It was that time of year that we all gathered again to celebrate Mr. Lawrence Murray’s another year around the sun or is that rainbow?

Keaiwa Heiau State Recreation Area

Shout out to Aileen, Menchie, Mona and Sandra for arriving early to secure our spot and for decorating the picnic shelter.

Keaiwa Heiau State Recreation Area

The girls testing out the party blowers.

Keaiwa Heiau State Recreation Area

All those years working at Napoleon’s Bakery finally paid off.

Keaiwa Heiau State Recreation Area

The man of the hour, none other than Larambo or Rainbow Man arriving to his party.

Keaiwa Heiau State Recreation Area

Meet and greet.

Keaiwa Heiau State Recreation Area

Group photo by gender – she/her/hers.

Keaiwa Heiau State Recreation Area

Group photo by gender – he/him/his.

Keaiwa Heiau State Recreation Area

Group photo by mixed gender – they/them/theirs. Do PB&J identify as nonbinary?

Keaiwa Heiau State Recreation Area

Matt blessed our bounty of food and company.

Keaiwa Heiau State Recreation Area

We all enjoyed the grilled chicken (Andrew), Pork Adobo (Ferlino), Garlic Eggplant with Tofu (Christine/Scott), Dumplings (Sandra), Deviled Eggs (Allison), Poke (Maria/Mona), Pork Hash (Edgar), Pancit (Chris), Lumpia (Dale), Potato Salad (Leslie), Rice (Mona), cake and brownies (Mari), cold drinks (Chico/Allison) and paper products (Susan). Kanak attack. Who’s hiking after this?

Keaiwa Heiau State Recreation Area

Eating food and talking story.

Keaiwa Heiau State Recreation Area

A Cinderalla Story. If the Shoe Fits. Role reversal.

Keaiwa Heiau State Recreation Area

Birthday dance for the birthday boy with his birthday cake. Happy 80th birthday! Glad we got numbers instead of individual candles.

Keaiwa Heiau State Recreation Area

We took turns swinging at the rainbow pinata stuffed with bite sized candy with varying degrees of accuracy hampered by disorientation and temporary blindness. Thanks to Aileen for setting it up. The modern day pinata evolved from a blend of religious customs and pagan beliefs to the party favor that it is today.

Aiea Loop Trail

A bunch of us split from the food group to set foot on the hiking trail established in the 1970s from land that originally was home to the OR&L Aiea Loop Railway that ran from 1898 to 1947.

Kalauao Loop Trail

Branching off from the loop trail as we made our way through thick stands of invasive strawberry guava trees whose dropped fruits invaded the air with its sweet and fruity smell.

Kalauao Loop Trail

Over and under.

Kalauao Loop Trail

Chico testing out the 138kv power lines that carries bulk electricity to the substations which further reduces it to 46kv and then reduces it to 120 volts for household consumption. It’s not the volts that kills you, it’s the amps.

Kalauao Loop Trail

We left the lemon scented eucalyptus trees and followed the mango tree down to the valley.

Kalauao Loop Trail

Descending down the steep trail with the help of webbing, trees and friends.

Kalauao Loop Trail

Jasmin squeezing her way through some of the trail “obstacles.”

Kalauao Loop Trail

Our stiff climb down was thankfully interrupted by the valley floor.

Kalauao Loop Trail

Mountain apples or ohi’a’ai were brought to the islands by seafaring Polynesians over 1,000 years ago. Considered bland in taste, it is still a refreshing trail snack.

Kalauao Loop Trail

Rock hopping our way up Kalauao Stream, which was barely trickling.

Kalauao Falls

The only “climbing” I did all day.

Kalauao Falls

When life gives you dry waterfalls, bring your own water.

Kalauao Falls

Group photo at the stagnant pool and dry falls.

Kalauao Loop Trail

We soon contoured past the dry falls to make our way upstream to connect to a spur ridge after a little “exploration.”

Kalauao Loop Trail

Mari going under the “doorway” of a banyan tree.

Kalauao Loop Trail

Ferlino climbing and contouring his way around a downed tree.

Kalauao Loop Trail

Andrew next to the “copycat” rock.

Kalauao Loop Trail

Making our way up through the uluhe corridor as the ridge steadily took us out of the valley.

Kalauao Loop Trail

Are we there yet?

Kalauao Loop Trail

Our last group photo at the junction where the Kalauao Loop Trail, Aiea Loop Trail and Aiea Ridge Trail intersect.

Aiea Loop Trail

Bench with a view.

All pau

We arrived back to the starting point to find out that birthday boy and church slut and others long since gone. I guess it was time to go home.

GPS Tracks

Our birthday hike covered 4.71 miles with good friends. Happy Birthday Laredo!

Thanks to everybody that came together to make Laredo’s special day. Mahalo to Aileen Agustin, Akira Suzuki, Andrew Green, Blaine’s mom and family, Chico Cantu, Christine Laforga, Chris Bautista, Dale Yoshizu, David Johnson, Edgar Gamiao, Ferlino Carinio, Jasmin Nepomuceno, Leslie Pelton, Mari Saito, Maria Neil, Matt Vidaurri, Menchie Bautista, Mona Guillermo, Sandra Walter, Scott Dea, and Susan Katz. Good times. Good laughs. Good memories.

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.

A friend had asked me to take him and his cousin on an easy hike. That is why I found myself at Keaiwa Heiau State Park with Glenn, Jose and Thessa. However, my friend failed to show up. Oh well, let’s hike.

Aiea Loop Trail

Group photo at the trailhead: Jose, Thessa, Glenn and myself.

Water tank

Passing the water tank, that was surprisingly untouched by graffiti.

Exposed roots

Exposed tree roots are part of the trail, the side of this hill was no exception.

Trail to the valley

Roughly ten minutes later, we headed down a side trail to our left.

Powerlines

Jose and Glenn passing underneath the powerlines. High voltage.

Purple tree

This tree “doorway” was marked with purple coloring.

Mango tree junction?

I had read that many hikers miss the critical junction that is marked by a mango tree, to turn down to Kalauao Valley. We would be no exception. Sort of.

Going down

Mango tree. Check. Trail. Check. Let’s go. The actual junction was just a stone’s throw away by another mango tree further down the trail. We would find that out coming back up.

Is this the way?

The “trail” soon petered out to be replaced by bushwhacking down a steep hill through heavy vegetation and trees.

A real trail

Eventually we connected with the obvious trail.

Remember this junction

The trail lead us down to the valley floor, where we made a mental note of the junction so as not to miss it.

Where’s the water?

The dry streambed was a good indicator that the waterfall would not be flowing. At least we wouldn’t be slipping and sliding on wet rocks.

Tree fungi

White tree fungi. I read somewhere that fungal fruiting structures will eventually result in structural weakening of the tree. Did not know that.

How many crossings?

We crossed the dry streambed about eight times before arriving at the waterfall.

Kalauao Falls

Group photo at the trickling Kalauao Falls. Have to come after a heavy rainfall to see the falls as they should be seen.

Top of the falls

Looking down at the group, wondering who turned off the water?

Upstream

I heard other hikers have followed this stream further up and bushwhacked their way back to the loop trail.

Tree canopy

Taking a break under the lush tree canopy.

Headed back

No raging waterfall. No show for us today.

Hurry! Pick it!

On the way back along the streambed, ripe guavas were hanging high on trees. Jose and Glenn bowed the trees down so that Thessa and I could pick some.

Back in the loop

The group back on the loop trail. Now let’s go search for the plane! In 1944, a B-24J Liberator Bomber took off from Hickam Field and crashed into Pu’u Uau. There are some confusion as to the type of plane that crashed, some say it was a Japanese Zero fighter and others a C-47 cargo plane. The memorial plaque at the beginning of the loop trail clearly states what type of plane crashed. End of discussion.

Standing room only

The loop trail seems to be a favorite amongst families and dog owners. One of the few views on the trail of the Waianae Mountains.

Three finger tree

This trail has got to have the most fallen trees and branches I have run across.

Scenic point

Group photo with the H-3 freeway snaking through Halawa Valley.

Looking

We passed a friendly guy that was greeting hikers as if he were the unofficial docent of Aiea Loop Trail. He told us that a major landslide a few years back had pushed the plane wreckage to the bottom of the gulch and was inaccessible and that scavengers had packed out most of the aluminum pieces from the plane when metal prices were climbing. What a shame.

Found it!

Roughly two-thirds going into the trail, we rounded a bend and noticed other hikers coming up from the bottom. The plane! The plane! At one time, part of the wing rested against a tree on the trail. A landslide took care of that.

Here’s a wing

Jose and Thessa passing the wing. Guess it was too big for the scavengers to carry off.

Going down

Glenn following the fallen tree down.

Part of the engine

Thessa standing next to part of the plane’s engine.

Not what you think

An unidentified hiker holding part of the plane’s wreckage. If you want photos that are off center or not fully framed. Please contact Glenn for a free consultation. Photo by Glenn Toyama.

Touching history

Group photo with part of the plane wreckage. The plane wreckage parts seemed to thin out at this point, so we decided against following the trail down.

Part of the tire

Going back up, we noticed the plane’s tire rim half covered by the tree, that we had overlooked coming down.

Divided we hike

One of many trees on the trail that were cut to allow hikers to walk on the trail.

Timber!

More fallen trees.

Another one ready to go

Maybe they should cut this one down, before it falls. On somebody.

Glad we’re on the right trail

Our first sign on the trail. Right before this sign, we saw another trail on our left that goes to Camp Smith.

Hmmm

What is beyond this sign? Why is it closed? Curiosity killed the cat. The trail dropped a little as we crossed a stream and came back up.

Open seats

Views of Pearl Harbor peeked out from behind the tree line.

All pau

The trail ended at a campsite.

The hardest part

Now we had to walk back up the road to our cars. Broke a sweat doing it.

GPS Tracks

Our nice, easy hike clocked in at 6.76 miles under hot and muggy conditions. Post hike meal at The Alley Restaurant. Best oxtail soup on the island.