Weekday hike. Must be a holiday. Kamehameha Day. I found myself in the company of Rebecca at Laie Beach Park where we then walked to the trailhead.

Trailhead

Permits in hand, we walked down the jeep road to begin our hike.

Knock knock

The trail soon took a left up into the hills as we passed a pumping shack.

Dog

A hunting dog bolted from the scattered ironwood pine trees when he saw us on the trail. Where are the hunters?

Dirt hill

We followed the gently roller coasting ridge as we passed an eroded knob.

Pray for prey

Spotted a baby preying mantis perched on a plant. After this we dropped down into the gulch.

Stream crossing

The beginning of over two dozen stream crossings. Who’s counting?

Pots and pans

Rain showers sprinkled us in the gulch as we came across this camping site. No leftovers?

Rock hopping

The boulders seemed to get larger as made our way upstream.

Rock cairn

To topple or not to topple? Rocks arranged by man amongst rocks arranged by nature.

Koloa stream

We walked in the stream bed for the most part after the stream crossings ended. A lot easier than weaving in and out of the stream banks.

Forked junction

The stream eventually split. Rebecca recommended we take the right fork first, as it would set us up for the bigger waterfall on the left fork.

Slippery when wet

Spiked footing helped us to stay on the rocks and out of the water.

Swimming hole

A four foot plus deep pool of ice cold water lay between us and the waterfall that was around the corner. Time to take the plunge.

A rope away

We caught up with three other hikers on the trail. Rebecca giving them an impromptu climbing lesson.

Koloa Falls

The ribbon of flowing water was shredded halfway by the jumbled rocks as it fed the pool at the base.

Going back

We passed the numerous pools with darting fishes and invasive crayfish, as we made our way back down to…

Left fork

…the forked junction where we had a quick bite to eat.

Rock hopping

The stream depth was low enough so that we stayed dry for the most part of the hike.

Narrow

As we hiked deeper towards the Koolau Mountain Range, the gulch walls became claustrophobically closer.

Good flow

Running and standing water usually means swarms of mosquitoes. Today was no exception.

Twin falls

Assorted waterfalls of all shapes and sizes were found on the stream.

Boulder hopping

There were some good sized boulders scattered throughout the gulch.

Spider hole

Three spiders in a hole waiting for something to eat. Photo by Rebecca Riggins.

Kalo Falls

Got kalo?

Stay still

Vertical panoramic photo of the waterfalls. Photo by Rebecca Riggins.

Swimming

Who needs the beach?

Island in the stream

Talks of climbing quickly evaporated as we made our way back down.

Mountain apple

Throw it back. Not big enough.

Last stream crossing

Rebecca crossing the last stream and hiking back up.

Laie

The historical town of refuge filled the horizon as we crested back up the ridge.

Fern friend

A hitchhiker had latched itself onto my tabi.

Memorial

We passed the memorial dedicated to the 11 year old boy scout that tragically died in a flash flooding back in 1994 on our way out. A sober reminder when hiking gulches and waterfalls.

GPS Tracks

The ridge and gulch hike was filled with rock filled stream crossings and multiple waterfalls that covered 12 miles. Post hike meal at Seven Brothers. Shem Burger. Anything with bacon has to taste good.

Glenn and I had the chance to tag along with Marcus and his extreme hiker crew consisting of Scott, Matt, Jay, Shelly, KiLei, and Aaron today to tackle Bear Claw Left Fork. We all met at the end of Kalaau Place in Kuliouou Valley and piled into Scott’s truck, where we drove to Waimanalo and parked off of Waikupahana Street by a ranch, with the manager’s permission. Our group of nine hikers pushed off around 8:40am as we made our way past two gates and a water tank.

Cardio Hill

The trailhead was surprisingly well ribbonned for a supposedly unsanctioned trail. Right off the bat, we were steadily pushing ourselves up the hill, I was already breaking a sweat this early in the hike. Good morning Bear Claw!

Rockface #1

We came upon the first rockface that has two metal spikes pounded into the rocks and ropes. Under Marcus’s guidance, he instructed us to use the bottom spike as a foothold and the top spike as a handhold and work our way up to the top, where Scott and Matt were acting as spotters.

Rockface #2

The second rockface can either be climbed straight up if one’s climbing skills are solid or contoured to the left where there are some blue webbing that made it a little easier to get up.

Formosa Koa Trees

This tangled thicket of koa trees that we had to climb under, over and to the sides would stay with us until we got to the junction where the two ridges or forks meet.

Left meets Right

Passing the junction where the left fork meets the right fork and continues up a single ridge to the summit. Marcus informed me the right fork is a tad harder and steeper than the left fork coming up. I was glad to finally get out on the open ridge as the tradewinds started to cool us down, as it was hot and humid coming up the left fork. 

Mushroom Rock

As we made our way along the ridge, there was a mushroom shaped rock that we had to climb over. I never get tired of seeing all these different types of rock formations on the trails.

Dike section

Glenn and Marcus coming over a narrow dike section.

Some climbing involved

Jay climbing up the ridge.

Proceed with caution

Scott and KiLei look at the spot where Leslie Merrell fell back in March. The area above their heads is where the boulder that he was holding onto came loose, resulting in his tragic fall. A somber reminder that rocks on these trails are very brittle and loose.

HFD Helicopter

We soon noticed that a HFD yellow helicopter was making repeated passes over our heads, pilot probably muttering “darn hikers on unsanctioned trails.”

You can contour to the left...

There was this somewhat daunting rock formation on the ridge that you can either contour to the left, or if you want a little challenge…

...or go over the top

…you can do what Matt did, and just climb over the rock to regain the ridge.

Bear Claw Ridge

This hike had a little bit of everything to keep it interesting and challenging – nice cardio climb, narrow dikes and ridges, some rock climbing and most of all, spectacular views that money can’t buy.

Final dirt push to the summit

As we were scrambling up the last 30-50 feet of dirt and grass before the summit, the HFD helicopter came back and started hovering 10 feet above Scott who was in the lead. Talk about a Kodak moment! The helicopter was so close, I could almost see the color of the pilot’s eyes, he stayed for about 10-20 seconds before peeling off.

Made it to the top

We made the summit of Bear Claw at around 11:30am. It took us about 3 hours to hike less than a mile going up, but we gained over 2,000 feet in elevation.

Group photo at the summit

Everybody making the left claw pose for the camera.

Panoramic view from the top of Bear Claw

Click here for the larger image.

Headed towards Puu O Kona

After a short break, the group with the exception of Aaron who went down the Kuliouou trail, decided to continue on towards Puu O Kona.

Windward Panoramic view from Puu O Kona

Click here for the larger image of the Windward side as seen from the top of Puu O Kona.

Leeward Panoramic View from Puu O Kona

Click here for the larger image of the town side as seen from the top of Puu O Kona.

Headed down into Kuliouou Valley

It was a brisk descent going down into Kuliouou Valley as we got back to our cars around 1:30pm. It was a great experience hiking with Marcus’s crew as it showed that I needed to work a little more on my cardio and climbing skills so that I can keep up on future hikes with his crew.