Wishing to explore the iconic symbol of Hawaii but wanting to stay away from the high heeled hordes that flood Diamond Head daily, I decided to literally borrow a page from a published list that details the many other ridges of Diamond Head.
Full moon
Met up with George and Glenn at the trailhead that was sandwiched in between expensive real estate. Parking is not free.
Abandoned reservoir
Grafitti, trash and shrubbery have taken over. Photo by Glenn Toyama.
Hello?
Looking up, we saw the tourists gawking at the sights below them.
Follow the cable
Cables are laid out on some of the ridges and the entire crater rim.
A ridge too far
Another ridge to explore for another day.
Ratty ropes
Climbing up the rocky face, ropes are present but not needed. Photo by George Vuong.
Looking back
The ridge we had just climbed up.
Good morning Waikiki
The sun was casting its reflection across the waters of Waikiki.
Crowded at the summit
Lots of leg room here. Group photo left to right: Glenn, myself and George.
Down the stairs
We went down the stairs to connect back to the rim.
Fire control station
Looking back at the four level command post that was completed in 1911.
On the rim
George on the ocean side of the rim.
Diamond Head Lighthouse
Keeping the ships away since 1899.
Pillbox junction
The last exposed bunker on the ocean side of the rim.
Coming up
Glenn checked out the lower level of the bunker. No homeless reported. But we did see what looked like several homeless camps in the gullies of the outside crater.
Another bunker
Looking down at one of the two bunkers that are emplaced below the rim on the ocean side.
Looking back at the rim
The sun was slowly chasing the shade away.
Crumbly way down
George and Glenn making their way down the loose and crumbly trail.
Concrete way down
A roughly poured concrete strip goes down from the bunker to Diamond Head road. Read that people use this to run up to the crater rim.
On the road again
We popped out on the road and began walking to the next ridge that would take us back to the rim.
Going back up
Figuring out which ridge to go up. A guy shouted to us that we were going up the wrong way and lots of people have been helicoptered out going this way. Really?
Contouring the concertina wire
The two lower bunkers were heavily ringed with rolls of concertina wire which forced us to contour to the sides to avoid death by a thousand cuts.
Panoramic view
Click here for the larger image.
Back on the rim
It was getting hot on the exposed rim.
Search light bunker
Looking into the last extant bunker that used to house one of six search lights.
Twin bunkers
Followed the trail down between two former anti-aircraft bunkers that led us to the Kahala tunnel entrance.
Road less traveled
Took a side road that hugged the crater.
Storage tunnel
One of seven storage tunnels bored into the crater walls.
Back up
The road eventually terminated and we followed the closest ridge back up to the rim.
Ala Wai Canal
Looking at Ala Wai Canal, created in 1928 that drained the swamps and created the Waikiki that we know today.
Blown away
It was a windy day on the rim. Claimed my boonie hat. Time to visit the surplus shop.
Scrambling up
George going up a rock face on the rim.
Clear day
The Ko’olau mountain range in the background.
Balancing
George traversing a narrow section of the rim.
Urban sprawl and crawl
A sea of urbanization spilling from the mountains to the ocean.
Scooting the rim
George going across the last narrow rim section.
Scenic point
Views of Waikiki and the Waianae mountain range in the background.
Tourists
We completed the rim loop at the lookout. More tourists.
Claustrophobic?
Glenn felt a little claustrophobic going through the dimly lit tunnel. Lucky it was a short walk.
Traffic jam
It was a chore navigating the crowd of high heels, slippers and dress shoes.
Abunai!
Going out the Kahala Tunnel.
GPS Tracks
Hiking the crater rim covered 4.7 miles under hot, crumbly and fun conditions. So far, explored seven ridges and fourteen more left!
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Did anyone give you any trouble doing this hike? I’d love to see more of Diamond Head.
Aloha Brandon,
Nobody gave us trouble, but I would not recommend hiking the rim as there are crumbly and narrow sections on the rim.
Mahalo
I had done the pit to the lookout hike and the concrete poured path and when we saw the bunker with the pictures on the wall, we went down the stairs and a bat came flying at our heads! Surely scared us! A little bummed that the pit is closed. New barbed wire, and a six foot tall as wide as you can see stack of dead thorn bushes. I guess you have to come down from the top now… One time we went from the concrete path all on the ridge to the lookout and then down to the pit, once we were down at the fence, we couldnt get passed the thorns so we had to get over the over hanged barbed wire, that was a pain! Loved seeing someone else doing the same things I do with my friends
Aloha Mason,
Thanks. Always good to hear from like minded folks. Yup, saw the stack of dead thorn bushes when we tried going up last year. Guess too much traffic, so they had to cut it off. Always fun exploring the island. Maybe we’ll bump into each other on the trails one day.
Mahalo
Which trail leads to the abandoned water reservoir (graffiti pit)?
Aloha Chris,
That trail is now closed off and virtually impassable due to the barrier of thorns and barbed wire.
Mahalo
Hey do you think you could email me about how to get to the Graffiti pit/abandon reservoir? Or comment back, because I am very interested in exploring it with my own method of photography.
Aloha Natalie,
The way I used to access that particular route has been closed off unfortunately, to my knowledge.
Mahalo