We picked up where we left off from a prior hike that was interrupted by the rain and strawberry season. Nice to be back in the islands.
Trailhead
Picked up Jose in Waimanalo and we started deep in an East Oahu Valley.
Popular trail
Short, sweet and steep. This trail has become more popular based on the numerous fluttering flags on the branches.
Panoramic view
Click here for the larger image of Hahaione Valley and her surrounding ridges.
Almost to the top
Jose within spitting distance of the summit.
Overhang
Hanging onto the views. Photo by Jose Luis Delaki.
Pyramid Rock
Jose and myself at the 1,566′ summit. The winds were blowing today. Hard.
Cross over
Climbing down the pyramid rock.
Hike like an Egyptian
See the resemblance? The rock, not the hiker.
Wrong ridge
The ridge going down soon dropped off sharply. Is this the right ridge?
Right ridge
That ridge looks promising, never mind the steep drops. It has pine trees!
Back up
Jose climbing back up. Part of hiking, sometimes you get lost and have to backtrack.
Back on the cross over
Brief walk on the Ko’olaus.
Scouting
We over shot the ridge again due to all the overgrowth and spotted the ridge to our left. Got our bearings straight.
Hahaione Windward
Crawling and ducking underneath the low hanging branches. Any lower and we would have been with the slugs and snails.
Hang on
Jose contouring around a stand of pine trees that were blocking the ridge.
Look familiar?
Looking at the ridge with the steep drop off we had been on earlier.
Trees
Weaving in and out of the trunks and branches. Pays to be skinny sometimes.
Ridge line
Back on the exposed ridge.
Panoramic view
Click here for the larger image.
Looking back
I was mildly surprised at how relatively easy this Windward ridge was so far. Spoke too soon?
Pine needles
Slip and slide.
Beverage break
Replenishing my electrolytes before the hardest obstacle.
On belay?
Does the webbing reach to the bottom?
Belay on
Time to find out. Photo by Jose Luis Delaki.
Hug the rocks
A Go Pro view.
Come on down
Jose making his way down the 60′ cliff.
Mother Earth
The hard parts were over, time to go home.
Flagged trail
Beating the bushes, we made our way down.
Follow the power lines
We followed the cleared firebreak underneath the power lines to connect to the Tom-Tom trail.
Fore!
Stepping over and around to avoid the hundreds of golf balls that littered the ground, as we picked our way through the neighborhood’s private driving range. Half expected to duck an errant golf ball coming our way.
All pau
We popped out at the end of the Tom-Tom trail and saw no signs of loose dogs, only fenced dogs. Good boys and girls!
GPS Tracks
The welcome back to Hawaii hike covered 4.36 miles of mountains and ridges. Post hike meal at Greek Marina. Kali Oreksi! Did I say that right?
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Kenji, next time you do this hike again I would like to join you and your group if that’s okay. Thank you.
Aloha Ani,
Will do! Might be awhile as I hardly repeat my hikes, so many new trails to explore!
Mahalo