Met up with Andy, Chris, Matt and Olivier at the Pali Lookout to continue riding the saddles. Somebody woke up late and got to ride in the boot (trunk). Thanks to Nandor for dropping us off on the side of the highway. The other side.

Trailhead

We don’t need hard hats where we’re going today. Maybe on second thought …

Kalihi Saddle

Looking out at the ocean of trees rising to meet the ridge line. Photo by Matt Vidaurri.

Kalihi Saddle

Stepping foot on what some folks call the hardest hike on the island. I would beg to differ. Diamond Head is the hardest hike on the island.

Kalihi Saddle

Hiking on the edge. Photo by Chris Bautista.

Single file hiking

No passing allowed. Photo by Matt Vidaurri

Don’t look down

Olivier skirting around a boulder on the ridge. Photo by Matt Vidaurri

Windward Views

Panoramic photo by Andrew Keller.

Sharks Fin

The John Williams music was drowned out by the whipping winds. Photo by Matt Vidaurri.

Sharks Fin

Finning our way down the back of the hill.

Bunny Ears

Chris climbing up the first of the hills named after the rabbits organ of hearing. We could hear the winds loud and clear.

Bunny Ears

Traversing between the twin hills. Photo by Chris Bautista.

Bunny Ears

Making our way to the Doorstop. Photo by Chris Bautista

Doorstop

Everybody waiting their turn to climb down. Photo by Matt Vidaurri

Doorstop

Are we being challenged yet? Photo by Chris Bautista

Pimple

Chris making his way around the pimple.

Pimple

When you realize your fly is open while your picture is being taken. Photo by Matt Vidaurri

Can Opener

Scrambling our way over the loose and rocky terrain to our breakfast spot.

Kalihi Saddle

Group photo left to right: Chris, Matt, myself, Olivier and Andy.

Caution

Keeping a wary eye on a sofa sized rock that seems to be slowly edging its way loose from the mountain. It could just be my imagination.

Kalihi Saddle

Contouring on the Windward side below the Can Opener.

Lanihuli Wall

Matt going up the shortest and steepest section of the multi-tiered wall.

Lanihuli Wall

Leaving the serrated ridges of the saddle behind me. Photo by Matt Vidaurri

Lanihuli Wall

Another “brick” in the wall.

Kalihi Saddle

Pulling ourselves up the mountain where the webbing was soon replaced with uki grass. Photo by Matt Vidaurri.

Dirt Dragon

Sitting room only. Photo by Chris Bautista

Kalihi Saddle

Passing a weathered husk of an ohia tree on the ridge.

Kalihi Saddle

Climbing our way out of the saddle. Photo by Olivier Rojas.

Ko’olau Summit Ridge Trail (KSRT)

Trudging through the Leeward side of the trail which afforded temporary protection from the gusting winds.

Lanihuli Summit

Socked in at 2,700′. Might as well have our lunch.

KSRT

Making our way down the sliver of a ridge, where the drops were masked by the clouds around us.

Contour

Dropping off the ridge to contour through the tangled, thorny thimbleberry bushes on our way to the lost pali puka.

Anvil

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again. Luckily it only took one more try. Photo by Matt Vidaurri.

W

Trying to redeem myself with the alphabet. Photo by Chris Bautista

Watch your drop

Matt climbing up on the Leeward contour. Photo by Andrew Keller.

W

Looking back at the W, Donkey Kong or “true pali notches.” Tomato. Tomatoe.

Nu’uanu Saddle

Dropping down the ridge below the cloud banks.

Swirling Heavens

Leaving behind the aptly named summit.

Picture Frame

Climbing up and over a small pu’u (hill). Photo by Matt Vidaurri

Incisor Rock

To swing or not to swing? That was the question of the day.

Pu’u Suicido

Matt had no problems with being a swinger.

Windward Views

We passed two girls who seemed like they were vacillating between pressing forward or hanging out with the views. I think her friend was leaning towards the latter.

Makai Parking

We can see our cars for the ridge.

Nu’uanu Saddle

Primary colors on the saddle.

Contour

Dodging and keeping pace with the falling rocks. Photo by Matt Vidaurri

Pali Puka

Hello from the other side.

Pali Highway

Making our way down to the Pali Lookout. Photo by Matt Vidaurri.

Bamboo Forest

Finishing in the bamboo sieve that sifted and filtered the light and sounds. Photo by Matt Vidaurri

All pau

Our abbreviated 2.10 mile air cooled hike that failed to reach the planned end of Piliwale due to a lack of consensus, still was a fun day filled with “not so challenging” moments. Post hike meal at Rainbow Drive Inn. You can lead someone to the slush float and loco moco, but you can’t make him eat and drink it.

Video by Matt Vidaurri of our saddle hike.

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.

Met up with Ben, Chris, Dale and Shirley at the Pali Lookout, to help somebody put a notch in their hiking belt.

Trailhead

Right off the bat, it was a steep little climb.

True Pali Lookout

The winds were blowing pretty hard above the lookout.

IG Photo Shoot

Which way is the wind blowing? Thanks Shirley. Photo by Dale Yoshizu.

Pali Notches

Dale and Shirley watching Chris climbing down the second notch.

Nu’uanu Saddle

Single file shuffling to the chimney. Like lemmings, but going up a cliff. Photo by Dale Yoshizu.

Leaning Chimney of Nu’uanu

Webbing retrieval in progress. Photo by Dale Yoshizu.

Chimney

Dale making it look easy.

Chimney

Group photo left to right: Chris, Dale, Shirley, myself and Ben. Rolling backpacks gather no moss.

Nu’uanu Saddle

Shirley had an extra bounce in her step with no pack on her back and a twinkle in her eye. Wait, that was her contacts.

Contour

Clustering around the contour rock.

Nu’uanu Saddle

Time for another photo shoot. Might as well sit down for a spell.

Nu’uanu Saddle

Back to our regular program of hiking on the ridge line.

Trail snacks

Thimbleberry bushes framing triple peaked Olomana.

Junction

Coke tastes better with company and in the mountains. Photo by Dale Yoshizu.

Nu’uanu Saddle

Carbonated and sugared up, we were ready to continue the hike. Photo by Shirley.

Mud Wall

Dale and Shirley making their way up the slippery slope.

Nu’uanu Saddle

Approaching the mud soaked summit trail.

Konahuanui

Champagne was flowing on the highest summit on the Ko’olau Mountain Range. Congratulations to Shirley for completing the entire KST. We met a couple other hikers who arrived at the summit later and kept a wary eye on our alcoholic festivities.

Lulumahu Ridge

Celebration time was over. We still had to get off the mountain. The burning question asked by Dale, of who was older went unanswered as we left the summit.

Lulumahu Ridge

The ridge soon slackened off after the somewhat steep descent from K1.

Lulumahu Ridge

Looking to the “other” side. Photo by Chris Bautista.

Lulumahu Ridge

Time for another group photo and multiple photo shoots.

Lulumahu Ridge

The skinniest section of the ridge.

Lulumahu Ridge

Everybody showing their best side to the camera.

PSA

Arrive Alive. Don’t Text & Hike.

Lulumahu Ridge

We can hear the waterfalls! Just hear but don’t see.

Lulumahu Valley

Mingling with the two-way traffic on the trail as we exited the valley.

Lulumahu Valley

A still from the Patterson-Gimlin short video of an unidentified female hiker.

Snoopy

My wife’s favorite beagle.

Long live the IG Queen

Looking for somebody’s contacts on the ground as we drew curious stares from passing hikers. Photo by Dale Yoshizu.

Lulumahu Valley

Striding down the hill to the hunter’s check-in station.

All pau

Great hike with an amazing crew and awesome accomplishment for Shirley. Thanks to Daryl and George for shuttling us back to our cars. Somebody was in the mood for burgers. Post hike meal at Teddy’s Bigger Burgers.

Note: I have been made aware the 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.

The twin peaks of Konahuanui (K1 and K2) have beckoned to me for quite some time. All four of our previous attempts to climb them were either derailed by Mother Nature or Human Nature. Today was the day we were going to get to the top of the highest peak on the Koolau Mountains. It would have took a tsunami with hurricane winds to stop Glenn, Chance and myself from making this hike today. 

Koolau Mountains

I picked up Glenn from Alani Drive in Manoa, as that was where we were planning on coming out and we met Chance at the Pali Lookout. The climb going up towards the Pali Notches was steep off the bat and then we scrambled through a tangled thicket of hau tree branches. After that, we got to a flat clearing where we saw the sun painted fluted cliffs of the Koolau Mountains.

1st Pali Notch

Scrambling down the first Pali Notch was just a warm up for what lay ahead of us which was the second notch and the Chimney.

2nd Pali Notch

When we got to the second Pali Notch, we were pleasantly surprised to find that somebody had left ropes. The last time we did the notches, there were no ropes. The route we found that works best going down, is starting from the left and working your way to the right with or without ropes.

The Chimney

As we made our way to the nub or nipple right before the Chimney, the wind started to pick up again. This wouldn’t be the Pali Lookout without strong winds pushing you around. We had heard a lot about the Chimney and it’s near vertical face with limited handholds and footholds, so we had bought rock climbing shoes in preparation. Make that Glenn had brought his shoes, while I forgot mine’s in my car and Chance decided he could do without them.

Top of the Chimney

Much has been made about the Chimney, while it was a good climb, it was nowhere near the terrifying experience we were anticipating.  It was more a comedy of errors on our part, as the following story illustrates. We had decided it would be easier to climb without our backpacks, so I had brought along 550 parachute cord to haul the backpacks up the Chimney. I volunteered to go first and borrowed Glenn’s rock climbing shoes to scale the Chimney. Once at the top, the 550 cord got tangled and was too short to reach Glenn at the bottom. I wasted a lot of time trying to untangle the cord and then attached Glenn’s rock climbing shoes to the end to provide some weight as the wind was whipping the cord every which way but Glenn’s way. The cord was still too short as it was still partially tangled, so Glenn climbed up from the base of the Chimney and then tried to swing the cord to Chance at the bottom. During one of his swings, one of Glenn’s shoes flew off the cord and tumbled down the windward side. Goodbye $180 shoes. Chance finally snagged the cord and attached two of our backpacks and it was a bear hauling it up as it swung towards the town side where there were more branches and rocks for the cord to catch on. Glenn then made it up and Chance completed the climb with his backpack on. That little exercise probably added an extra hour plus to our hiking time.

Another rockface

After the Chimney, the path ahead lay strewn with narrow ridges and brittle rock. Buoyed by the confidence of completing the Chimney portion and ropes left behind by others, we made short work of the rockfaces. 

...and another...

As we started to climb higher, the rocky trail eventually turned into a narrow trail held together by dirt, grass and plants.

Windward view

Taking a break to soak in the bird’s eye view of the Windward side. This is what makes ridge hikes so worthwhile as the views knock it out of the park.

Town view

Looking towards Nuuanu Valley and town. You can see the top of Lanihuli on the right.

Can't see the top for the clouds

As we looked up trying to find the peak of Konahuanui, the clouds kept hiding it from us. More often than not, the top is usually covered in clouds. Today was no exception.

Slippery slope

We came across this section where it was straight going up 25+feet of mud. Luckily there were ropes again, you will need some upper body strength to pull yourselves up using tree branches, grass and ropes. Glenn actually took his shoes off to get a better grip going up.

Cloudy view

Here we are almost at the top. We were so high up, we actually saw an red bi-plane flying below us, which I think is the original Hawaiian Airlines plane. Pretty cool.

Top of Konahuanui

We arrived at the top of Konahuanui at 3,105 feet to be greeted by whiteout conditions. While it was disappointing not to have clear conditions, Mother Nature teased us every now and then as the clouds would partially open up to show us the Windward and Town views.

Headed to K2

After vainly waiting about 30 minutes hoping that the clouds would clear from the top, we decided to move on to the second highest peak of Konahuanui or K2. Here is where we made our second mistake of the day. Since we could barely see, we started going down the ridge on the town side. When the clouds partially lifted, we realized we were going the wrong way and had to backtrack back to the top and follow the ridge on the Windward side that would take us to K2. Another extra hour tacked on to the hike. 

Konahuanui 2 marker

The view from K2 was just as cloudy as K1. A big disappointment. The views were actually better getting to the peaks than when we actually got on top of the peaks.

Panoramic view of Windward and Town

Click here to see the larger image of the just stupendous views of the Windward and Town sides.

Koolau Mountains

The fact that we could see the Koolaus all the way to Makapu’u just made this hike even more breathtaking.

Headed down the Manoa Middle Trail

As we were walking along the spine of the Koolau’s, we were wondering if we had missed the turn to go down the Manoa Middle trail. We thought we were going to have to hike all the way to Mount Olympus and go down the Waahila Trail. Then as Glenn was hiking ahead of us, he came back with a shit eating grin on his face that said he found the clearing and the Manoa Middle pink ribbon. The hike down Manoa Middle is all downhill and the last part before the trail drops you into the Waiakeakua stream is almost vertical with strawberry guava trees and ropes to brake your descent, which reminded me of the Cemetery Ridge coming down Pu’u Manamana. After that, we just followed the stream all the way out until we found ourselve on Waaloa Place, a little off from our intended exit of Alani Drive. It took us over twelve hours to finish this hike, if we hadn’t gotten lost and spent wasted time untangling our cord, we would have completed the hike in a little over nine hours.

Pali Puka is a short and sweet hike that starts from the Pali Lookout and takes less than half an hour to reach the Puka. I didn’t even know about this hike until I found it on the Internet, gotta love the Internet!

Pali Lookout

We left our car in the parking lot which is free for kamaainas and military personnel, and I still don’t know how they distinguish between tourists and locals. It’s not like they give you a sign to put on your dashboard that says “I’m Local!” We walked towards the tour bus parking lot on the left side, where there is a break in the wall, which is the trailhead. The peak sticking up from the ridge is where we were headed to see the Puka.

Windward Oahu

From the breached wall, we walked into the bamboo grove and started making our way up the ridge. In less than five minutes, we had this fantastic view of Windward Oahu.

The Peak

Another 15 minutes later, we were at the peak. If we were to contour around this peak, I head there is a trail that goes to Lanihuli, but that is for another day.

Nu'uanu Valley

There is also a great view of Nu’uanu Valley and the city, that beats the view from the lookout anyday.

Pali Puka

I was thinking of climbing into the hole as we did at the Makapu’u Puka, but thought better of it, as the wind was really cranking that day.

Pali Notches

Climbing back down towards the parking lot, we could see the next hike that lay ahead of us. The Pali Notches, which are the two notches that are on the ridge above the lookout. I have heard stories that the Pali Notches are “crazy to climb” and “dangerous.” We were about to find out ourselves firsthand if the Pali Notches lived up to that billing.

Pali Highway

The trailhead to Pali Notches is on the right side, before the wheelchair ramp going to the Pali Lookout. We found that out when we were coming down, as we had started from the parking lot side. Going up the ridge, we came out into an open area, where the wind had it’s way with us. We stood as close to the edge as possible and played “kite” with the wind.

First Notch

We got to the first notch in about 30 minutes, which we climbed up and down without breaking a sweat, as the gusting winds took care of that. Now we were going to find out if the second notch lived up to its reputation.

Second Notch

The climb down the second notch was made easier with a rope that somebody had left behind. We found the best hand holds and footing was coming down the left hand side. Depending on your climbing skill, I believe this can and has been done without ropes. My friend lost his cap to the wind when he was coming down, I convinced him it was in his best interests not to retrieve it due to the steepness and the high winds. The second notch was hard but doable, not as dangerous or crazy as we were led to believe. These notches were actually cut into the mountain ridge to be used as gunports in the Battle of Nu’uanu in 1795, when King Kamehameha conquered the island of Oahu. I can’t imagine how these guys hauled heavy cannons up to these ridge notches. I guess that’s why they were warriors and we’re just hikers.

Another view of Windward Oahu

After we climbed the second notch, we continued on the ridge while enjoying the fantastic views of the windward side and trying not to get blown off the ridge.

The Chimney

My friend didn’t want to go any further past the rock and ontowards the Chimney as the wind was really blowing. So we turned around and went back to the Pali Lookout. Climbing up the second notch seemed easier than climbing down, as you can see clearly where you need to go whereas climbing down, you are not exactly sure where to place your hand or foot.

Pali Lookout

The Pali Notches took us about two hours to complete. I would recommend to hike this trail only when the winds are not blowing that hard. But then again, this is the Pali, which is known for it’s strong winds.