Pali Puka to Nukohe Ridge

Something old. Something new. That was the theme for today. Something survivable as well.

Mahalo to Ferlino for dropping us off at the Pali Lookout. Catching the breaking sunrise as we broke free of the valley floor and onto the exposed ridge line.

Are we climbing that? No, we have enough excitement scheduled on today’s hike.

Group photo at the hole in the mountains where we also bumped into Kassaundra and her friend that we met on an earlier West side hike.

Scrambling up the steep flank to regain the ridge line.

Time to change formation.

Psst! This way.

Climbing our way up the path of least resistance or less crumbly. Whichever is more convenient.

Going up and around the leaning tree of Nu’uanu.

Scrambling up the ridge line that subtly changes her character with each visit.

Climbing and contouring the Incisor Rock Formation.

Akira making his way up to the narrow rock dike.

The group looking for their next handhold and foothold.

Roger scrambling his way that much closer to his KST finish.

What goes up must come back down.

Walking on the edge of the cliff with the sun on your back. Just another day in the mountains.

Making our way towards the 23rd letter of the alphabet.

Dropping down the Leeward side of the cliff to regain the ridge line.

Threading our way through the triple diked formation.

The rest of the group making their way up.

Sitting room only.

Straddling our way down the narrow rock dike.

Crumbly much?

Roger climbing his way up the “new” anvil route. Tell the next person to not shake the tree please.

Pulling ourselves up the steep section made bearable by a weathered rope.

Akira coming up with the expansive Windward views behind him.

The “hard” parts of the saddle were behind us. Taking time to soak in the views.

Time to switch formation.

We eat pretty well in the mountains thanks to Chef Suzuki.

Group photo at the 2,700′ summit where the swirling heavens were thankfully absent.

Stepping foot on “new” territory for our group as we switched formation again. Thanks to Nandor for the beta.

Descending down the noticeably overgrown ridge.

Trying to stay on track was made somewhat difficult due to the heavy vegetation.

We need to be over there, right?

Looking across the valley to Kalihi Saddle.

Scooting our way down the steep grassy section.

Are we having fun yet?

Crossing a gully as we struggled through the overgrowth to stay on track.

The ridge started to take on a more defined approach as we descended in elevation.

Kicking down rocks.

Where’s the sketchy section? Must be ahead of us.

The last photo taken with Roger’s iphone before he involuntary offered it to the mountains as an offering. It didn’t work.

Erosion had taken a toll on the ridge, so we contoured around it to get back on the crumbly ridge line.

We also found remnants of snapped wire and webbing that earlier hikers had installed.

Going down this particularly steep rock cliff, I somehow lost my foothold and took a header roughly following the red line. After I had come to a crashing stop, I checked my phone first to see if it was still there. Misplaced priorities. My friends yelling at me through my fog took me back to reality as I realized how lucky I was. Besides a bunch of bruises, cuts and scratches, I was relatively intact. I had lost my cap, sunglasses and a bottle of water on the fall down. Instead of waiting for them to throw me some webbing, I took it upon myself to climb back up the stretch of hill that was roughly 60′. During my climb back up, I recovered my cap and bottle of water. The mountains kept my sunglasses. I scrambled back to the ridge line as I waited for the rest of them that took an alternate route through the tree line.

Time to switch formation again as we resumed our hike down to the valley floor.

Make sure you catch the buss side!

We soon dropped to the valley floor and made it to the service road that connects to the HECO substation. Thanks to Ferlino for picking us up and also administering “ER” first aid at his house.

Our memorable and survivable hike covered a little over three miles over old and new trails. A story that I can tell my grandkids one day. Oh wait, I don’t have kids. Guess I have to keep it rolling around my head. Mahalo to everybody for their company and support and the powers that be that kept watch over me today. Post hike meal at Kenko-ya where Aida joined us for dinner.

Photos taken by Akira Suzuki, Roger Schiffman, Scott Peterson, 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: koolau summit ridge trail, ksrt, lanihuli summit, nukohe ridge, nuuanu saddle, pali lookout, pali puka