I had a vacation day to burn off so I spent it in the mountains.

Wiliwilinui Trail

Checked into the gated neighborhood that came into its own in the 1980s, this entire ridge was once home to Wiliwili trees that are now replaced by upscale homes.

Wiliwilinui Trail

Going up the stairs that were collecting mud puddles, missing the swing that used to be at the base of the stairs, until the powers that be dictated that was not safe and too much fun.

Wiliwilinui Trail

Standing underneath the power lines buzzing at a higher audible level due to the humidity in the air.

Wiliwilinui Trail

Looking back at the valley views.

Wiliwilinui Trail

I don’t think that is the regular gate. That is why we can’t have nice things.

Wiliwilinui Summit

Gained the first summit of the day at 2,480′ elevation with sweeping views.

Ko’olau Summit Ridge Trail (KSRT)

Threading my way up the row of power line poles that were crackling due to the corona discharge.

Kulepeamoa Summit

No flapping chickens or papaya trees around. Getting hungry.

KSRT

Climbing up to the summit of True Lanipo, where pipe dreams go to die.

Pu’u Kainawa’aunui

The clouds soon erased any views upon reaching the fourth summit, leaving me to hike in a soupy fog.

KSRT

Glad I’m going down the BFH (Big F*cking Hill) this time around.

KSRT

The clouds wrapping around the tuff cone gave it a postcard picture effect.

Ka’au Crater

Standing at the “top” of the tuff cone that was created in Hawaiian legend when Maui’s fishhook snapped and landed in Palolo Valley and created the marsh filled crater.

KSRT

Pushing up to my last big climb of the day towards Mount Olympus.

Awa’awaloa Summit

My last summit of the day before I headed back down. The true summit is actually a little further up, but for all intents and purposes, this will suffice.

Wa’ahila Ridge

Running down the rutted section of the trail that separates Palolo and Manoa Valleys.

Wa’ahila Ridge

Manoa valley views where I soon crossed paths with the only other hiker I saw the whole day.

Wa’ahila Ridge

Took the junction which was the faster way down to the valley.

Kolowalu Trail

Enjoying the forest views and going down the slippery roots and rocks.

All pau

Five hours and fifty minute later, I found myself back in civilization. Thanks to Kenny for picking me up, stopping at Paradise Park to wash off and driving me back to my car. Post hike meal was tossing down some Taco Bell on the way home.

GPS Tracks

My vacay day turned hike clocked in at 6.74 miles where the weather was surprisingly kind as winds only buffeted me on the ridge and the heavens sparingly sprinkled me with water. Not a bad day to get in some cardio and mountain views.

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.

Gen, Jose, Matt and myself met up at the Pali Lookout with the goal to traverse to Kuli’ou’ou. The hot weather would have a say in those plans.

Trailhead

Hiking with headlamps underneath the thicket of hau branches.

Lanihuli

Looking across to the other half of the Nu’uanu saddle.

Notch #1

After climbing down the first notch, we hung out for awhile to catch the sunrise. The clouds did not cooperate.

Notch #2

Gen and Jose coming down the second notch.

Trail

Making our way to the Chimney.

The Nipple

Admiring the view. Photo by Matt Vidaurri.

The Chimney

From this angle, going up looks like a walk in the park. All about angles. Photo by Matt Vidaurri.

Looking up

Everybody waiting their turn. Photo by Jose Luis Delaki.

The Chimney

Gen making her way up. Photo by Jose Luis Delaki.

The Chimney

So many shiny new ropes. Which ones to use? All ropes are suspect and should be treated as such.

The Chimney

Group photo at the Chimney, left to right: Matt, Jose, Gen and myself.

Trail

More climbing ahead.

Trail

Matt making his way to the contour section. Climb or contour?

Rock contour

Gen contouring around the rock. This is the same area where another hiker fell 300′ and survived to hike another day.

Trail

Grab that tree! Grab that rock!

Panoramic view

Click here for the larger image.

Trail

All the hard parts behind us. Cruising on the KST.

Olomana

The sun breaking over Olomana and Kailua.

Trail

Abundant uki grass that we used to pull and move ourselves up on the ridge.

Trail

Matt coming up the ridge with stunning Windward views behind him.

Trail

Splash of color on the ridge.

Mud wall

The mud wall had turned into mud steps. When trails become popular, ropes and increased erosion in the form of handholds and footholds shows up. A good and bad thing.

Trail

Almost there.

Piliwale junction

Matt at the Windward spur ridge junction, named after Silver Piliwale who pioneered the trail back in the 1980s.

Konahuanui

Sharing a bag of tasty beef jerky at the 3,150′ summit.

Trail

We soon headed to the other peak or “testicle” of Konahuanui.

K2

Geodetic mark that was emplaced back in 1927 and used for triangulation surveys.

Panoramic view

Click here for the larger image.

Trail

Gen and Jose making their way down to the saddle.

Looking back

We left the twin peaks of Konahuanui behind us as we descended down from the highest points on the Ko’olau Mountains.

Lunch spot

Who brings hot soup and rice to a hike? Something else was getting hot. The weather.

Manoa Middle

We ran across two other hikers who had come from Ka’au Crater and were going down Manoa Middle.

Trail

Jose passing the sedan rock section of the trail.

Mount Olympus

Group photo at the top of Awaawaloa with Ka’au Crater in the background. It was unusually clear. And hot.

Trail

The heat had started to slowly roast us from the inside and we collectively gave up on our goal to reach Kuli’ou’ou. Dwindling water supplies had a say in that too. Somebody kept saying Makapu’u.

Trail

Jose coming down from Mount Olympus.

Trail

The twin power lines that mark Ka’au Crater.

Panoramic view

Click here for the larger image.

Trail

Looking out towards Ka’au Crater and town views. Photo by Matt Vidaurri.

Tourists

Hikers with a European twist coming down the trail that looped around Ka’au Crater. We also met some channel swimmers who were taking a “break” hiking.

Trail

Jose pointing out the big hill that we still had to climb.

Trail

What goes down …

Trail

… must go back up. It was a steep hill.

Kainawa’aunui

We took a short break at the 2,520′ summit.

Trail

Clouds and the attendant cooler temperatures rolled into the mountains. Somebody repeated Makapu’u.

Trail

Matt looking back at the summit and Mau’umae Ridge.

True Lanipo

Geodetic marking the 2,600′ summit of Lanipo.

Trail

Gen making her along the cloudy ridge.

Trail

Making the steep descent down towards the row of power lines on the ridge.

Lanipo Windward

Looking back at the ridge that connects to Aniani Nui Ridge and Olomana.

Trail

Almost there.

Trail

Matt coming up the trail with the summit of True Lanipo behind him.

Wiliwilinui Summit

Group photo at our last summit on the Ko’olau Range.

Trail

It was all downhill from here.

Swing

I found out that a girl named Tina put up the original swing here. Don’t even know if this is the original swing anymore.

All pau

Our hike was over. Now all we needed was a ride since we came down a different trail than originally planned. Who can we call?

GPS Tracks

While our hike did not end as originally planned, it was still quite a day that covered 7.56 miles with great company. Shout out to Justin for picking us up and shuttling us back to our cars. Post hike meal at Thai Valley Cuisine. Tasty tom yum soup. Matt’s treat.

I joined Brad, Marcus and Scott today to hike another Windward ridge. Marcus picked me up from my car on Alani Drive in Manoa and we met the others at the hairpin turn on Pali Highway.

Maunawili Demo Trail

The trail is popular with hikers, trail runners, mountain bikers and pigs. We didn’t run into any of them today on our hike to the ridge.

Last stop for water

Unfiltered water, straight from the tap.

Ko’olau Mountains

Scott had researched and scouted the trail earlier based on Dayle Turner’s ascent in 2002. Pete Cline’s group also made the climb in 2011.

Warm up is over

The group taking a break after hiking four miles to the base of the ridge. Can I get some sunscreen?

Uluhe hell

Long sleeves and long pants highly recommended.

Plunging in

Scott had cleared the lower portion of the ridge earlier, leaving a swath for us to climb up the ridge. Photo by Scott Bowling.

Bushwhacking

We eventually contoured to the right to avoid a steep section, skirted the gully and resumed our climb. Brad stayed on point for the hike, plowing through the thick flora. What a beast.

Pink ribbon

A faded and tattered pink ribbon hung from an overhead branch. A confirmation from the past that we were on the right track.

Scenic view

Today was a good day to be on the mountains.

Burrowing

Tunneling through the thick uluhe ferns. Photo by Scott Bowling.

Looking back

We enjoyed a respite from climbing as the ridge leveled off to a flat spot.

Almost there

Caveman. Da mountain! Da mountain! Photo by Steve Bowling.

Watch the drop offs

Break time over. Resuming our climb up the ridge. Photo by Scott Bowling.

Getting steep

Deep rooted clidemia plants, uki grass, ohia trees and other flora covered the crumbly dirt and rocks on our steep climb up the ridge.

Ko’oko’olau

We found this native plant near the top.

Your pic…

The top was a stone’s throw away. Or was that a webbing drop away?

…for ours

Looking back at the ridge we had climbed up. Photo by Marcus Griego.

Contouring

We contoured to the left to avoid another steep section, before heading straight to the summit. Photo by Scott Bowling.

Steep

Any more vertical and we would fall off the ridge.

So close, yet so far

A vertical section with few handholds and crumbly footing halted our climb. Marcus contoured more to the left to find a better spot, despite Scott’s objections that it was a death drop on that side. I was game as I had no desire to go back down the way we came from. Then something amazing happened. Photo by Scott Bowling.

All smiles

Quiet! I hear voices!

Trail angels

By a stroke of luck, Nick and Angie happened to be traversing the ridge on top of us and they had webbing. Christmas came early!

Waiting our turn

Brad climbing his way up. Photo by Nick Kalanakilaokalahui.

Thank you

Scott making his way to the top of the saddle between Ka’au Crater and Mount Olympus.

Don’t use the rope

Code word. Inside joke. Photo by Scott Bowling.

Olympus Windward

Group photo left to right: Marcus, Scott, myself and Brad. We gave our thanks to Nick and Angie as they continued on their way to Ka’au Crater.

KSRT

No rest for the weary, we resumed our climb along the Ko’olau Summit Ridge Trail towards Mount Olympus.

Final push

Marcus and Scott climbing towards the summit of Mount Olympus.

Panoramic view

Click here for the larger image.

Mount Olympus

Rare to see the summit dry and not cloaked in clouds.

Awaawaloa

Group photo with Olomana, Awaawaloa (Mount Olympus) and Ka’au Crater behind us.

Waahila ridge trail

Marcus making his way down the eroded trail.

Looking back

Leaving behind the 2,486′ summit of Mount Olympus.

Four legged hiker

The dog and her owner wisely decided to turn around after they found out how much more ground they had to cover to the summit and their water was running low.

Kolowalu Trail

We took the Kolowalu junction that dropped us down into Manoa and my car.

Manoa Valley

Caveman take tree for firewood. Make lots of firewood.

All pau

Many thanks to Scott for organizing, scouting and clearing the hike, Brad for being on point and Marcus for not using the rope.

GPS Tracks

The hike covered 7.1 miles. Of that mileage, roughly half a mile was for the Windward ridge. The hardest and shortest section of the hike. Post hike meal at Brick Oven Pizza. Burnt pizza. Extra charge for olives. No love.

Waahila State Park was wide open and empty as I pulled my solitary self into the parking lot at 6:45am to hike the last piece needed to complete the Eastern part of the Koolaus from Makapuu to Lanihuli.

First Clearing

Going into the hike, scenic views of Manoa Valley quickly opened up. The good thing about this trail, is that your car does most of the early climbing as you wind your way up through Saint Louis Heights to get to the trailhead.  

Second Clearing

After passing the first clearing, the trail splits into the Kolowalu Trail which descends down into Manoa Valley and the Upper Waahila Trail which takes you to Mount Olympus. I’m not sure if the Upper Waahila Trail is sanctioned or not, as the sign implores hikers to turn back. But turning back was not on the table today.

Third Clearing

The cloud ceiling started to get lower as I made my way to the third clearing. I was hoping that the views at the top would not be blanketed in clouds.

Windward panoramic view from the summit

Made it to the top of Mount Olympus in two hours to be greeted by relatively cloud free views of both sides of the island. Click here to see the larger image.

Koolau Summit Ridge Trail

I climbed back down to the foot of the peak from Mount Olympus to find the trail that would take me to the Manoa Middle Ridge. The trail coming down the hill was very muddy and wet, which led to major butt sliding all the way down.

Looking back towards Mt. Olympus

One hour was spent hiking on the ridge from Mount Olympus to Manoa Middle Ridge. But what a windy hour it was! The wind was blowing hard enough that I resorted to crawling on all fours on the narrow parts of the ridge to avoid being blown off.

Coming down Manoa Middle Ridge

Click here to see the larger image of the view coming down from Manoa Middle Ridge.

Jackson Chameleon

This is the first time that I ran across a Jackson Chameleon in the wild. A female one at that, as only males have the distinctive triple horns on their heads.

Waiakeakua Stream

After crossing Waiakeakua stream and passing several Chinese Fan Palm trees, I spotted the ribboned branches that led me up the hill. Pushing my way uphill through these small but numerous trees made me frustrated and tired. I eventually made it to the Puu Pia trail at the top of the hill and turned right until the trail ended in a clearing with a bench. From that point on, the trail was heavily overgrown and in need of extensive clearing by those good samaritans at the HTMC. I eventually made it out to Alani Drive after six hours of hiking and called 422-2222 to take my dirty and tired butt back to Waahila State Park.

Rain rain go away, come again another day. That childhood nursery rhyme was going through my head as I pulled in Wa’ahila Park at the top of St. Louis Heights to be greeted by morning showers. I met Jason there, as Glenn had bugged out due to the rain. We talked about it and hoped the rain would pass, so we got into my car and drove to Hawaii Loa to start our hike at 7:15am.

Going up Hawaii Loa Ridge

As we made our way up Hawaii Loa ridge, the clouds seemed to be settling lower and lower on the Koolau Mountain tops. The rain had not followed us, but what we got instead was clumps of dirty water drops.

Hawaii Loa Summit

We got to the top of Hawaii Loa Summit at 2,520 feet in whiteout conditions. The views of Waimanalo and the Windward side of the island were nowhere to be seen. Not having anything to keep us at the summit, we proceeded to follow the heavily vegetated trail on the left.

Wailupe Middle Ridge

We hiked the Koolau Summit Ridge in the clouds and at times, could barely see in front of us. The top of Wailupe Middle Ridge harbored the same whiteout conditions we had hoped we left behind at Hawaii Loa. There was a little sign on the ground that pointed in the direction of Wailupe Loop, didn’t seem too stable as somebody or something could easily move the marker.

Wiliwilinui Ridge

About an hour later, we still had no view at Wiliwilinui ridge. But we did see the communication tower appearing out of the clouds like a pirate ship. I was beginning to think the whole hike was going to be in these conditions, a total bummer.

Diamond Head

A funny thing happend coming down from Lanipo where we had our lunch, the clouds started to clear up. As we made our way down into this little valley and climbed back out of it, the views started opening up, which gave us renewed energy to push on.

Mount Olympus

We could finally see our goal ahead of us, which was Mount Olympus or Awaawaloa.

Panoramic view going toward Mount Olympus

Click here for the larger image which shows the split views of the Town and Windward side.

Ka'au Crater

As we passed the two powerlines on the ridge, we saw the marsh filled Ka’au crater nestled against the Koolau Mountains.

We're coming Zeus!

Little wisps of clouds started rolling in from the Windward side, threatening to cover the summit. That made me push harder to get to the top as I didn’t want to miss an opportunity for a clear view from the top, something which rarely happens. 

Olomana

Going up Mount Olympus, we had to climb a narrow and rocky ridge that was followed by a 10′ rockface and a somewhat steep hill. No ropes required.

Top of Mount Olympus

The top of Mount Olympus at a little over 2,400 feet was remarkably devoid of clouds, the last time I was here, there was zero visibility. The original plan was to continue until Manoa Middle Ridge and then double back. That would have completed the last part we needed to finish hiking the Eastern part of the Koolaus. But that idea was scratched due to lack of time and being plain tired on our parts. So we began the long descent down the Waahila Ridge trail towards our car.

Panoramic view of Manoa Valley and Town

Click here for the larger image of Palolo and Manoa Valleys.

The long trail home

Only twenty minutes until we get back to the trailhead (inside joke).

Need water!

We completed the hike in twelve hours, which was drawn out by being tuckered out and a tad dehydrated as we didn’t bring enough water. But how often, can you do three hikes all rolled into one?

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.