Mahalo to Cisco for inviting and picking up the admission for Analyn and myself to a semi-guided tour of the backlot of Hawaii. Paradise is not free anymore.

Kualoa Ranch

We joined the teeming crowd of over a hundred hikers from the Hawaii Hiking Group as we headed into the ranch land that are home to three valleys.

Kualoa Ranch

Analyn standing next to a row of four tiki statues.

Kualoa Ranch

Passing the pua’a in ahupua’a.

Kualoa Ranch

Our first narrative of the day overlooked the 125 acres of Moli’i Fishpond where fish and oysters are being farmed for commercial sales to sustain the ranch as part of their business model. Also described was the tale of how the island commonly known as Chinaman’s Hat came into being as part of the tail of a giant lizard that was ripped asunder by the Hawaiian goddess Hi’iaka and thrown into the waters where it rests to this day.

Kualoa Ranch

Rounding the bend in the trail as the pyramidal peak of Pu’u Ohulehule loomed ahead of us.

Talk Story

Our last narrative for the day where it was explained to us that there are only four paniolo (cowboys) that tend to the 3,825 acres of undeveloped land that are owned by the Morgan family. We soon left to hike up to the top of the ridge before the next wave of tour buses deluged the area.

Ka’a’awa Valley

Trying to fit in our group photo with everybody else at the scenic point, left to right: Cisco, Analyn and myself.

Kanehoalani

Property pass you say?

Kualoa Ranch

Going down the muddy trail, where the kids were faster than their parents.

Zipline

Thrill seekers being pushed by gravity against the backdrop of True Manamana. Photo by Cisco Quintanilla.

Kualoa Ranch

We couldn’t find the Kong bones, so we settled for location movie signs.

Kualoa Ranch

Some folks just don’t like getting wet.

Kualoa Ranch

At least we found these dinosaur eggs nestled in the grass next to a termite hill. I don’t know which one was more scarier. Photo by Cisco Quintanilla.

Battery Cooper

Entering the coastal defense revetment that burrows over 150′ deep into the mountain. Photo by Cisco Quintanilla.

Jurassic World

The bunker rooms are now used to house props and artifacts from the multiple movies that have filmed on the ranch.

Galaga

Apparently Locke did not blow up the submarine, but moved it to drydock.

Battery Cooper

Passing through the gate whose electric bills have not been paid in a long time. Photo by Cisco Quintanilla.

Battery Cooper

Giving birth.

Battery Cooper

Giving birth by C-section. Photo by Cisco Quintanilla.

Battery Cooper

I must be stronger than I thought or Kong had osteoporosis. Photo by Analyn Baliscao.

Battery Cooper

Analyn and Cisco checking to see if they’re real or fake. The jury is still out.

Battery Cooper

What happens when somebody takes too long on their photo shoots. Photo by Analyn Baliscao.

Battery Cooper

Leaving the bunker as we straggled back onto the trail as the group had long gone ahead of us.

Pua’a

When all that separates you from a couple of interested pigs is an electric fence, something that a hiker found out the hard way. Photo by Cisco Quintanilla.

Happy Birthday

A couple days late but nothing a sloppy Reese’s Peanut Butter Ultimate Doughnut can’t fix.

All pau

Relaxing day spent on our fun exploratory hike that meandered its way through picturesque valleys and a WW2 bunker chock filled with more movie props than you can say lights, camera and action. Post hike meal at Waiahole Poi Factory. Thanks to Analyn for treating us to an ono Hawaiian lunch.

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.

Only had time for a quick hike today. Mokoli’i Island or Chinaman’s Hat as it is more commonly known fit the bill.

Getting ready

I met Jasmin at Kualoa Regional Park, which was crowded with weekend campers. We managed to launch the kayak in the water without flipping ourselves in the process. Always an accomplishment in my book.

Prepare to land

The waters were a little choppy and the current kept us making corrections to make sure we landed on the island. As we got closer, we could see several kayaks already on the beach and people on top of the island.

Pu’u Kanehoalani

Roughly 15 minutes later, we found ourselves on Chinaman’s Hat. Looking out towards the impressive Pu’u Kanehoalani which sits on Kualoa Ranch.

Panoramic view from the top

It was a quick 10-15 minute walk to the top. From the 210′ elevation, we could see the Ko’olau Mountain Range, Pu’u Ohulehule and Pu’u Kanehoalani. Quite a treat. Click here for the larger image.

Swimmers

We saw swimmers, SUP and more kayaks approaching the island. Guess this place gets a lot of traffic. The island is owned by the City & County and is open from dawn to dusk.

Cove

Looking down at the small cove on the northern side of the island.

Rain shower

The swimmers came ashore on the island just in time to catch a rain shower moving in from the ocean.

Mauka view

Looking towards the mountains.

Makai view

Looking towards the ocean.

Looking towards Kaneohe

Climbed down to get a better view of the island. Photo by Jasmin Nepomuceno.

Looking back towards Kualoa

A different view of the island.

Rock climbing

Small kine rock climbing on the Kaneohe ocean side of the island. Photo by Jasmin Nepomuceno.

Kayaking away

Leaving Chinaman’s Hat. It was fun.

GPS Tracks

Round trip mileage including kayaking and exploring the island was a whopping one mile. Short and sweet. Almost makes me want to buy a kayak. Next island to visit: Gilligan’s Island!

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.