Ulimakoli Ridge ( Eleao Windward ) to Manana Ridge

Back on the Windward side to tackle another less traveled ridge. We staged our cars at the Manana trailhead and carpooled to Kaneohe, where Chris was nice enough to drop us off in Waihee Valley. Photo by Matt Vidaurri.

Four hikers set foot this day, for a nineteen hour hike, for a nineteen hour hike. Group photo left to right: Matt, Ryan, Jose and myself. Photo by Chris Hiona.

We skirted the enclosed water tank to start our hike.

Caught a nice sunrise breaking over the Windward coast.

Found rubbish and ribbons at the beginning of the trail. I know of a group of three; comprising of Jeremy, Matt (a different Matt from today) and Thessa, that summited this ridge several years ago. Others have scouted the ridge. That would explain the ribbons, but not excuse the rubbish.

You can’t escape from the tangled infestation of uluhe ferns that are a hiker’s bane.

The “sister” ridge to our left that we hiked several months ago.

Chris mentioned of a trail that ran up from Waihee Falls to this ridge. Another hike for another day.

The ribbons and rubbish were soon replaced by overgrowth that seemed to increase as we advanced.

Pays to be skinny on these trails.

The weather was sporadically sprinkling and according to Chris, the Windward side had gotten a good soaking the night before. Forecast showed 20% chance of rain. We decided to make it to the first “tooth” and see how the weather was holding up. Meteorologists in training. Future Guy Hagi’s.

Hiking tip 101: solid roots makes for good handholds and footholds. Glad they were a lot of them on this ridge.

Between a rock and hard trees. To be repeated ad nauseam throughout the hike.

Matt came upon the first “tooth” and tried to climb it. Too wet and crumbly. Hardheaded, I tried and ended up with the same results. We ended up contouring to our left that was marked by old rope.

A man with a machete makes a compelling argument. Photo by Matt Vidaurri.

The weather conditions seemed somewhat stable from the first “tooth”, so we decided to push ahead. Photo by Ryan Leano.

Matt trying out his makeshift hat. Hope it’s waterproof.

Matt climbing down one of the rock faces while testing the holds. Many rocks gave way. Typical chossy or crumbly rocks found on Oahu’s trails.

Sometimes it’s safer to scoot than stand. Photo by Ryan Leano.

Coming down the second “tooth”, for the most part we didn’t use the rotted ropes that were scattered throughout the trail. Better safe than sorry. Photo by Matt Vidaurri.

Shouts and showers of rocks was a constant heard throughout the hike. Some were intentional, most were not.

Click here for the larger image. Photo by Matt Vidaurri.

Click here for the larger image. Photo by Matt Vidaurri.

Matt climbing up the fourth “tooth.” Heavy overgrowth masked the steep drop offs. Photo by Ryan Leano.

Making our way down the backside of the third “tooth.” Photo by Matt Vidaurri.

Ryan and Jose making their way across a section of the skinny, exposed ridgeline. Huge drops on both sides.

The hiking centipede. Photo by Matt Vidaurri.

Walking on the exposed ridgeline. No overgrowth. For now. Photo by Matt Vidaurri.

Matt going up the fifth “tooth.”

Ryan making his way down the backside of the fourth “tooth.”

You’re in my way mann! Photo by Matt Vidaurri.

Unable to climb over the sixth “tooth”, we were forced to contour to our left, literally hanging onto the plants for dear life as we made our way across.

We had lots of trees to grab on as we climbed our way back up.

Trees thinning out to…

…thickets of trees.

Scrambling up the wet and crumbly seventh “tooth”, Matt found little purchase to plant his spiked feet on. Where was that rotted rope when you needed it?

Ryan passed us Jose’s short webbing to help us continue the climb.

Click here for the larger image.

Running out of options. Short list. We couldn’t contour to the left. Straight up was too slick and crumbly. The only feasible option was to contour right. Matt tried a couple times using my 100′ webbing lashed to a tree, but the rocks kept giving way and found little purchase to climb up. Perhaps it was time to think about turning back?

I decided to give it a try. Tied one end of the 100′ webbing around my waist and climbed up. Had to claw, grab and pull myself up the crumbly side. Pretty much sums up the ridge hike. Photo by Matt Vidaurri.

After making it to the top, I secured my trailing webbing to a solid tree and the others soon followed me up.

Cotton candy clouds and rain started to roll over the ridge.

Going up one particular crumbly section, Matt and Jose climbed up and knocked out most of the holds. Jose then dropped his webbing to Ryan who knocked out the remaining holds. My turn up, the section gave way and sent me sliding me down about 10′ where a tree arrested my fall. Between my legs. Ouch. Double ouch.

A rainbow reward for hiking on the rainy ridge.

Looking back at the ridge, doesn’t even look that hard from this angle. Looks are deceiving.

The steep, sketchy and crumbly parts were behind us. Still had to deal with insane overgrowth on the ridge. I discovered that my ribs were bruised from my earlier fall. Sucking wind.

Chris sent us text messages that flash flood warnings were issued for our area. A day late and a dollar short. Booming thunder gave us pause on the hike as to whether we should hunker down and ride out the storm or continue to the summit. No lightning strikes. Good call Ryan.

The rain resulted in over a dozen waterfalls cascading down the side of the Ko’olaus. It was quite a show.

Rotted rope marked the way up, but was of no use to us. We had to use the uki grass to pull ourselves up in the rain. Photo by Matt Vidaurri.

My face says it all. Anybody got Advil? Thanks Ryan. Photo by Matt Vidaurri.

Matt, Jose and Ryan alternated in plowing through the overgrowth.

The clouds and rain started to break apart at the top.

We could finally see the summit at the end of the ridge. It was still daylight. But not for long.

Group photo at the 2,654′ summit with Eleao Meadows in the background. The wind was noticeably absent. Photo by Matt Vidaurri.

Looking back into cloudy Waihee Valley bordered by Eleao and Kalahaku Ridges. Both ridges are sketchy and overgrown. But I would give the edge to Eleao.

We made our way out of the meadows as darkness fell.

This hike had it all. Scenic views. Cardio. Rock climbing. Rock showers. Skinny ridge. Steep climbs. Thick vegetation. Thunderstorms. Hiking at night. Complete package.

We followed the undulating ridge trail to Manana.

Took a short break at the 2,660′ summit. The night views were just superb.

Making our way down the rollercoaster trail of Manana. Six more miles of walking under the sparkling stars.

The Ko’olaus silhouetted against the night sky.

Walking back to the trailhead under a bright moon.

The 6.22 mile hike, believe the tracking application was off by several miles, ranks as the hardest hike I have experienced to date. Wet weather combined with overgrown, crumbly, steep and a skinny ridge pushed us to our limits. Glad that I did it with an awesome crew and that we all made it out safe and sound. No post hike meal. It was one of those long hikes that you just wanted to take a hot shower and crawl into bed. And that’s exactly what we all did.

Tagged as: eleao meadows, eleao windward, koolau summit ridge trail, ksrt, manana ridge, manana trail, nanaikaalea, ulimakoli