Manoa Middle Hike
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. The skies were clear today, with little vog. Earlier, I picked up Nate and Marvin. Of course I hike with Nate all the time and this was my second hike with Marvin. The group was big – 16 people to be exact. We went at a blistering pace on Pu’u Pia, then followed Waiakeakua stream until the unknown waterfall. From the waterfall we went left and up the mountain to gain the ridge. The jaunt up the mountain was surprisingly steep, but safe.
In my dreams I thought Manoa Middle would be an enchanting hike that would feature the lush panoramic views of Manoa Valley with perilous sections. However, the view up the mountain wasn't so good and the hike to the summit was safe with no dangerous sections. My fantasy did not match reality on this one. I do say that since the hikers in front were going at a blistering pace, I had difficulties keeping up with them. I had to take numerous breaks, it was sad to see myself struggling like this. For I have proven, that I’m a strong hiker. But this time, I just struggled with cardio.
Anyway, the group split into two. The first group was way ahead of the second group. I was at the end of the first group and hit the summit. Don’t know what this summit is called yet. After a short break we took a right on the KST and headed towards Olympus. The trail was mostly safe, there were narrow sections featuring a thin rock dike, but a contour trail went to the right of these narrow sections. Instead of gaining the summit to Olympus we took a trail heading right that lead us to the Olympus trail. We took a break near the summit of Olympus. At this point, I was with Nate and Patrick. We decided to take the 5 minute hike to the summit of Olympus from the Olympus trail, neither Nate nor I had ever seen the view from Olympus, usually it’s socked in with clouds and rain. The view from Olympus was an average view on the KST. We went right on the KST towards Ka’au Crater. Nate wanted to see how steep the trail would descend going down to Ka’au Crater. I just wanted to take a picture of the East rim of the crater. It was nice!
After the summit we went down the mountain at speed walking pace. We went so fast, that we hit Kolowalu in less than 1 hour. We went down Kolowalu and to a picnic bench on the Pu’u Pia trail and completed the hike at the 5 hour mark. There we talked story about various topics.
I’ve done Manoa Middle, although it did not live up to my expectations, it still was a great hike. The experiences were worthwhile. I would do this hike again.
Comments
Post a Comment