Poamoho Trail to Manana

We spent a blustery weekend in the mountains to help each other cross the KST finish line. Photo by Art Young.

Thanks to Darryl and Edgar for shuttling and driving Art, Barry and myself from Manana to Poamoho. Much appreciated guys.

Somebody has been hard at work on fixing the trail.

Rope? We don’t need no stinking rope! Photo by Art Young.

Contouring our way around one of the more massive landslides that changed the character of the trail.

Barry surveying the mass wasting around him. Photo by Art Young.

Lending scale to the gravity induced river of debris that cleared a path straight down to the stream. Photo by Art Young.

Passing through a spot where the trail was cleared of fallen trees.

Crossing the stream which meant we were less than ten minutes from the summit. Photo by Art Young.

The summit views were fleeting so we struck out for the cabin.

Drifting over the boardwalk. Photo by Art Young.

Brief stop at the oldest cabin on the KST where we filled our water bottles and signed the logbook for posterity’s sake.

Approaching the man-made notch in the mountains that was made to allow beasts of burden to pass through. Photo by Barry Lau.

Looking down into the lush valleys and verdant landscape.

Following the fence line. Photo by Art Young.

Barry making friends on the trail. Just don’t feed the wildlife. Photo by Art Young.

Are we there yet? Photo by Art Young.

Group photo left to right: Art, myself and Barry.

Approaching the split in the trail.

Crossing over the well-trodden landslide.

Pushing our way through the endemic and ubiquitous uluhe ferns.

Appreciating the wide open trail while it lasted. Photo by Barry Lau.

Descending down the fence line with nothing but the wind and clouds for company.

The horizontal leaning sugi pine tree was doing quite well. In fact, I think it sprouted a couple feet since our last visit. It could have been the clouds playing with my imagination. Photo by Barry Lau.

Making our way over one of the numerous landslides that constantly change the character of the trail.

Art passing through the notch which meant we were home for the night.

Making camp amidst the grove of Japanese Sugi Pine Trees and swapping fuel and not stories for the night.

Waking up to a typical cloud soaked day on the KST.

Climbing out of our campsite.

Where the trail becomes a ridge. Photo by Art Young.

The cardio climbing commences. Photo by Art Young.

Enjoying the relatively flat sections while we can.

Descending down into the gap.

It was just a matter of time before the fence line made its way into the gap. Photo by Art Young.

Taking the scenic way. Translation: The harder way.

Making our way to the middle of the gap.

Preparing for the onslaught of the killer bees. Thankfully they never materialized.

Climbing out of the gap. Photo by Art Young.

Cardio continuation.

Sometimes it’s the little hills that give you pause and not the big ones.

Crossing another trickling stream. Anybody need water? Photo by Art Young.

Pushing up one of the last big hills. Photo by Barry Lau.

The wind, clouds and rain combined to make it a very surreal moment in the mountains.

Barry tunneling through the trees. Photo by Art Young.

Brief stop at the cold and windy filling station. Photo by Art Young.

All smiles as the major rolling hills were behind us.

Art heading towards our last summit of the weekend. Photo by Barry Lau.

#16. Champagne congratulations to Barry for completing his last section needed to connect the dots on the Ko’olau Summit Trail. Photo by Art Young.

Art also celebrated his second completion along with my 13th time traversing the Ko’olau Mountains. No champagne for us. Not even a pat on the back. Just three fingers behind my head.

Barry hightailed it down the trail while we took our time going down.

Are we there yet? Are we done yet? Another trail I am scratching off my list. Photo by Art Young.

Exiting the 16.8 mile trail and putting another camping weekend behind us. Photo by Art Young.

Many thanks to Aida, Chris, Lilyn, Quan and Tessa for joining us at the nearby park and bringing chicken papaya, Popeye’s chicken and other sides for our post hike meal along with ice cold cokes to wash it down. Barry was there in spirit as well. Phone spirit. Congratulations again to Barry and Art for their KST completions.

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.

Tagged as: camp rusty, corner, kipapa summit, koolau summit ridge trail, koolau summit trail, ksrt, kst, manana summit, manana trail, pauao junction, poamoho summit, poamoho trail, schofield-waikane junction, waiahole