There is a saying that Winter is for Waianae, in other words it’s best to hike these ridges and mountains in the cooler weather. It was also somebody’s birthday hike. It was also Superbowl Sunday. It was also the day before Valentine’s Day. So many occassions going on in a single day.

Lady of Kea’au

Met up with Aida, Art, Braddon, Chris, Enrique, Jimmy, Marilyn, Matt, Mona, Ryan, and Tessa on the grounds of the spiritual retreat, which would be our hiking retreat today. Photo by Art Young.

Trailhead

Checking in. To bow or not to bow? The question was already answered by hunters ahead of us. Photo by Marilyn Bermudez.

Kea’au Valley

Matt giving us the shadow briefing. Don’t be scared of them.

Kea’au Middle Ridge

Pushing our way up on the steep and grassy ridge.

Kea’au Middle Ridge

The ridge began to narrow somewhat as we gained elevation.

Kea’au Middle Ridge

The group crossing over a relatively flat and eroded spot on the ridge.

Kea’au Middle Ridge

Drone photo by Matt Vidaurri.

Kea’au Middle Ridge

Drone photo by Matt Vidaurri.

Kea’au Middle Ridge

Tessa spreading her legs to climb up.

Kea’au Middle Ridge

We contoured to avoid the imposing rockfaces blocking the ridge.

Kea’au Middle Ridge

Matt and Ryan comparing notes as to who’s the best dressed hiker. The jury is still out on that one.

Kea’au Middle Ridge

Enrique climbing up and over a rockface.

Kea’au Middle Ridge

Matt contouring around a rockface.

Kea’au Middle Ridge

Are we there yet? 15 more minutes. Really!

Kea’au Summit

Ryan waited with bated breath in anticipation of seeing Mount Ka’ala in all her glory. Jimmy and Mona had to hold him back as he was sorely disappointed. Again.

Kea’au Summit

Group photo at the 2,952′ summit left to right: Art, Tessa, Ryan, myself, Chris, Mona, Jimmy, Aida, Braddon, Marilyn, Enrique and Matt.

Kea’au Summit

Happy birthday with a cherry on top.

Kea’au Summit

Left, left, right. Your other right. Cancel the call to Dancing with the Stars. Photo by Art Young.

Kea’au Ridge

Drone photo by Matt Vidaurri.

Kea’au Ridge

Assisting the assister with the assist. Say that three times real fast.

Kea’au Ridge

Look but don’t touch.

Kea’au Ridge

Art checking on the Superbowl as he made his way down.

Kea’au Ridge

Plane wreckage scattered on the ridge. Photo by Matt Vidaurri.

Kea’au Ridge

Fun fact. Sliding down gets you there faster. Bonus: You get to yell “Look ma, no hands!”

Kea’au Ridge

Does one still yell timber when pushing over crumbly rocks?

Kea’au Ridge

What’s going on here? Matt talking to strange men on the trails again. Bumbai he learn.

Kea’au Ridge

Matt and Braddon passing through the eroded spot in the middle of the saddle.

Kea’au Ridge

Drone photo by Matt Vidaurri of the group traversing the dike.

Kea’au Ridge

Climbing to the next false peak.

Kea’au Ridge

Ryan putting his hours spent at the climbing gym to good use.

Kea’au Ridge

Aida contouring to the side. No climbing gym membership.

Kea’au Ridge

Following another dike as it lead to another false peak.

Kea’au Ridge

Drone photo by Matt Vidaurri of Chris and the ongoing development in Makaha Valley.

Kea’au Ridge

Aida climbing her way up.

Kea’au Ridge

Drone group photo by Matt Vidaurri.

Kea’au Ridge

Making our way to the last peak on the ridge.

Kea’au Ridge

The hike’s so bright, I gotta wear shades. On top of the shades I’m already wearing.

Kea’au Ridge

Art looking into Kea’au Valley and beyond.

Kea’au Ridge

Everybody took their own approach on climbing and contouring the dike. To each their own.

Kea’au Ridge

No climbing gym membership. Too expensive. Photo by Enrique Chavez.

Pu’u Kea’au

We straightened out the flag pole, however the tattered flag has seen better days and fished out the log from the ant infested ammo container to sign our names for posterity’s sake before taking our group photo.

Dragonfly Ridge

The colorful flying insects soon appeared around us and validated the ridge name.

Dragonfly Ridge

All downhill.

Dragonfly Ridge

Mona recovering from her precarious position. Photo by Matt Vidaurri.

Dragonfly Ridge

Scrambling down the rocky ridge.

Dragonfly Ridge

Enrique telling us that the drop’s bark is worse than its bite.

Dragonfly Ridge

Drone photo by Matt Vidaurri.

Dragonfly Ridge

Fun fact about scenic spots. Time becomes inversely proportional to the photo opportunities.

Dragonfly Ridge

Shouts to wrap up the photo shoot as the gate was going to close soon, fell on deaf ears. Priorities. Not my priorities.

Dragonfly Ridge

Chasing the goats down the ridge. A fruitless exercise.

Dragonfly Ridge

The keymaster soon caught up with us and was not amused by repeated yells of “rock” as we scrambled and slid our way down the eroded ridge.

Dragonfly Ridge

Crossing the ubiquitous fence that is found wherever hikers roam in the mountains of Hawaii. Photo by Tessa Bugay.

Dragonfly Ridge

Seeking sanctuary from the ankle rolling rocks as we beelined to the church.

Kea’au Valley

Jimmy’s group making their way out and back home. Matt doubled back to retrieve Aida, Chris, Marilyn and Tessa who had decided to take the longer and more scenic route that involved contact with a homeless camp and a loose pit bull running around.

Sunset

The sun was slowly going down which meant the gate was going to be locked and that meant our cars could be locked inside as well, since nobody brought their tents to camp overnight and one person can’t possible move all four cars by himself, no matter how hard he multi-tasks, we all shuttled our cars out of the compound. Photo by Tessa Bugay.

All pau

The group catching a ride from the one-eyed truck after they found their way out to the highway. I guess showing some skin helped. Photo by Tessa Bugay.

GPS Tracks

Our birthday loop hike covered roughly six miles over new and old terrain for some of us that was enjoyed with old and new faces. Next stop was Zippy’s. We had to show the boy from Chicago the talk of the town. Breakfast is what’s for dinner. No alcohol to wash it down.

Video by Matt Vidaurri of our hike.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiaifpzZDN8

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.

Predictions of rainy weather over most of the island, found us looking for a dry trail to hike on the West side. Be careful what you wish for.

Trailhead

Met Glenn, Jasmin and Thessa in the parking lot across Makaha Beach by the pungent bathrooms. Jasmin knew of the Donkey Z trail that would get us to the ridge.

Bushwhacking?

No donkeys sighted, so we just headed straight up to the ridge.

Rocky road ahead

Rows of stacked rocks lined the uneven ground, that harked back to an earlier time.

Rocks…

We climbed over big rocks…

…and more rocks

…and walked over little rocks in the dry grass.

Waianae coast

Thessa checking out the view of Makaha Valley and beyond.

Blue sky

The sun shined down unfiltered on the parched ridgeline.

Ocean view

Looking down the ridge towards the ocean.

On the ridge

There was no shade, clouds or trade winds. It was turning out to be a hot Waianae hike. So much for winter.

Pull us up

An abandoned motor and winch long baked into the ground.

Kea’au Bunkers

Thessa and Jasmin on the WW2 bunkers overlooking Makaha Beach.

Panoramic view

Click here for the larger image spanning the North Shore to the Waianae side.

Walking the ridge

Glenn going down the slight slope towards the saddle of the ridge.

Looking back

Jasmin and Thessa making their way down.

Green mile(s)

The grass was greener on the other side of the ridge.

Geodetic marker

Unlike other geodetic markers I’ve run across, this one didn’t have the place name nor the elevation.

Tree sighting

The first of few trees on the hot and barren ridge.

Kaena point

Looking towards the “golf balls” at Kaena Point.

Summit in sight

The triangular summit of Kea’au on the left.

Junction

The junction we would use to go back down water tank ridge. The girls decided to wait here for us.

Rocky ridge

The ridge started to take on a slightly steep pitch.

Bleating goats

Bleating goats on nearby ridges explained the littered spent cartridges.

Climb or contour

We did both.

True Kea’au

Glenn and myself at the 2,650′ summit.

Sign in

A slight breeze at the summit explained the fluttering flag. It wouldn’t last long.

Panoramic view

Click here for the larger image.

Going back

We snacked and guzzled water before making our way back down to the junction.

Water tank ridge

Group photo, with Makaha Towers in the background, left to right: Thessa, Jasmin, myself and Glenn.

Pausing

Glenn checking out the view. Nice day. Hot day. Trade winds would have helped. Cloud cover too. But, you can’t have everything on a hike.

Looking back at the summit

Jasmin and Thessa making their way down the ridge.

Watertanks

Glenn making his way down to the water tanks. So close, yet so far.

Erosion at work

The ridge seemed to be in a constant state of erosion. Some sections looked fresh.

Rock climbing

The last section of the ridge involved minor rock climbing…

Rock hopping

…and lots of rock hopping.

Follow the fence

The fence trail was a welcome relief from the rocky ridge we had just come down.

All pau

Glenn was nice enough to drive to the nearest 7-11 and grab us ice cold Cokes. Mahalo!

GPS Tracks

The hot and rocky hike covered 3.91 miles, made bearable with good company. Post hike meal at Tacos and More. Can’t go wrong with picking the Sea Bass. Extra side of salsa!

Our last couple hikes were all in the wet and windy trails of the Ko’olau mountains, so we decided to switch it up a bit and hike the Kea’au Ridge trail in the Waianae mountain range. Since nobody volunteered to leave their car parked on the side of the road in Waianae, we all met and parked at a friends house in Waipio. She dropped us off at the entrance to the former First Hawaiian Bank recreation center right after Kea’au Beach Park and sped off to Yokohama Beach to catch some rays. We climbed over the locked gate and walked down the paved road, which eventually turned into a dirt road and hopped over another locked gate.

Middle Ridge

We walked up the road to the Makua-Kea’au Hunting Area B and crossed a dry river bed and worked our way up to the ridge. We also had to watch our steps, as the trail had liberal droppings of cow pies. As we gained elevation on the ridge, the cow pies were replaced with goat droppings.

Ohikilolo Valley

Looking back at the middle ridge that cuts the valley in half. The blue waters looked cool and inviting!

Cliffs

On the way up the ridge, we stopped to look at the amazing fluted cliffs to our left, which harbored numerous “pocket valleys” that carried the sounds of bleating goats.

On the ridge

Some parts of the ridge narrows to the point, where it accentuates the drop offs on both sides, especially on the side facing Ohikilolo ridge. But that’s why ridge hikes keep you on your feet and rewards you with fantastic views.

Mount Ka'ala

We reached the top of Kea’au ridge at an elevation of 2,650 feet with clear views of Mount Ka’ala, Makaha and the Waianae coast. It was also hot as hell! Good thing we had hats and sunscreen, otherwise we would have been toast.

Pu'u Ohikilolo

Due to time restrictions, we decided or rather my friend decided not to hike the connecting ridge to Pu’u Ohikilolo. As we made our way back down, we came across a herd of stampeding cows in the public hunting area that forced us to briefly stop, before we made it back out to the road. Our friend picked us up and we all had a nice big lunch at Big City Diner’s. Food sure does taste better after you had a long, hot hike!