was made somewhat difficult due to the heavy vegetation.

Nukohe Ridge

We need to be over there, right?

Nukohe Ridge

Looking across the valley to Kalihi Saddle.

Nukohe Ridge

Scooting our way down the steep grassy section.

Nukohe Ridge

Are we having fun yet?

Nukohe Ridge

Crossing a gully as we struggled through the overgrowth to stay on track.

Nukohe Ridge

The ridge started to take on a more defined approach as we descended in elevation.

Nukohe Ridge

Kicking down rocks.

Nukohe Ridge

Where’s the sketchy section? Must be ahead of us.

Nukohe Ridge

The last photo taken with Roger’s iphone before he involuntary offered it to the mountains as an offering. It didn’t work.

Nukohe Ridge

Erosion had taken a toll on the ridge, so we contoured around it to get back on the crumbly ridge line.

Nukohe Ridge

We also found remnants of snapped wire and webbing that earlier hikers had installed.

Nukohe Ridge

Going down this particularly steep rock cliff, I somehow lost my foothold and took a header roughly following the red line. After I had come to a crashing stop, I checked my phone first to see if it was still there. Misplaced priorities. My friends yelling at me through my fog took me back to reality as I realized how lucky I was. Besides a bunch of bruises, cuts and scratches, I was relatively intact. I had lost my cap, sunglasses and a bottle of water on the fall down. Instead of waiting for them to throw me some webbing, I took it upon myself to climb back up the stretch of hill that was roughly 60′. During my climb back up, I recovered my cap and bottle of water. The mountains kept my sunglasses. I scrambled back to the ridge line as I waited for the rest of them that took an alternate route through the tree line.

Nukohe Ridge

Time to switch formation again as we resumed our hike down to the valley floor.

Nukohe Ridge

Make sure you catch the buss side!

All pau

We soon dropped to the valley floor and made it to the service road that connects to the HECO substation. Thanks to Ferlino for picking us up and also administering “ER” first aid at his house.

GPS Tracks

Our memorable and survivable hike covered a little over three miles over old and new trails. A story that I can tell my grandkids one day. Oh wait, I don’t have kids. Guess I have to keep it rolling around my head. Mahalo to everybody for their company and support and the powers that be that kept watch over me today. Post hike meal at Kenko-ya where Aida joined us for dinner.

Photos taken by Akira Suzuki, Roger Schiffman, Scott Peterson, 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.