Kalena Hike
Kalena – October 30, 2011
*this hike is closed to the public, check with U.S. Army Garrison Hawaii Facebook Page for information.
After doing Malaekahana to Laie yesterday, who would of thought I had enough left in the tank to do another hike. Just like the Lanihuli hike, if one’s spirit is willing the mind and body will follow. With Michelle and the kids in the Big Island this weekend, I had time to myself.
My body was sore from Malaekahana to Laie, especially after 8 hours of hiking, Throw in a party for my Aunty Nene’s brother that evening and a lack of sleep, well Sunday’s hike better be easy. Which hike did I choose the day after Malaekahana to Laie, how about KALENA? Holy crap. The KALENA hike. Listed in Stuart Ball’s book as an expert hike, Kalena is not for the Acrophobes. There is plenty of exposure, so if you are uncomfortable with exposure, this hike is not for you. As I write on, you will get a better description of how difficult this hike can be to the non-experience hiker.
Kalena is the second highest peak on Oahu, standing at 3,504 feet. Its a short 5 mile hike. Don't let the mileage fool you, its a difficult 5 miles.
Josh who authors the 808 Goonies blog wanted to do this hike. He messaged Oahu Weekend Hikers, and I took the bait. Since Kalena is sort of off limits (because the military is installing fencing), I felt uncomfortable driving through security check point, so I asked my mom (my dad did his service time) who has a military sticker to drive me through Schofield. We stopped right before the Kolekole Pass entrance. There is a vacant lot with two trailheads opposite from one another. Pu’u Hapapa/Pu’u Kaneloa is near the vacant lot, with the Kalena trailhead starting across the street. I met Josh, Marcus and Wendy in the vacant lot. One good thing, I was in great company. There was no question about it, these hiker’s have done some of Oahu’s most notorious trails. I knew they would watch over me.
Kalena is no joke. Right away it is all uphill. No warm up. The first section is crumbly. While the others had ease, I couldn’t get too much grip and slipped a little. Near the top of the first section are beautiful views of the central plain and Waianae area. The uphill jaunt kept on going. I was way out of breath already. For about 30 minutes, it was just grueling ascending. The views get better and better, however your heart takes a beating because of the amount of effort needed to gain the ridge.
Once we gained the ridge, the beautiful views continued. I tried to find Kalena in the distance but cloud cover obstructed my view. After all that hard work ascending, you would think that there would be some relief. No way. The trail narrows to about a foot and a half wide. There are huge drops on the right side and vegetation blocking drops on the left side. If you are scared of heights, then you will have problems at this point. We walked on the ridge until we had to climb a steep rock dike. It wasn’t vertical, but it was steep. There were excellent foot and hand holds. We all had no problems getting up it. It is exposed, so again fear of heights would not cut it when climbing the rock dike.
Rolling hill after rolling hill, the trail narrowed, the terrain became crumbly rock and loose dirt. I had some problems with my footing, but it wasn’t too hazardous. The final jaunt to Kalena was heart pounding. It was great ascending over a narrow ridge. To add to the fact, there was fencing material blocking the trail. We had to navigate over the fencing material, which posed another hazard. The fencing material was balanced properly on the trail, so walking and crawling over it didn’t prove to be too difficult. The last push towards the summit was super exhausting. I told Josh to go in front of me as I couldn’t catch my breath. But Josh said to push through, so I did. In a little while we got to the top of Kalena a little over the 2 hour mark. Magnificent.
Since Kalena is so high, you can see everything on west and central side of Oahu. Atop Kalena, to the north is Ka’ala, to the west is Kamaile’unu, to the southwest is Lualualei and Nanakuli valley, to the south is Hapapa, Kanehoa, Kaua, and to the Southeast is Schofield and the central plain. The one problem was that vegetation obstructed some views. We stayed at the top for about 20 minutes and headed back.
Going back was a little difficult. Since the dirt is loose and the rocks were crumbly, I had some difficulty controlling momentum. Luckily there were all these trees breaking my fall.
Going back, I was actually getting stronger. My breathing was more controlled. Hill after hill, I handled well. At about the halfway point, Kalena’s side ridge appeared. We scouted the side ridge on the way to Kalena and Marcus had an itch. Marcus, who was way ahead of us, went for it. He crazy, I tell you. I took pictures of Marcus on the side ridge while Wendy and I were watching. Josh, who was behind me said he was going to do it. Wendy, the fearless soul she is, went after Josh. I was by myself. I thought, might as well try it? No. Yes. No. Yes. So I did. I started the side ridge and got to the rock section, just then something in me said no way you are going to do this. Though everyone was encouraging me, I decided to turn around. I made an excuse like, “I’ll take a picture of you”. After Kalena’s side ridge, we continued onto the main ridge.
Another hour of hiking and we completed Kalena. I felt a big time accomplishment, considering only two years ago, I thought a hike like this was unachievable. Now I realize the formula for hiking some of Oahu’s most notorious trails. Experience. It is not how athletic you are, or how much skills you have. It all boils down to experience and the experience of the company you’re with. When the situation gets tough, experience will help out immensely. Well, Kalena is done. Where do I go next? Oh yeah, the HTMC is doing Ohulehule (Another big time hike) next week. See you there.
Comments
Post a Comment