Rain was drenching the islands for almost a week, you would think the stream levels would be overflowing. One would think.

Wahiawa

We all met up on the street that was named after the California Colony that was founded by families from the 31st state who came to farm pineapples and fruits in the early 1900s.

Wahiawa Hills

Edgar making his way down the heavily rooted and forested hill.

Wahiawa Hills

Following the thick rope down that ran the entire length of the slippery slope. Kudos to whomever carried and left it for others to utilize.

Wahiawa Hills

Passing through a farmed and managed area.

Wahiawa Hills

Our first crossing of the longest river in the islands.

Wahiawa Hills

Putting our glutes and quads to good use this morning.

Wahiawa Hills

Scott getting our bearings in the rolling hills. Multiple hikers have gotten lost and rescued in this lush jungle and one hiker never made it back.

Wahiawa Hills

Descending to our exit stream crossing.

North Fork Kaukonahua Stream

Scott tying a yellow towel to an overhanging branch so that we would have a visual reminder where to get out, otherwise we would rack up extra mileage. Not the kind you can redeem either.

Wahiawa Hills

They don’t call this place Wahiawa Hills for nothing.

Wahiawa Hills

Group photo on the relaxing horizontal stretch of ground.

Wahiawa Hills

Matt standing in front of a Traveller’s Palm, despite his doubts. Google Lens confirmed the flowering plant. It’s on the Internet, so it must be true.

Wahiawa Hills

Keeping to the lower trail.

Wahiawa Hills

The group “exploring” in the hills. All trails eventually lead to the stream. Right?

Wahiawa Hills

Deja vu.

Wahiawa Hills

We are absolutely and positively on the right trail this time. That and a nickel will get us wet.

Wahiawa Hills

Getting ready at the launch point, as we inflated our floaties and put on our wetsuits.

North Fork Kaukonahua Stream

Making our way to the stream which was full of water but not as deep as we had hoped.

North Fork Kaukonahua Stream

We have buoyancy!

North Fork Kaukonahua Stream

Floating lazily down a river.

North Fork Kaukonahua Stream

Squirting water on suspecting passerby’s.

North Fork Kaukonahua Stream

Adding more air to my floatie as it was already running low. Do I need to lose weight?

North Fork Kaukonahua Stream

The mostly shallow river meant we had to cross the exposed rocks by foot or by butt.

North Fork Kaukonahua Stream

Sandra on the rocks. Shaken and not stirred.

North Fork Kaukonahua Stream

Scott banking off the bank, like a pool shot.

North Fork Kaukonahua Stream

Nature’s wet’n’wild waterpark. Saved us $39.99 and standing in lines and subject to the exorbitant food and beverage prices.

North Fork Kaukonahua Stream

Groot and the chain gang.

North Fork Kaukonahua Stream

Kenny adopting the drag coefficient position to float down the river.

North Fork Kaukonahua Stream

Swimming and tubing in the deep section.

North Fork Kaukonahua Stream

Matt requiring assistance from the Kauai chapter of AAA. I would also require assistance.

North Fork Kaukonahua Stream

Sandra riding the rocky class two rapids.

North Fork Kaukonahua Stream

Back at the finish line sans my gopro. I was more than ready for terra firma. Keep my floatie. Thank you very much.

North Fork Kaukonahua Stream

Deflating the floaties as we dragged our water soaked bodies out of the river that drains into Kai’aka Bay.

Wahiawa Hills

Climbing our last hill for the day.

All pau

Exiting back to our cars where Sandra recovered her banana from my truck that was still sitting there. No hungry chronics in this neighborhood.

GPS Tracks

Our hike/floatie ride covered 4.67 miles through the hills of Wahiawa with a fun group. Thanks to Scott for putting this together. Post hike meal at a local staple in the town, Dong Yang Inn. Under new management without the pupus that used to come with your entrees and everything is now packed to go. Still tasty.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8upgtMVRd8

Video by Edgar Gamiao of our tubing/hiking day.

Photos taken by Edgar Gamiao, Kenny Lui, Matt Vidaurri, Sandra Walter, Scott Dea 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.

Chris and Cisco met up with me in the central valley with plans to hike over and down into the valley of coral dived for or something close to that. We ended up getting something close to that.

Trailhead

Making our way down the heavily rooted hill covered with fallen leaves.

Wahiawa Hills

Going down one of multiple junctions scattered throughout the forest. Helps to know your way.

North Fork Kaukonahua Stream

Chris decided to stay dry for now and get wet later. I was just plain lazy to take my shoes off for the stream crossing. Embrace the wetness. Photo by Cisco Quintanilla.

Wahiawa Hills

Squishing our way back up the hills of Wahiawa.

Ewa Reserve

Enjoying the clouds settling in the forested canopy.

Wahiawa Hills

Our quadriceps were getting a good workout this morning.

Wahiawa Hills

Breaking out into the flat and open grassy fields which afforded our legs and lungs a break.

Poamoho Hunting Area

Cisco using his imagination to add to the bullet riddled sign. Photo by Chris Bautista.

Wahiawa Hills

Pushing our way through the swath of thick, tangled uluhe ferns.

Army fencing

Coming soon to a Ko’olau Summit Trail near you. Photo by Cisco Quintanilla.

Poamoho Road

Chris making his own swing in the mountains.

Poamoho Road

Making our way up the muddy road sans a 4×4 jeep, we let our feet do the walking.

Poamoho Trail

Stepping foot onto one of the shortest routes to the Ko’olau Summit. Not counting the jeep road. Photo by Cisco Quintanilla.

Poamoho Trail

Making our way up the graded and muddy trail.

Poamoho Trail

Do you smell swine? No, but we did smell loads of dog poop all over the trail.

Poamoho Trail

Heading into the gulch as the rain picked up its pace.

Poamoho Summit

The summit was a total whiteout with zero visibility. We sat hunkered below the Cline Memorial, sheltered from the biting wind but not the sleeting rain. Debating what to do, what do we see? Another hiker making his way up to the summit, soaked to his wire rim glasses. His name was Eric and he was hiking down towards the Schofield-Waikane Trail.

Ko’olau Summit Trail (KST)

Forecasts of lightning throughout the rest of the day persuaded us to ditch going down the storied Pig God trail and instead we struck out towards the South to catch up with Eric.

KST

The rain continued to keep our bodies and the ground soundly saturated as we decided to bypass the cabin as being temporarily dry was worse than being constantly wet.

Waterfall

Chris taking a shower ahead of schedule. A cold one at that. Photo by Cisco Quintanilla.

Pauao Junction

Passing the newly posted green sign marker. A much needed improvement over the brown and weathered sign that many failed to notice.

KST

Chris with a rare sighting of the Ko’olau Branta Bryophyta. Seen only during the frequent rain showers that wash over the mountains, forcing them to come out from their nesting grounds in the uki grass to hunt for handouts from hikers.

Random Trail Meetings

Somebody was not hiking alone anymore. Still no sign of Eric.

Schofield-Waikane Junction

Group photo at the 2,360′ summit.

S-W Trail

Time to head down and hopefully leave the rain and clouds behind us.

S-W Trail

HTMC had just recently cleared the trail last weekend and it showed.

Droning

The weather let up for a spell, so I decided to make use of the drone that I had been carrying all day.

S-W Trail

Aerial view of “Country so wild it’s hard to believe you’re on populous Oahu.” (Stuart Ball)

S-W Trail

Leaving the fence line behind us.

S-W Trail

Boning up on our scant knowledge of the trail.

S-W Trail

Trying to see the snake for the tree?

S-W Trail

Climbing out of the trail.

Trailhead

Getting the most out of my drone until a light drizzle canceled further flights.

East Range

Trading the cleared trail for the textured road that had our dogs barking. Maybe they were whimpering?

East Range

Wondering whatever happened to Eric on our way down. One of the unanswered questions of our day.

All pau

Heading back to the cars after our 16.3 mile hike through rain, clouds and sunshine all thrown together in the mountains. Post hike meal at Popeye’s. Love that chicken. Photo by Chris Bautista.

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.

I got an excuse to break in my spanking brand new Costco backpack this weekend. Met up with Chris B, Chris C and Thessa to explore the rolling hills of Wahiawa.

Water tanks

We shouldered our 40 pound backpacks and disappeared into the hills.

The hills

The group making their way down the first hill through a stand of eucalyptus trees.

Dry stream

Passing through uprooted trees scattered like so many matchsticks.

Going down

We climbed up a hill, hit a switchback and followed the trail down to our first stream crossing.

North Fork Kaukonahua Stream

Took off our shoes and waded to the opposite bank in clear, cold waters.

Going up

The ample leaves surrounding us came in handy to dry our feet off. Climbing up another hill. Theme for the day.

Group photo

Cameras and monkeys fall out of trees. No monkeys around today. Photo by Chris Bautista.

Follow the ribbon

We followed this ribbon down into a thickly vegetated valley floor with false drops, so we turned around and headed back up again.

Let’s try this way

The trail looped back the way we had come from, so we found another side trail to explore.

Looks like a trail

Let’s see where this goes.

Poamoho stream

The trail dropped us down into another stream. Photo by Chris Chun.

Hills

Climbing up another hill peppered with paperbark trees.

Deja vu

Muttered curses filled the air as I topped the hill only to realize we had looped back again!

Ridge trail

Let’s find out where this ridge will take us.

Kaukonahua stream

We meet again. It the waters were higher, we might as well have gone tubing! Photo by Chris Chun.

Come on down

We crossed the stream and picked up a faint trail that soon disappeared as the uluhe got deeper and denser as we bushwhacked our way up another hill. Losing daylight. Time to turn around and set up camp. We didn’t lug these tents around for nothing.

Campsite

Group photo left to right: Chris B, Chris C, Thessa and myself.

What’s for dinner?

Cup of cramps. All night long. Photo by Thessa Bugay.

Sunset

The day was drawing to a close. No more exploring for today. Photo by Chris Bautista.

Good night

Snoring. Cheese Farts. Eating. Rain. Tree branches creaking. Sleep. Not necessarily in that order. Photo by Thessa Bugay.

Good morning

Wakey, wakey eggs and bakey. Or in our case, leftover MREs.

Back on the trail

We broke our campsite down, packed our bags and headed back out.

Uluhe forest

Nice to look at, not nice to be in it.

Rising waters

Runoff and rain had swollen and colored the muddy brown stream. Photo by Thessa Bugay.

Until we meet again

Recycled walking sticks.

Playtime

The looping hike covered roughly 6 miles of rolling hills, pig trails, hunter trails, hiking trails, ridges and streams. Real easy to get lost in these hills. Post hike meal at Zippys. The eye is bigger than the stomach.