We killed two birds with one stone by having our #15 perimeter walk and celebrating Tessa’s birthday all wrapped up in one day.

Hale Cantu

The group met up at Chico’s house while Santa checked out his Harley with his two elves as he gets ready for his Christmas Toys for Tots ride.

He’eia Kea Boat Harbor

Thanks to Blaine, David and Lilia for shuttling us to the only public pier on Kaneohe Bay to start our walk.

He’eia Kea Boat Harbor

Nothing beats watching a rainbow while sitting on your own personal potty. Autographed no less. Happy Birthday Tessa!

Kamehameha Highway

The rain started coming down on our walk. Doesn’t that trigger a Pavlovian conditioned response? Tessa is prepared.

He’eia Estuary

Cutting across one of 30 coastal reserves in the country that was established in 2017 to protect the 1,385 acres of coastal wetlands.

Kamehameha Highway

Exiting back to paved paradise.

Kamehameha Highway

Sharing the road and sidewalks.

Windward Mall

In Hawaii, Santa doesn’t get a plate of cookies, he gets a box of malasadas. Thanks to Kenny for buying us the sugar glazed Portugese doughnuts.

Windward Mall

Group photo in front of one of five Leonard’s malasada wagons spread across the island. Photobombers welcome.

Windward Mall

Rounding up Santa’s sleigh and reindeers.

Windward Mall

Santa and his nine reindeer all carted up and nowhere to go.

Windward Mall

You know Kenji and Aida and Roger and Allison
Cristy and Marilyn and Susan and Aileen
But do you recall
The most famous reindeer of all?

Tessa the yellow-bucket Reindeer
Had a very shiny seat
And if you ever saw it
You would even say it pilau

Windward Mall

Then one humid Hawaiian day
Santa came to say
“Tessa, with your bucket so stink
Won’t you guide my sleigh today?”

Then how the reindeer held their noses
As they shouted out with glee
“Tessa the yellow-bucket Reindeer
You’ll go down in history”

Habilitat Hawaii Christmas Trees

No discount for Santa. They do offer assistance to people with funny faces.

Kamehameha Highway

When one has choices.

Kamehameha Highway

Snack break at one of 85,000 7-11 stores worldwide.

Kamehameha Highway

No! I don’t want to be your reindeer!

Kamehameha Highway

Group photo with the public display on the library and police station grounds.

Kaneohe

We detoured off the highway and took the side streets where we saw a muscle car and Christmas decorations.

Kaneohe

The group briskly walking through the passageway that cut through the neighborhood as we didn’t want to be reported for loitering.

Kaneohe Bay Drive

Dale exiting the passageway onto the road that was funded in 1935 to create a scenic route along the bay.

Kaneohe Bay Drive

Picturesque view of the largest sheltered body of water in the islands with the rugged Kualoa Mountains in the background.

Kaneohe Bay Drive

Passing the Kokokahi site of the YWCA that was founded in the 1920s to promote racial unity.

Kaneohe Bay Drive

Mari with the world famous beagle decked out in his holiday clothes who first made his appearance in 1950.

Kaneohe Bay Drive

Santa parachuting into the neighborhood to deliver presents to the nice kids. Naughty kids get a lump of clean, beautiful coal courtesy of Trump.

Kaneohe Yacht Club

Group photo in front of the oldest continuously operating yacht club that was founded in 1924.

Kaneohe Yacht Club

Before and after.

Kaneohe Yacht Club

Pier photo.

All pau

Our walk has ended but the fun is just starting. Congratulations to Aida for finishing the last chunk she needed to complete the entire 140 mile perimeter walk around the island.

GPS Tracks

Our birthday perimeter walk #15 covered 6.65 miles. It was actually slightly higher, but edited out of consideration for the annoying church slut.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veWikbFzB6g

Video by Edgar Gamiao of our perimter walk.

Hale Cantu

Warming up our pitcher’s arms.

Hale Cantu

A modern take of the TP tradition. These TPs are worth their weight in greenbacks.

Hale Cantu

Next time there is a hurricane warning, you know who is not making a run to Costco.

Hale Cantu

Thanks to everybody for bringing ono food for the pot luck and Mari for baking the birthday cake.

Hale Cantu

The pool shark known as Waialua Skinny showing us his skills.

Hale Cantu

Jingle Bells. Chico won but being the gracious host gave the prize to the runner up, Kenny.

Hale Cantu

Watching corn kernels explode into popcorn. The first commercial popcorn machine was invented in 1885, but the practice dates back thousands of years with the Native Americans.

Hale Cantu

LCR. Guess who won? Again! Karma must not be a bitch.

Hale Cantu

Kanak attack. Time to go home. Mahalo to Chico and Lilia for graciously hosting us at their home for Tessa’s birthday party. Thanks to everybody that came and participated and made it a fun day.

Photos taken by Aida Gordon, Aileen Agustin, Akira Suzuki, Andrew Hirai, Chico Cantu, Chris Bautista, Cristy CM, Dale Yoshizu, Dave and Susan Katz, Edgar Gamiao, Kenny Lui, Mari Saito, Marilyn Bermudez, Roger Schiffman, Scott and Mateo Dea, Tessa Bugay 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.

Soaking rain derailed our saddle plans so off we went to explore waterfalls. Yay!

Windward

We piled into CB and Chico’s cars and drove over to the Windward side where we left civilization behind us as we drove into Ferlino’s sister-in-laws lush and verdant jungle property. Lucky nobody changed the lock like last time.

Windward

It was a short ten minute drive up the jeep road before we parked in front of the towering dead tree that was our landmark.

Windward

We plunged into the ditch trail to start our hike to the waterfalls. Anybody bring bug spray?

Windward

The group crossing one of several stream crossings. And here I am without my spikes!

Windward

Is that our first waterfall ahead of us? Pretty disappointing to say the least.

Windward

Checking out one of multiple CMU shelters on the trail.

Windward

We arrived at the first waterfall in around 15 minutes. It was a sliver of water coming down the roughly 80′ cliff. Our bodies were already drenched in perspiration. Oh wait, that’s the rain and there’s more waterfalls around the corner.

Windward

No permit. No entry.

Windward

Climbing up the three-tier waterfall. The lower fall was shorter but more voluminous in flow. Rain helps.

Windward

CB following me up the falls.

Windward

The rest of the group wading their way upstream to the next waterfall.

Windward

Checking out the possible routes to climb up.

Windward

CB assuring he got me if I slip and fall. Let’s not slip and fall shall we.

Windward

The rest of the group climbing their way up the fall with the assistance of webbing. Somebody chose to rely wholly on the roots. Roots break. Webbing doesn’t. Tessa would find that out later going back down.

Windward

Ferlino scouted up to see if it was feasible to climb to the top of the third tier. Crumbly and pointless. Come on back down.

Windward

Group photo in front of the third tier. End of the road.

Windward

If you’re wet, might as well get all wet.

Windward

Somebody else thinks the same.

Windward

What goes up, must come back down.

Windward

Group photo in front of the second tier.

Windward

Following the stream back down.

Windward

Team work gets everybody back down safely.

Windward

The boys having fun.

Windward

Searching for another waterfall.

Windward

Group photo in front of the third and smallest waterfall.

Windward

Heading back to our cars.

Windward

CB checking out the first waterfall whose flow had increased somewhat due to the ongoing rain.

Windward

What is the common denominator here?

Windward

Ferlino wanted to explore the upper waterfalls he had seen earlier. We’re hikers, we don’t walk, we just catch a hot minute ride up the road. I don’t think that’s OSHA approved.

Windward

I don’t know what’s worse. Scrambling uphill on hala leaves or pine needles and cones.

Windward

Ferlino demonstrating how thick and deep the uluhe ferns were on the ridge.

Windward

The two upper falls in question. We figured one of them fed the lower falls we had just visited and the other one was too far away. Time to eat lunch.

All pau

Climbing back down to the changing room. Thanks again to Ferlino for showing us the “private” waterfalls tour. Post hike meal at Saito and Pho where Aida joined us for lunch. No family discount. I guess blood is not thicker than water. Some of us then retired to Ferlino’s house where Akira was pressed into service to help make bilo-bilo dessert.

Photos taken by Akira Suzuki, Chris Bautista, Chico Cantu, Ferlino Carinio, Roger Schiffman, Tessa Bugay, 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.

It seems to have fallen out of favor to celebrate Christmas on the hardest hike on the island, so we decided to do our interpretation of the island classic of the song written by Eaton “Bob” Magoon, Ed Kenney and Gordon Phelps in 1959.

Waiahole

Numbah one day of Christmas
My Unko gave to me
One Woodstock in one papaya tree

The papaya was introduced to Hawaii in the 1820s by the Spanish explorer turned horticulturist, Don Francisco de Paula Marin.

Punalu’u

Swing and smoke break. This was hard work.

Kaneohe

Numbah two day of Christmas
My Unko gave to me
Two coconuts

Early coconuts were brought to the islands by Polynesian voyagers arriving from Tahiti, they are not native to Hawaii. The only native palm trees are the Loulu, found mostly in the Ko’olau Mountain Range.

Hau’ula

Numbah three day of Christmas
My Unko gave to me
Three dried squid

This chewy snack was likely introduced by Korean immigrants in the early 1900s.

Aliamanu

Will the real Santa please shaka? Santa Claus first appeared in Hawaii in 1858 along with the first Christmas tree at Washington Place.

Aliamanu

Numbah four day of Christmas
My Unko gave to me
Four flower leis

The early Hawaiian settlers brought the craft and tradition of lei making to the islands with them. Today the lei comes in many forms besides flowers, shells, nuts, feathers, money, candy and polyester.

Aliamanu

Numbah five day of Christmas
My Unko gave to me
five stuffed pigs

The hogs were imported to the islands by the early Polynesians, most likely over 800 years ago. One manifestation of the pig is the Hawaiian god, Kamapua’a who could change his forms to suit his wishes.

Haleiwa

Numbah six day of Christmas
My Unko gave to me
six uncoordinated hula dancers

In the absence of a written language, hula developed to pass the cultural knowledge embodied in stories and dances from generation to generation. Protestant missionaries tried to ban hula as they considered them a form of paganism. Then it survived as a tourist attraction until The Merrie Monarch started in 1964, where it started to get back to its roots.

Haleiwa

Somebody got their birthday cupcake early. Early Christmas.

Kahuku

Numbah seven day of Christmas
My Unko gave to me
seven shrimps a swimming
into our mouths

Having our “not have to wait 90 minutes” shrimp lunch at the famous graffiti-covered white truck that supposedly started the garlic shrimp plate lunch back in 1993. The first signature on the truck was by a Ed Hernandez from El Paso, TX in 1994. In 2001, the truck was involved in an armed extortion attempt where the co-owner tried to force the other partner to sell and sign over his interest in the truck. It did not succeed and she was sent to jail.

Aliamanu

Numbah eight day of Christmas
My Unko gave to me
eight out of tune ukulele players
calling Jake Shimabukuro

The history of the ukulele originated in 1879 when three Portuguese immigrants, Manuel Nunes, Augusto Dias, and Jose do Espirito Santo brought with them a small guitar called the braguinha to the islands. The instrument was soon modified to suit local tastes.

Hau’ula

Numbah nine day of Christmas
My Unko gave to me
nine bags of sour poi

Made from the root of the taro plant that came from the Marquesas Islands and eventually became a sacred and staple dish for the Hawaiians. In 1911, the BOH temporarily banned poi as they believed it started a cholera outbreak.

Hau’ula

Numbah ten day of Christmas
My Unko gave to me
ten bottles of beer

The first recorded brewing of beer in Hawaii occurred in 1812 by Don Francisco de Paula Marin, the same individual that brought papaya to the islands among other things. The most famous beer to come out of Hawaii was Primo Lager in 1901, production was moved to the mainland in 1963 but the beer now produced by Pabst can still be found in stores.

Laie

Numbah eleven day of Christmas
My Unko gave to me
eleven missionaries

The first boatload of missionaries arrived in 1820 to spread Christianity and “civilize” the Hawaiian population. Hiram Bingham was the leader of the first wave of missionaries that would forever change the landscape of the islands, for good and bad. His grandson, Hiram Bigham III, became an explorer who “discovered” Machu Picchu and brought it to the attention of the known world at the time.

Aliamanu

Numbah twelve day of Christmas
My Unko gave to me
twelve televisions
on layaway

“Hello Everybody. Welcome to the first official broadcast of KGMB-TV.” Those words ushered in the age of the television to the islands on December 1, 1952. 5:04PM. Four minutes late. Hawaiian time.

Mahalos to Chico and Ferlino for dragging us around the island in their sleds. Easy and fun day.

Photos taken by Akira Suzuki, Chico Cantu, Ferlino Carinio, Jasmin Nepomuceno, Roseann Fai, Tessa Bugay, Val Wang 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.

In the mood for a new and short trail to hike, Hiram and Jasmin met me on the Windward side of Oahu. Lipalu Place to be exact. Hiram and myself then jumped into Jasmin’s car and we drove to Kokokahi Place, as the hike was going to be a one way trail for us.

Friendship Gardens

We took one of the two parking spaces and walked downhill to the trailhead. The garden and the surrounding community of Kokokahi which means of one blood, was developed to promote racial harmony back in the 1920s.

Check out the posted bulletins

The stone steps led us to a locked teahouse with maps and bulletins posted below. I was looking forward to practicing the Way of Tea. Instead, we continued the Way of Hiking.

Picnic and lookout spot

The lower loop of the trail led us to this open air pavilion. Great spot to enjoy the views of Kaneohe Bay and have a picnic.

dai-doro

A stone lantern, donated by a Japanese University, sat watch on the trail.

Gilligan’s Island!

Looking out towards Moku o Lo’e, better known as Coconut Island. This 28 acre island located in Kaneohe Bay is used by the University of Hawaii for marine research. Fans of Gilligan’s Island will recognize this island as it was featured in the opening sequence of the TV show back in the 1960s.

Four legged hiker

Instead of looping the lower trail, we backtracked and connected to the upper trail.

Kawaewae Ridge

The climb up towards the ridge was marked by eroded and overgrown parts. This trail is also called Oneawa Hills or Kokokahi Ridge.

Panoramic view of the Windward side

Click here for the larger image.

Scenic point

Group photo overlooking Kaneohe Bay left to right: myself, Jasmin and Hiram.

Industrial-military complex?

We all tried to guess what the staging yard below us was. Military? Industrial? Anybody knows?

Cell phone reception should be pretty good here

Keeping a safe distance from the enclosed cell antenna towers.

Kaneohe town

The building towering over the town is Pohai Nani, a retirement community, Jasmin had worked there last night. The trail continued over a series of small hills, up and down.

Kapaa Quarry

Looking down into Kapaa Quarry and the green pool of water below it. Stay on the right or Kaneohe side and follow the pink and orange ribboned tree branches as you make your down from the last hill. Being on the Windward side, the sprinklers soon turned on.

Hmm

I wonder how long the tree took to swallow this rope.

Coming down

Coming down, we missed the trail that would have led us to Kawaewae Heiau. Next time.

Riverbed crossing

Crossing the riverbed. Amazingly, it was dry. And we were in Kaneohe! Global warming?

All pau

We returned back to civilization to be greeted by a No Trespassing sign. Auwe!

Dog on the roof

All around protection for this house. They have a four dog alarm system in place.

GPS Tracks

The hike was a tad shy of three miles. Not a bad way to spend a couple hours on the Windward side.

What was supposed to have been a crisp hike from Pali Notches to Manoa Middle turned into an abbreviated hike due to lack of time. We decided to just do the Pali Notches and check out the Old Pali Highway.

True Pali Lookout

After scrambling up the steep slope through the forest and hau trees, we quickly gained elevation and saw a great view of the Windward side and the Koolau mountains.

First Notch

We made short work of the first notch as it’s relatively easy to climb down and out going to the second notch.

Second Notch

We got to the second notch and discovered that the rope we had used the last time was now gone. My friend went down first basically going from left to right. I decided it would be easier and safer climbing down without my backpack, so I threw it down to him and missed and it hit the ground and bounced off the mountain, where it joined my friend’s cap that he lost the last time we did this hike. Oh well, better the backpack than me.

The Chimney

I climbed up the bump in the ridge right before the Chimney to get a better perspective of what we had to climb the next time we tackled this hike. The wind was howling and the tops of the mountain was covered in clouds, giving a surreal appearance to the whole thing. Not wanting to press our luck and running out of time, we turned around and climbed back down towards the Pali Lookout.

Old Pali Highway

From the Pali Lookout, we turned right to head down the Old Pali Highway. We followed the heavily overgrown road that hugged the sides of the mountain all the way down to the current Pali Highway and turned around. As we were walking back towards our car, we ran into Masi Oka, the actor from Heroes and Hawaii Five-O. Since today was such a short hike, we ended up having breakfast at Andy’s Sandwiches & Smoothies in Manoa, quite the tasty place.

This was my second hike to Mount Olympus, a trail that is a town favorite as evidenced by the abundance of hikers on the trail. The first hike was with the HTMC which was marked by rain, clouds and not making the summit. This time I was determined to reach the summit and hoped Mother Nature would cooperate and clear the clouds at the summit.

Trailhead

 We drove to the top of St.Louis Heights and parked at the Wa’ahila State Recreation Park which opens their gates at 7am daily. If you get there early, you can park outside and still walk inside.

Trail

The clearly marked trail goes up and down several times that are punctuated with rocky areas and the ever present strawberry guava trees whose fallen fruit had been trampled by countless hikers before us to release their strong, sweet smell.

Manoa Valley

We soon saw views of the city with Manoa valley taking center stage.

Up or down?

This marked the end of the lower trail, so we took the trail to the right to continue our hike to Mt. Olympus. The trail to the left continues down to Manoa Valley.

Palolo Valley

View of Palolo valley with Diamond Head in the background. Looking ahead we saw that the top of Mount Olympus was alternating between clouds and blue skies. We hoped to catch the latter when we made the summit.

Cloudy Mount Olympus

The last part of the trail is a somewhat steep hill that is mostly dirt, luckily there was a grassy trail to the left that we used to make the final push towards the summit. Clouds greeted us as we made the top of Mount Olympus at 2,486 feet. We stayed at the top for awhile hoping that the clouds would pass, we got several teasing glimpses of the windward side and then rain convinced us to turn back and go home.

Pali Puka is a short and sweet hike that starts from the Pali Lookout and takes less than half an hour to reach the Puka. I didn’t even know about this hike until I found it on the Internet, gotta love the Internet!

Pali Lookout

We left our car in the parking lot which is free for kamaainas and military personnel, and I still don’t know how they distinguish between tourists and locals. It’s not like they give you a sign to put on your dashboard that says “I’m Local!” We walked towards the tour bus parking lot on the left side, where there is a break in the wall, which is the trailhead. The peak sticking up from the ridge is where we were headed to see the Puka.

Windward Oahu

From the breached wall, we walked into the bamboo grove and started making our way up the ridge. In less than five minutes, we had this fantastic view of Windward Oahu.

The Peak

Another 15 minutes later, we were at the peak. If we were to contour around this peak, I head there is a trail that goes to Lanihuli, but that is for another day.

Nu'uanu Valley

There is also a great view of Nu’uanu Valley and the city, that beats the view from the lookout anyday.

Pali Puka

I was thinking of climbing into the hole as we did at the Makapu’u Puka, but thought better of it, as the wind was really cranking that day.

Pali Notches

Climbing back down towards the parking lot, we could see the next hike that lay ahead of us. The Pali Notches, which are the two notches that are on the ridge above the lookout. I have heard stories that the Pali Notches are “crazy to climb” and “dangerous.” We were about to find out ourselves firsthand if the Pali Notches lived up to that billing.

Pali Highway

The trailhead to Pali Notches is on the right side, before the wheelchair ramp going to the Pali Lookout. We found that out when we were coming down, as we had started from the parking lot side. Going up the ridge, we came out into an open area, where the wind had it’s way with us. We stood as close to the edge as possible and played “kite” with the wind.

First Notch

We got to the first notch in about 30 minutes, which we climbed up and down without breaking a sweat, as the gusting winds took care of that. Now we were going to find out if the second notch lived up to its reputation.

Second Notch

The climb down the second notch was made easier with a rope that somebody had left behind. We found the best hand holds and footing was coming down the left hand side. Depending on your climbing skill, I believe this can and has been done without ropes. My friend lost his cap to the wind when he was coming down, I convinced him it was in his best interests not to retrieve it due to the steepness and the high winds. The second notch was hard but doable, not as dangerous or crazy as we were led to believe. These notches were actually cut into the mountain ridge to be used as gunports in the Battle of Nu’uanu in 1795, when King Kamehameha conquered the island of Oahu. I can’t imagine how these guys hauled heavy cannons up to these ridge notches. I guess that’s why they were warriors and we’re just hikers.

Another view of Windward Oahu

After we climbed the second notch, we continued on the ridge while enjoying the fantastic views of the windward side and trying not to get blown off the ridge.

The Chimney

My friend didn’t want to go any further past the rock and ontowards the Chimney as the wind was really blowing. So we turned around and went back to the Pali Lookout. Climbing up the second notch seemed easier than climbing down, as you can see clearly where you need to go whereas climbing down, you are not exactly sure where to place your hand or foot.

Pali Lookout

The Pali Notches took us about two hours to complete. I would recommend to hike this trail only when the winds are not blowing that hard. But then again, this is the Pali, which is known for it’s strong winds.

Having hiked Haiku Stairs from the Windward side before the sun has even cracked the day due to access issues, I have found there is another way to get to the top of Haiku Stairs, without skulking around in the dark! That being said, I picked up my friend in Kaneohe and drove into Moanalua Valley and parked at the end of Ala Aolani Street which is right before the park. We climbed over the fence and came across some hunters who were opening the second gate to the trail. They asked us if we were hiking to Haiku Stairs and gave us a couple of pointers and we started out on the old Damon Estate road now known as the Kamananui valley road that took us an hour to reach the Kulana’ahane trailhead.

Middle ridge

We walked about 30 feet past the trailhead markers and crossed the river bed and started working our way up the ridge. If you cross the stream at the trailhead markers, that will take you to the Moanalua Saddle which also leads to Haiku Stairs, but I understand it’s intense okole busting.

Moanalua Valley

Here we are looking back into Moanalua valley with the ridge splitting the valley into two. We also caught glimpses of the Windward side over the Koolau mountains.

Clouds rolling in

Pushing up the ridge, the clouds started to roll in and the wind started to pick up, Mother Nature’s air conditioner was cranking full blast.

Where's the ridge?

At this point in the hike, the clouds and the wind made it a real challenge to walk on the ridge. Luckily, heavy mud glued our feet to the ground as we trudged along the heavily vegetated trail.

Pu'u Keahiakahoe

We came upon the geodetic marker for Pu’u Keahiakahoe at an elevation of 2,820 feet after hiking for about three hours. We had zero visibility thanks to the clouds that had enveloped us at the peak. But we knew the CCL building had to be close by, so we branched off to the right from the sign, hoping the clouds would clear up soon.

CCL building

After hiking for about 10 minutes, our hiking prayers were answered and the clouds cleared up to reveal the CCL building.

Kaneohe

We carefully made our way along the ridge towards the CCL building, with steep drop off views of H3 and Likelike highway snaking through Kaneohe.

H3 freeway

From the CCL building, we saw the H3 freeway disappear into the cloud capped Koolau mountains. To the left, is the ridge that comes up from the Moanalua Saddle, another trail for another day.

Mokoli'i Island

From this direction, we could see all the way up to Kualoa Ranch and Mokoli’i Island sitting offshore, or more commonly known as Chinaman’s Hat.

Haiku Stairs

Looking down at all 3,922 of Haiku Stairs. One thing that was strikingly missing from this hike was the absence of other hikers. We had not run across another soul from the start of Moanalua valley to the top of Haiku Stairs. Where did they all go?

Olomana

Coming down the stairs, we saw the Mokulua Islands, Olomana and Waokele Pond before the clouds started spilling over the Koolau mountains and splattering us with a light rain.

Hoist house

We stopped to take a breather at the graffiti covered hoist house. Hmm, A-frame, pulley, could a zip line be in the works one day?

Going down

When we reached the bottom of the stairs, the guard asked us if we saw a dog up there. On the stairs? He said hunters were looking for their missing dog. Then he casually threw in that he had called the cops about 15 minutes ago when he saw us coming down the stairs. He said there were some recent injuries, so they were really cracking down. That explains the lack of hikers. We beat a hasty retreat, found out that the hole in the fence that we had used months ago was now fixed up, so we had to scale the fence and walked back to my friend’s house in Haiku Gardens, where he drove me back to Moanalua Valley.

Haiku Stairs or Haiku Ladder or Stairway to Heaven is one of the “outlaw” hikes on the island. The State closed the hike to the public in 1987 when vandals and years of hiking took its toll on the stairs making it unsafe. Yet in 2002, the State spent a reported $875,000 to fix the stairs to avoid liability as people continued to hike the stairs, but failed to get an agreement over land access, so the stairs remains closed to the public. Determined not to let our tax dollars go to waste, we got up before the crack of dawn and parked in Haiku Valley. This was our second attempt to climb Haiku Stairs, as almost a month ago we were turned away by the guard that watches over the trailhead. We slipped through the gates and found the well-trodden path going into a bamboo forest, popped into a clearing and went back into the bamboo forest. After going through the hole in the chain link fence and following the road to your right which takes you to the trailhead, we were in luck as the guard was not at his post yet, but found almost a dozen hikers ahead of us making their way around the gate that blocks the stairs.

Going up

Keep in mind that Haiku Stairs is on the windward side of the island, the side that rains a lot. Today was no exception. Going up the stairs, a passing rain shower dumped buckets of water on us and was gone after a couple of minutes.

Stairs and more stairs

The metal stairs are quite narrow, all 3,922 of them, which makes passing other hikers sometimes problematic. But it wasn’t a problem for us. If somebody stopped ahead of us, it was a good reason for us to catch our breath!

H3 Freeway

Stopping and looking back down, the H3 Freeway snakes through Kaneohe and disappears into the Koolau mountains. Resist the urge to wave to the cars below you, as some drivers have mistaken the friendly waves for distress signals and called 911.

Rainbows

There are five platforms on the way to the top, where you can take a well-deserved breather and take in the awesome sights, such as this triple rainbow that briefly appeared from the first platform.

Stairway to Heaven

As we left the first platform, the clouds started to roll in, obscuring the top. We were climbing into the clouds via the “Stairway to Heaven.”

Motivation

Some hikers have left inspiring messages on the handrails to keep you motivated to reach the top.

View to the North

Looking to the North, you can see from Kaneohe to Kaawa.

Kaneohe Bay

You can see Kanoehe Bay and Mokapu Peninsula, home to a Marine base, that partly encloses the Southern end.

View to the South

Looking into Kailua and the three peaks of Olomana.

Stairway to Heaven

The top of the mountain that stands at 2,720 feet. It took us close to two hours to reach the top. The view from the top was completely socked in with clouds, the view was actually better going up than when we got to the top.

Communications Control Link

The top of the CCL building which was once used to communicate with the Wahiawa communication station until it was closed back in the 1950’s. We waited around to see if the clouds would clear up, no such luck. Going back down the stairs took about an hour. The guard didn’t bother us when we got to the bottom, as he seems to be there to prevent people from going up, but I have heard that sometimes HPD is called to issue citations. The hike is moderately hard in terms of effort, but easy in the sense that it goes straight up and down and you have support in the form of the stairs and the rails. Also, please remember this hike is closed to the public.