Met up with Ben, Chris, Dale and Shirley at the Pali Lookout, to help somebody put a notch in their hiking belt.

Trailhead

Right off the bat, it was a steep little climb.

True Pali Lookout

The winds were blowing pretty hard above the lookout.

IG Photo Shoot

Which way is the wind blowing? Thanks Shirley. Photo by Dale Yoshizu.

Pali Notches

Dale and Shirley watching Chris climbing down the second notch.

Nu’uanu Saddle

Single file shuffling to the chimney. Like lemmings, but going up a cliff. Photo by Dale Yoshizu.

Leaning Chimney of Nu’uanu

Webbing retrieval in progress. Photo by Dale Yoshizu.

Chimney

Dale making it look easy.

Chimney

Group photo left to right: Chris, Dale, Shirley, myself and Ben. Rolling backpacks gather no moss.

Nu’uanu Saddle

Shirley had an extra bounce in her step with no pack on her back and a twinkle in her eye. Wait, that was her contacts.

Contour

Clustering around the contour rock.

Nu’uanu Saddle

Time for another photo shoot. Might as well sit down for a spell.

Nu’uanu Saddle

Back to our regular program of hiking on the ridge line.

Trail snacks

Thimbleberry bushes framing triple peaked Olomana.

Junction

Coke tastes better with company and in the mountains. Photo by Dale Yoshizu.

Nu’uanu Saddle

Carbonated and sugared up, we were ready to continue the hike. Photo by Shirley.

Mud Wall

Dale and Shirley making their way up the slippery slope.

Nu’uanu Saddle

Approaching the mud soaked summit trail.

Konahuanui

Champagne was flowing on the highest summit on the Ko’olau Mountain Range. Congratulations to Shirley for completing the entire KST. We met a couple other hikers who arrived at the summit later and kept a wary eye on our alcoholic festivities.

Lulumahu Ridge

Celebration time was over. We still had to get off the mountain. The burning question asked by Dale, of who was older went unanswered as we left the summit.

Lulumahu Ridge

The ridge soon slackened off after the somewhat steep descent from K1.

Lulumahu Ridge

Looking to the “other” side. Photo by Chris Bautista.

Lulumahu Ridge

Time for another group photo and multiple photo shoots.

Lulumahu Ridge

The skinniest section of the ridge.

Lulumahu Ridge

Everybody showing their best side to the camera.

PSA

Arrive Alive. Don’t Text & Hike.

Lulumahu Ridge

We can hear the waterfalls! Just hear but don’t see.

Lulumahu Valley

Mingling with the two-way traffic on the trail as we exited the valley.

Lulumahu Valley

A still from the Patterson-Gimlin short video of an unidentified female hiker.

Snoopy

My wife’s favorite beagle.

Long live the IG Queen

Looking for somebody’s contacts on the ground as we drew curious stares from passing hikers. Photo by Dale Yoshizu.

Lulumahu Valley

Striding down the hill to the hunter’s check-in station.

All pau

Great hike with an amazing crew and awesome accomplishment for Shirley. Thanks to Daryl and George for shuttling us back to our cars. Somebody was in the mood for burgers. Post hike meal at Teddy’s Bigger Burgers.

Note: I have been made aware the 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.

Ever since I met Ted and his crew coming up from Piliwale ridge to Lulumahu Falls when we were coming down that same ridge, I have always wanted to follow in his footsteps so to speak. But having no knowledge of the route down to the falls, that hike was shelved for awhile. Today Ted was nice enough to lead ten of us up the ridge and to the falls.

Ted briefing us on the hike

We all met at the Pali Hunter’s check-in, left a couple cars there and carpooled to Maunawili where we parked on Lopaka Place. Going this way is a more direct route than starting from the Pali Lookout.

Sunrise breaking over Olomana

Walking up the slightly graded trail and catching the sun break over Olomana and Maunawili was a nice way to start the morning.

Piliwale Ridge trailhead

Half an hour later, we found ourselves at the start of the trailhead going up Piliwale Ridge. Now the real cardio workout began, well at least for me it did.

Waiting our turn to go up past the notch

When we got to the notch in the ridge, Ted decided to break us into two groups of five each. This was for safety reasons as this is the part where the ridge got steeper, crumbly and prone to loose rocks being dislodged by people climbing on them. Luckily, this section is heavily roped which comes in mighty handy when you’re searching for some kind of handhold to pull yourself up.

Watching and waiting

Glenn, Jay, Matt, LyZel and myself waiting on the notch. Photo by Jim McKown.

Admiring the intermittent view

Having been down this ridge before, I can say it was much easier going up. I’d rather climb up a steep ridge, than come down it and fight gravity.

Looking back towards Maunawili

This was one of our last clear views we got before the clouds swallowed us up, as we climbed higher towards the summit of Konahuanui or K1.

I’ve got you!

Jason illustrated how the vegetation can sometimes mask the narrowness of the ridge, as he slipped and was hanging on the edge when LyZel came from behind and pulled him up to safety. Another good reason not to hike solo and not to be spaced too far apart, in case assistance is needed. Photo by Jim McKown.

Socked in at the top of K1

The highest point on the Koolau mountains was totally socked in, affording us zero views. Top row left to right: myself, Ted, Matt, Glenn, Jim, Will and Jason. Bottom row left to right: LyZel, Tom and Jay.

Slippery slope down

Going down from K1 was literally by the seat of my pants, due to to the steepness, wetness and mud lubricated trail.

Breaking views

As the steepness gradually leveled to a walkable grade, we started making our way down below the clouds.

Panoramic town view

Click here for the larger image.

Nuuanu Reservoir

Eventually we went down the side of the ridge towards the reservoir. As we got lower, it became a jumbled maze of pig and eroded trails. It seemed that somebody had removed the prior ribbons that clearly marked the trail. Without the ribbons and an experienced guide, one could find themselves bushwhacking for quite a spell. Jay put up a bunch of pink ribbons to mark the key junctions on the trail, hopefully nobody will remove them for future hikers.

Lulumahu Falls

Once we got down to the bottom, we followed the rock strewn stream up to Lulumahu Falls. These falls are fed from the top of K1 and cascade all the way down into Nuuanu Valley.

K1 still capped in clouds

After taking a short break at the falls, we followed the stream out into a clearing that surrounds the Nuuanu reservoir. There is a cleared trail through the bamboo forest that leads back to the hunter check-in station on the Pali.  

GPS Tracks

The 4.5 mile hike took us about 6.5 hours to complete. But the day was not yet done! I had always wanted to check out the summer palace ruins of King Kamehameha III.

Tree tunnel

We drove to Nuuanu Pali Road and parked on the side along with a bunch of other cars that were already there. Walking down the road, we found the trail that lead us into a bamboo forest.

Summer Palace Ruins

A short 5 minutes later, we were standing among the ruins of Kaniakapupu, which was King Kamehameha III’s Summer Palace.

Kaniakapupu

According to the informational plaque, it was built in 1845 and was host to a number of celebrations involving locals and foreign guests.

King Kamehameha III’s Summer Palace

Walking around the ruins, one can feel the “history” of the place.

Singing of the Land Shell

Kaniakapupu means “Singing of the Land Shell” and was a place of rest and refuge for King Kamehameha III. Apparently it soon fell into neglect, as an 1874 map pegged the summer palace as an “old ruin.” We didn’t have time as we were hungry for lunch, but Luakaha Falls is a short hike away from the ruins. Another hike for another day.