Castle Trail, One of the Top Hikes on Oahu
Castle – May 6, 2012
According to Stuart Ball, Castle is “considered the finest hike on the island”. Today on an outing with the Hawaiian Trail and Mountain Club (HTMC), I get to experience the hype that is Castle.
To my knowledge, Castle was built by the James Castle team. James Castle was a sugarcane mogul that controlled plantation operations on the Windward side of Oahu. He is also the brother of William Castle - the first president of the HTMC.
The Castle trail starts in the back of the valley in the Punalu’u area. Now a days the land is owned by Bishop Estate. Bishop Estate only lets the HTMC do the hike and frowns upon other people who ask permission or trespass on the property. In the briefing, Grant said Bishop Estate request that no one post pictures online. In an age where everyone does so, you could feel the disappointment in the air, but Bishop Estate does not want to hikers in the community to try sneak onto Castle because it is on private property.
I entered the gate opened by Grant and drove up a dirt road to an open lot. We were debriefed and started walking towards the trailhead. In the meantime, I had a chance to greet and talk story with Stuart Ball. It was an amazing experience to talk with him about his new book. The Castle hike starts on a dirt road. We walked a little less than a mile before crossing a beautiful stream. I asked people around me if this was Kuliuwa’a stream, but all said no. After crossing the stream the road continues until a junction appears. Going right will take you up a ridge through strawberry guava. The ridge goes up pretty high, until you level out at some switchbacks. The switchbacks are outstanding, just like Stuart Ball’s book mentioned, “you climb up spectacular switchbacks”. What he is talking about are the views of Punalu’u Valley. Since Pauao ridge is low in elevation at this vantage point, you can see Manamana, Ohulehule and O Kila in the distance dominating Kahana Valley. Another part of the switchbacks provides a vantage point at the Punalu’u beach area with Pu’u Piei looming in front.
Near the end of the switchbacks comes a notch. You have to go through the notch and eventually make a right to what appears another valley. According to Stuart Ball, you cut through the mountain and end up on the right side overseeing Kuliuwa’a gulch. From above, you can see the stream flowing. Through many contouring and switchbacks, you get to the stream and cross it before ascending up the mountain through the graded trail. It’s so surreal to see a stream flowing at 2000 feet of elevation. But that's what was happening. From the stream, it takes an hour to get to the lookout. The trail at this point is eroded, overgrown, and muddy. Nothing too difficult for me, but many people turned around at this point of the hike. The lookout provides a great view of Upper Sacred Falls spilling into a shallow pool. Further progress is possible to the summit.
I must have been one of the first to the lookout because I only saw 2 people heading back. I enjoyed the view from the lookout with the guy from Turkey whom I met on the Waianae Kai hike last year. While heading back, I saw the first major wave of hikers ready to hit the terminus. I hiked by myself for about 2 hours before meeting up with David, Daniel, and Bob. They stopped at the stream and turned around. Bob who wants to become an advanced hiker talked with me about all the hikes he’s done recently. David was talking a million pictures again. He took over 600 pictures on the hike, that’s freakish. On the way back, I washed my shoes in the stream and got most of the mud out.
While driving home I got to do some reflecting, I can consider this hike, “one of the finest hike on the island”.
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