Manana to Poamoho

Our camping weekend was a working case of what can go wrong and right at the same time.

Met up with Amber, Doug and Thomas in the cat village at the top of Pacific Palisades. My original group of five had shrunk to two and Amber’s group had shrunk to two as well, and they were supposed to have started from Poamoho. Two groups passing in the night. In the end, we decided to combine our groups, which turned out to be fortuitous in the end. I also gave fair warning that I had some bad food and that might compromise my already slow pace, which would manifest itself later in the weekend.

Rolling off the bike ramp. Imagination can take you a long way. And then cardio reality hits

The most dangerous part of the trail.

Adjusting and organizing at the picnic shelter.

Welcome to the jungle. Uluhe jungle.

The start of the rolling hills and false peaks.

Rain showers at mile marker 3.5. Can it get any better?

It can. The rain paused in watering the mountains.

Steady grind in the mountains. One foot in front of the other.

Watching random waterfalls flowing in the distance.

Is this the last false peak?

Group photo at the cloudy and rainy knob. Just another day in the mountains.

Leaving the 2,660′ summit for greener pastures.

Sliding our way down to the creek.

Thomas filtering water from the upper part of the muddy creek.

Some in the group didn’t need water or perhaps the thought of drinking mud and bug strained H20 wasn’t appealing.

Back on the cloud soaked ridge line.

Inching along.

Are we having fun yet?

We finally got a postcard worthy view.

Passing through a small meadow in the mountains.

Doug coming around the trail with the background views still holding.

A bush of mountain naupaka flowers on the trail, these common endemic half flowers are found only on Oahu and Kauai.

Going down on the trail section that has eroded over time. Hence, the webbing.

Panoramic valley view.

Talking shop in the mountains.

This would be a nice place to camp. Be careful what you wish for.

Somebody is looking for Olomana. No pointing allowed on this hike.

Hiking on the ridge with the prominent Kualoa Ridge in the background.

We need to have a meeting of the minds. Doug was rather extremely exhausted and options were discussed. Camp and rest. Return back to where we had started. None of them seemed feasible, so the call was made. I also got a text from CJ, our backup pickup at Poamoho, who advised me that the lock combination didn’t work. Fly in the ointment. Glad we found out sooner than later.

Hello. This is Doc Brown. I need a ride. Back to the future.

Where’s your DeLorean? In the shop. You guys want a ride down too? No, we are staying put. Yes, we know it gets cold and we have shelter, food and water. Thank you for the offer.

Kudos to the skill of the chopper pilot that landed on the postage stamp sized spot to get Doug back to his warm bed tonight.

And then they were three. Good night from Camp Ginger.

Day 2
We had a lot of ground to make up as the unfortunate turn of events had put us back 4-5 hours from where I had originally wanted us to be today.

Making our way down the cloud soaked mountains.

Sunrise in the mountains.

Hiking on the edge.

Slippery climb up = taxing cardio.

The clouds started to break apart, to give us some views worth hiking for.

Taking a well-deserved break at the gated fence to enjoy the morning mountain views.

Climbing out of the gap.

Hiking into the clouds. Mother Nature can be so temperamental at times. Take what you can.

Enjoying the last of the Ko’olau Summit Ridge Trail section.

Where tomatoe becomes tomato.

Sliding our way down the soft and spongy ground.

Walking in the clouds as the sounds of civilization punched its way through the clouds.

Passing through the scented Japanese Sugi Pine Tree Grove.

Group photo at the planned camping spot which is also the site of the former Kipapa Cabin.

We passed under the shadow of Waiahole Summit as we crossed through the man-made notch.

Meandering our way through the mountains.

Thomas going over the selfie stick fence junction.

Approaching the emerald depression where a certain tree is growing parallel to gravity.

Rounding the bend.

Thomas and Amber in front of the horizontal growing Japanese Sugi Pine Tree. It gets bigger every time I visit this magical place.

If you haven’t slept on a bed of tree moss, you haven’t lived.

Pulling our way up on the fence line with Windward views at our back.

Contouring for daze.

Going over the second fence junction.

Amber coming around the last “tricky” junction, easier from our direction to find it.

The trail for the most part contours on the Leeward side with ample Windward views to keep us motivated.

Thomas going around the trail with the Waianae Mountain Range in the background.

Amber crossing over one of the biggest landslides on the trail.

All smiles as we popped out on the Windward side which meant we were pretty done with the contouring part of the trail.

Finding our way down to the bottom trail.

Are we there yet?

Looking back at the peak of Pu’u Ohulehule, that is privately owned. Believe it or not!

Group photo at the 2,360′ spot that also marked Thomas’s completion of the KST. Congratulations! Champagne is waiting at the car. We also asked Doug who was presumably well-rested from his recovery, to check the gate lock for us.

Hiking on the runway of a trail. Or at least that’s what somebody said.

No feeding of the Ko’olau Goose. However, drone flying is permitted.

Hello? Yes, I would like to order a working gate lock. If my request is granted, I promise to stop pointing at Olomana.

Enjoying what daylight we had left as the sun began to set. Doug also had mentioned that he had gotten ahold of somebody at DLNR to hopefully come out and change the locks. If for some reason, the lock could not be changed or opened, I suggested Plan B, which was to stay overnight at the cabin.

Hiking by headlamps. Doug also confirmed that the lock was changed and the combination worked as it should.

Passing through the gated notch.

Back on the fence line.

Just a quick stop to filter water since Plan B was no longer needed.

Obligatory log entries.

It was also my KST finish as well. #16 in the books.

Many thanks to Cary for picking us up despite the late hour and driving us down the dark jeep road. Also a big mahalo to Aileen who was waiting down at the gate for us with food and drinks from McDonald’s and took us to our cars in Pearl City. Glad you didn’t come on the hike after all!

Our memorable camping hike covered 17.10 miles, always get different mileages when I do the same route. Go figure. This weekend proved that everything happens for a reason. It started with certain individuals dropping out of the hike for different reasons. Then, my friend CJ told me about the lock not working. Heads up on that one. Doug got pulled off the mountain, thanks to HFD, and he turns out to be the one that called DLNR to get somebody out there at night to get the lock fixed so that our ride, Amber’s husband who drove up the road to pick us up in the middle of the night. And lastly, Aileen who waited patiently for us well after midnight at the bottom of the gate with food and drinks and took us back to our vehicle. Many thanks to everybody that was part of the group and the support that we got during the weekend.

Photos taken by Amber Fonte, Doug Ross, Thomas Barrett, and yours truly. Not necessarily in order.

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. One should also always let somebody know of your hiking plans in case something doesn’t go as planned, better safe than sorry.

Tagged as: camp rusty, corner, kipapa summit, koolau summit ridge trail, koolau summit trail, ksrt, kst, manana ridge trail, manana summit, pauao junction, poamoho cabin, poamoho summit, poamoho trail, schofield-waikane summit, tree of life, waiahole summit, waiahole-waikane junction, waiawa gap