Met up with Ferlino, Justin and Tessa to check out a spur ridge this weekend.

Maunawili

Are we hiking or visiting a petting zoo?

Maunawili

Views for sale, starting at $895,000. This must be the affordable area of the island.

Maunawili

Who let the dogs out? The hunters. Age old question finally answered.

Maunawili

Crossing the demo trail as we gained the Windward ridge.

Piliwale Ridge

Making our way up the ridge that was pioneered by legendary HTMC hiker Silver Piliwale, hence the name of the ridge.

Piliwale Ridge

Photo shoot at the notch.

Piliwale Ridge

The ridge became progressively steeper as we advanced on the ridge.

Piliwale Ridge

The ridge was laced with black webbing up to what was deemed the steepest parts by the people that installed them.

Piliwale Ridge

Rolling clouds soon saturated the area and soaked the grounds and screened out the views.

Piliwale Junction

We met two other hikers who were deciding if they were going to continue down the slippery slope, we suggested going down the other slippery slope that we had just come up from.

Mud Wall

Going down the mud wall whose bottom anchor tree has since been uprooted.

Ko’olau Summit Ridge Trail (KSRT)

Ferlino contouring around the rock that was blocking the ridge.

KSRT

Dropping elevation where we soon left the clouds behind us.

Konahuanui Windward

Descending down a short and steep hill as we branched off from the main ridge line.

Konahuanui Windward

Tessa taking the slack out of the webbing for the rest of the group.

Konahuanui Windward

The dense patch of woody climbers masked the razor thin ridge below us with sheer drops on both sides.

Konahuanui Windward

It was exhausting having to push, pull, climb and contort our way through the densely packed branches.

Konahuanui Windward

Struggling through the dense and tangled woody climbers seemed like hours but was actually mere minutes.

Konahuanui Windward

Out of the frying pan and into the fire. The entire ridge underfoot seemed none too solid as we slowly climbed our way down.

Konahuanui Windward

Our forward progress was halted by the assessment that further down climbing on this unstable ridge would be foolhardy.

Konahuanui Windward

Tessa dislodging rocks with every movement as she climbed her way down.

Konahuanui Windward

Looking at the Chimney from a different angle.

Konahuanui Windward

Justin looking for a second opinion. I don’t get scared, but this scared me.

Konahuanui Windward

Climbing back up the rotten ridge.

Konahuanui Windward

We made slightly better time through the woody climbers by following the “path” that we had made coming down.

KSRT

Ferllino back on the relatively stable saddle.

Nu’uanu Saddle

Justin charging down the crumbly ridge line.

Nu’uanu Saddle

Looking back at the crumbly, steep and exposed ridge. The best option would be to come back and do it from the bottom. Another hike for another day.

Contour

Trying a more direct route.

Contour

Justin contouring the contour.

Chimney

Climbing down the rockface on frayed webbing and core-shot ropes. When 50′ is not 100′.

Chimney

Bugs eye view.

Nipple

Watching other hikers in the distance on the notches.

Nipple

The group on the spire shaped rockface.

Pali Notches

Climbing up the bigger notch.

Pali Notches

No leaning back for the gram.

Pali Notches

Race to the top. Winner winner Thai dinner.

Pali Notches

Making my way to the smaller notch.

All pau

Our lookout is better than your lookout.

GPS Tracks

Our exhilarating hike clocked in at only two miles? We lived to hike another day. Great exploratory hike with new and old faces. Mahalo to Aida and Quan for picking us up at the Pali Lookout and bringing frozen carbonated beverages with them. Post hike meal at Chao Phya Thai restaurant where the food was not hot enough for the Thai boy. At least half of him.

Photos taken by Justin Nambounmy, Tessa Bugay 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.

Every time I travel over the Pali Highway and get a clear view of the Pali Notches and Konahuanui, I sometimes develop an urge to hike that trail again. I scratched that itch today along with Glenn, Chance and David. But this time, we were going up the Pali Notches and down Piliwale Ridge. We had originally planned to do it this past Sunday, but the tsunami warning canceled those plans.

Wake up cardio

We pushed off a little bit before 7:00am and right off the bat, the going up was a steep and somewhat muddy climb interrupted by a thicket of hau trees.

First clearing

A brisk ten minutes later, we were already at the first clearing, strangely devoid of the powerful gusts that the Pali is famous for. However, vog conditions from the Big Island produced a hazy filter on our scenic viewing.

Coming down the second notch

We made our way to the first notch, where we found that somebody had installed rope, which was not really necessary. Coming down the second notch was also aided by rope, which did come in handy. Photo by David Theriot.

Going up the Nipple

As we made our way up the rock formation known as the “Nipple”, we had already decided to climb up the Chimney with our backpacks on and using our regular hiking shoes. Our last hike up the Chimney, we tried it without backpacks and wearing rock climbing shoes, as that was the going advice on the best way to get up the Chimney. But we found that it wasn’t necessary, as far as our hiking group went. Photo by Chance Viloria.

Climbing up the Chimney

Going up the Chimney was relatively easy going, as ropes anchored by several pitons, provided necessary assistance when needed. However, the bottom piton was noticeably looser from our last visit, I’m afraid it will eventually come loose from it’s anchored point. Photo by David Theriot.

Climbing down the Nipple to the Chimney

Chance, Glenn and David climbing down the Nipple to go up the Chimney. It’s always good to have eyes on each other, especially when climbing rockfaces and tricky parts.

Top of the Chimney

We all made it to the top of the Chimney at 8:00am.

Tricky section

The only real difficult or tricky section that we came across, was a section of rockface that we had to contour around on the Leeward side. The handholds were minimal and our feet had precious little purchase on the narrow ledge. I believe this is the spot where a fellow hiker fell over 300 feet back in September. Thankfully, she survived and I heard is doing quite well.

Looking back

Looking back towards Lanihuli and the Koolau Mountains. It was a gorgeous day to hike the Koolau’s, spectacular views to soak in all day.

Coming up the ridge

Picking our way through the heavily vegetated trail was a somewhat welcome change from the rockfaces that we had just passed.

Wall of Mud

The only difficult part going up the approximately 25′ wall of mud is the initial part. Once you pull yourself up with the installed rope and the low hanging tree, it’s just a little more scrambling using tree roots and vegetation to get past the muddier part and to less muddy parts. 

Panoramic view from the summit of Konahuanui or K1

Click here for the larger image. Photo by David Theriot.

Piliwale ridge

We had our lunch at the junction that goes down Piliwale Ridge. Best lunch spot on the island! The junction is a clump of trees and are marked with two ribbons, or what’s left of them. After eating our lunch, we headed down Piliwale around 11:30am. We also ran into three hikers that were coming up the ridge and going down to Lulumahu falls.

It’s all downhill

The initial part of the ridge was heavily vegetated, which helped us going down. Photo by David Theriot.

Rope and Rocks

There are several steep and crumbly sections going down the ridge, but they are for the most part, roped for assistance.

Looking back on how we came down

Eventually the ridge ran into Maunawili Demonstration Trail, where we then took a left to head back to the Pali Lookout.

Ice cold water, mountain apples and lilikoi’s

Walking along the trail, we were treated to ripe mountain apples and lilikoi’s courtesy of Chance and David who knocked and plucked them from where there were hanging. Leptospirosis was not even on Chance’s dehydrated mind when he refilled his empty water bottle with ice cold water flowing from a water catchment tank.

Piliwale Ridge

Nice view of the ridge we had just come down.

Nuuanu Pali Lookout

We got back to the lookout around 3:30pm, where we had cold Gatorade’s waiting for us, thanks to Chance’s girl. The entire hike was a little shy of four miles and it was an awesome hike with an awesome crew. Photo by Kaimana Augustiro.