Hiking Trails on Oahu

Bear Claw Right Fork – January 28, 2012 An unbelievable day of hiking! We climbed up Bear Claw’s Right Fork to the Ko'olau Summit, took a right on the Ko'olau Summit Trail (KST), passing Pu’u O Kona and Niu Valley Summit, before descending down Niu Valley Ridge to our cars. Total trek for this hike, 7 hours.    This hike is in the extreme category for one reason, its fricken dangerous! I called on Ted to help me conquer this trail. Ted has done this hike a few times and is one of the most experience hikers when it comes to difficult hikes on the island of Oahu. He knows how to handle the most challenging situations. I also invited Nate, for I felt that he was ready to handle an extreme hike. Others joining us on the hike today were Steve, Kyle, and LeMomi. For Steve, this was his 6 th  time doing Bear Claw. His experience, coupled with Ted’s would greatly benefit us today. Bear Claw can also be described as Pu'u O Kona Windward. By that I mean you gain the summit of the P...

Pu’u Piei – January 21, 2012 I needed to do a short hike because I had to get to a birthday party by 1pm. So I decided to do Pu’u Piei. According to Stuart Ball’s book  Hiking on Oahu , Pu’u Piei is about 3 miles long. I figured it would only take 3 hours to finish this hike, so if we got to Kahana at 8a, there would be no problem. Pu’u Piei is a high end intermediate hike. The trail goes uphill for about 1600 ft. until you hit the crest of the ridge, then its more ups and downs before you hit the summit. I had a feeling that there would be a lot of huffing and puffing. I picked up Nate at 7 am and off I drove to Kahana valley. At 8a, we parked at the Orientation center. As we were getting ready, Pu'u Piei was looming in front of us. We started to walk on the gravel road towards the Nakoa trailhead. We then turned right on a paved road and headed into the valley looking for utility poles, none where in sight. After about 30 minutes, we were perplexed. Where was Pu’u Piei and the ut...

  Kulana’ahane State Trail – January 16, 2012 Being that it was Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I decided to go hiking by myself. I haven’t hiked by myself in a while, well, since Aiea Bi-Sectional last December. With so many hikes still on my list, there were many choices. I wanted to do a hike I haven’t done before, add to that, I wanted to do a safe hike since I was by myself. In the morning, I went through Stuart Ball’s book  Hiking on Oahu  and chose a hike that I haven’t done yet. The hike I chose was called Kamananui, but a few years ago the state changed the name to Kulana’ahane Why? Don’t know, nor does it matter. I woke up at my regular time and drove to Moanalua at about 8:15 am. I arrived at a loaded parking lot and started hiking at 8:30 am. When the parking lot is loaded at this time in the morning, it usually means the Korean Hiking Group is doing Kamananui Valley Road. As I walked along, I said “hi” to them. Some background information about Kulana’ahane goes ...

Manoa Middle – January 14, 2012 I did this hike in my dreams. It’s a hike I’ve wanted to do for some time now. Only a few years ago, this hike was extremely difficult to do for two reasons 1) overgrown 2) no clear directions. Great work by an anonymous clearing crew and maintenance by the HTMC make this hike a reality. I joined the hiking group Oahu Weekend Hikers & Adventures today as they were going to do the Manoa Middle Loop. This loop consist of taking you onto Pu’u Pia, then descending down the valley to where Waiakeakua stream flows. We would then make a left at a junction to gain Manoa’s Middle Ridge before making the steep ascent to its summit. From the summit, we would turn right on the KST towards the Mount Olympus trail. Finally we would go down the Olympus trail before making a right onto Kolowalu and back onto Pu’u Pia.           Leading the hike today was Udom and Laredo. Both are HTMC hikers and help out with this group. T...

  Kealia – January 8, 2012 I had a chance to meet Stuart Ball today. Stuart Ball was the guy who wrote the book  Hiking on Oahu . This book has influenced many people to become avid hikers. It gave them a reason to get into shape and enjoy Oahu trails. For me the book did not entertain, but opened up my imagination about what the most remote places on Oahu would look and feel like. I would have dreams about hiking to the summits of Oahu mountains and experiencing world class views. As I checked off the hikes one by one, I realized that hiking was for me. I too got a chance to experience the descriptions of the book first hand. Stuart Ball The hike today was Kealia, located in back of Dillingham Airfield in Mokuleia. The HTMC created a 9 mile loop. The goal today was to hike on the Kealia trail and work our way up great switchbacks eventually overlooking a quarry and the entire North Shore. We would then meander through the mountains via dirt roads, also known as a foothil...