Hiking Trails on Oahu

  Kahana Valley Hike a.k.a. Nakoa Trail - July 31, 2011 Summer is over. This will be considered my last hike of the summer, a summer filled with the best hiking of my life. On the HTMC schedule today was Kahana Valley. This hike is considered a favorite hike by many hiking enthusiast because of its variety of plants, interaction with the stream, musical forest, and its pleasant non-strenuous double loop. Even Stuart Ball mentions in his book that, "...the stream loop is perhaps the most beautiful valley walk on the island...There are few things better in life than spending a sunny afternoon by Kahana Stream" (Ball, p.214). So, I was off to Kahana Valley to see it for myself. First, I met some HTMC members at Iolani Palace. I was curious to see where the meeting spot was for most of the hikes. But most hikers just meet at the trailhead. After a short meeting in back of Iolani Palace, we convoyed to Kahana Valley State Park. There were at least 50 hikers waiting in the parking ...

Briefing trailhead flowing today   Kalauao Falls  -  July 23, 2011                                                                                                 Isn't it ironic! Now Kalauao falls has become lore in my hiking adventures. Today's trip was no exception. Kalauao could be considered as one of the reasons for my weight lost in 2009. It could also be considered as a reason that re- started my passion for hiking in 2010. In 2011, Kalauao will be considered the hike that got me into the HTMC. You need three hikes to get into the HTMC. Over the past two weeks, I've done Schofield-Waikane & Waianae Kai with the HTMC. I wanted to obtain membership as quickly as possible and guess what the third hike in as many weeks with...

Waianae Kai - July 17, 2011 It was my second hike with the HTMC in as many weeks. On the schedule was Waianae Kai. I thought this trail would be easy and well marked. The second part holds true, it is well marked, but the trail is not defined, though there is a trail. In addition, I didn't realize that there were a network of trails in Waianae Valley. A club member said it reminded him of the Tantalus network of trails. Although not as elaborate as the Tantalus network of trails, the Waianae trails can still get complicated and confusing. The day started off at 7-11 in Kapolei. I bought a turkey sandwich, starburst, and Gatorade . Starburst is a good energy boost because of the straight sugar. The meeting place was at Steve's house. I thought it would be a quick drive to Waianae, but it took the same amount of time as driving to Mililani, 20 minutes. We met at Steve's house at about 8:30 am and were debrief about the hike for the day. At about 8:45 am we headed towards the ...

  July 15, 2011 - Papali Loop Trail About 1 month ago, the kids and I  did the Hau'ula Loop Trail. I asked them at that time if they wanted to do the Papali Loop as well. The answer was a resounding, "no". So I told them we will have to come back. I finally got a week day off during summer work and told the kids that we were going to do Papali. Surprisingly, they agreed. The plan was to do Papali, then go to Malaekahana Beach.  We started from Kapolei at 8:45 am, but while I was in Wahiawa, I realized that I forgot my wallet. Crap! I needed my wallet and decided to turn around. Well 40 minutes wasted. We got to Hau'ula Homestead Road at 10:45 am, got out of the car and walked up the road. To the right was the Hau'ula trail, I figured Papali was just a little more up the road. Just then we seen a trail: Ma'akua Ridge Trail? Perplexed, I thought that's not it, and we should go more up the road. Malia said that we should go onto the trail we just passed. I to...

Schofield-Waikane - July 10. 2011 *for this hike get permit from the military at Schofield's East Range I did two important things on this hike. 1) I completed my first Advanced hike 2) I completed my first hike with the Hawaiian Trail & Mountain Club (HTMC). These were two objectives of mine and they were done at the same time. I do need 2 more hikes with the HTMC to become a member. I've had my eye on the HTMC scheduled hikes for sometime now. The HTMC is Oahu's hiking club since the early 1900s. They do a hike every week, nearly all of their hikes are interesting. The initial goal of the HTMC was to find old Hawaiian trails. I digress, the question I would ask myself time and time again was, "Who would go on Schofield-Waikane with me?". After many hours of thinking the answer I came up with was, "no one, I would know of". When Schofield-Waikane came out on the HTMC schedule, I knew it would be the perfect hike to start with the club. It will also ...

  Makapu'u Ridge to Kamehame Drive - July 3, 2011 We were suppose to do Makapu'u Ridge and descend down the Tom-Tom trail, but the bottom line was we didn't complete the hike. So now this becomes a lore hike. There is going to be a revisit to the Makapu'u Tom-Tom trail sometime in the future. But for now, this experience was mostly good and sad. The initial plan was to do this hike with Erik, Blaze, Blaze's wife Jenny, my wife Michelle, and I. Blaze and Jenny went to Turtle Bay for the 4th of July weekend and Erik had to do something.  It was just Michelle and I, just like the old days. It took us over an hour to get to Makapu'u. And I do say, it felt like a while. We parked on Makapu'u Lighhouse Road and walked up to the Lookout. I wasn't sure where the trailhead was for the Makapu'u Ridge hike, all I knew that it was adjacent to the Lookout, so we scouted the place for about 5 minutes. Our assessment came up with two results. There was a faint trai...