We paid a visit to Nature’s climbing gym on the West side today. Outdoors. Free. Can’t beat it.

Waianae Valley

Thanks to Leander for dropping Marilyn, Quan and myself off in the valley of broken glass, stripped cars and running dogs.

Waianae Valley

We pounded the pavement for a thankfully short time before hitting the trail punctuated with ponds of taro and patches of the pungent bitter melon leaves.

Waianae Valley

Pushing up the short and steep firebreak trail.

Kawiwi Ridge

Standing at the foot of the spur ridge overlooking the coastal valleys. Photo by Marilyn Bermudez.

Kawiwi Ridge

Making our way up the rock encrusted ridge smothered with dry grass and stunted trees.

Kawiwi Ridge

Climbing and contouring our way up. Photo by Quan Haberstroh.

Kawiwi Ridge

The breezy conditions made the stepping stones an exercise of balance and keeping ones center of gravity low.

Kawiwi Ridge

Start from the bottom …

Kawiwi Ridge

… and end up at the top. Photo by Quan Haberstroh.

Kawiwi Ridge

Which way to go? Photo by Quan Haberstroh.

Kawiwi Ridge

Climbing our way to the top. Almost there!

Kawiwi Ridge

Are we climbing that? Photo by Marilyn Bermudez.

Kawiwi Ridge

Circumventing the crack.

Kawiwi Ridge

Group photo at the overgrown summit.

Ridge

Gateway to more climbing and views.

Ridge

Did I say more climbing?

Ridge

Narrow ridge ahead. Keep your hands inside at all times during the ride. Photo by Quan Haberstroh.

Ridge

Looking back as Quan and Marilyn made their way over the narrow ridge with steep drop offs.

Ridge

It was just a matter of time before we hit the fence line.

Ridge

Climbing, crawling and scooting their way over the jumbled rocks.

Ridge

Where’s the flag? Photo by Marilyn Bermudez.

Ridge

Contouring around the narrow ledge.

Ridge

Threading our way carefully through the cacti plants. Photo by Quan Haberstroh.

No Name Summit

Group photo at the unclaimed peak.

Ridge

Printer cables have many uses, especially in the mountains. Photo by Marilyn Bermudez.

Tiki Summit

Not to be confused with Kiki and a certain rapper.

Ridge

Multiple crossing overs as we followed the fence line to the terminus.

3 Poles

Leaving the ridge as we headed down into the valley.

Waianae Kaala Trail

The girls hanging out on the trail.

All pau

Speak softly and carry a pig poker. Just in case. Photo by Marilyn Bermudez.

GPS Tracks

Our climbing hike covered a little over five miles with good company. Thanks to Leander for picking us up again. Post hike meal at Outback where not all steakhouse franchises are the same. No clam chowder.

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 week of pounding rain and wind, we hoped today would be a nice day to hike Pu’u Kawiwi to No Name Peak to Tiki Ridge. Glenn and I met Chris at the end of Waianae Valley Road at about 8am to be greeted by windy and dark cloud conditions. Wasn’t looking good.

Recycling at work

The paved road led us to a clearing on the left that marked the start of the trailhead. We followed the barbed wire fencing as it made it’s way past a dry riverbed and a taro patch guarded by a sun bleached cow skull. Eventually we had to crawl under a spot in the barbed wire fence to get to the ridge.  

Climbing up the ridge

As we climbed our way up the ridge, the winds started to pick up from the valley and send it howling over our heads. On top of that, we were being sprinkled with intermittent rain showers. Fun combination on a ridge hike. Not really.

More climbing ahead

The ridge to the top goes straight up. There are no switchbacks. Lots of rock climbing involved. Loads of fun. If you get tired of rock climbing, there are side trails that contour most of the rock formations.

Hikers on Kamaile’unu Ridge

While waiting for Chris and Glenn, I spotted a bunch of hikers on the nearby ridge of Kamaile’unu. I found out later they took our pictures as well.

Tricky Crack

The last major rock obstacle to climb over. You can go around to the right or left, if you’re not feeling up to it.

I don’t need rope!

Glenn climbing his way up the rock. The last time we hiked this ridge, he went around as there was a traffic jam waiting to go up. This time around, he wanted to climb the tricky crack. Made it look easy.

Top of Pu’u Kawiwi

We made it to the 2,975′ summit of Pu’u Kawiwi to take in the views of the Waianae Mountain Range. I could pick out a couple points of interest, such as Ohikilolo, Kamaile’unu, Kea’au, Ka’ala, Kalena and Hapapa.

Expect rainbows and high winds!

The winds which never died down from the start of the ridge, seemed to increase in intensity as we stood at the top of Pu’u Kawiwi. Photo by Chris Hiona.

Panoramic view from Pu’u Kawiwi

Click here for the larger image.

The ridge to No Name Peak

We made our way down for more rock scrambling. It wasn’t really hard. What made it tricky, was the wind gusts that were all over us. It was like we were doing the hike with the Pali Lookout winds thrown in for good measure.

Follow the fence

As we descended down the ridge, the goat fence popped up to offer handy holds.

Rainbows and high winds still in effect

This stretch of smooth faced boulders jumbled together was the last major section of rock climbing fun in store for us.

Top of No Name Peak

We got to the top of 3,000′ No Name Peak with the howling winds still at our back, front, and sides. I don’t know why somebody has yet to name this peak, instead of just calling it No Name.  

Panoramic view from No Name Peak

Click here for the larger image.

More fence to follow

Going down the ridge was helped by the now familiar goat fence that seems to be part of the Waianae mountain landscape.

Poor imitation of a petroglyph

We stopped at these “tiki” rocks which marks the tiki ridge going down into Waianae valley. That was our original hike route, instead we pressed forward on the trail, not knowing we had passed it.

There’s Tiki Ridge!

After realizing that we had overshot tiki ridge, we decided to continue on to Ka’ala trail, rather than going back to tiki ridge. We would save tiki ridge for another hike for another day. The winds also died down at this point, after we had climbed along the hardest parts of the trail. Mother Nature’s sense of humor.

Three Poles marks the trail

The well maintained trail and fence lead us to three poles where we turned right onto the Waianae-Ka’ala trail that took us back into Waianae Valley and our cars. This was a very fun 5.6 mile hike that I would gladly do again, preferably without the Pali Lookout winds. Don’t get me wrong, I like breezy winds to cool me off just as much as the next hiker. But the crazy winds we had on the ridges, were pushing us around like nobody’s business. If we all had umbrellas, we could have made like Mary Poppins!