Hiking Trails on Oahu

Heleakala to Palikea – February 26, 2012 This hike was not only an adventure, but felt like a journey. There are some hiking routes on Oahu that take all day and Heleakala to Palikea is one of those hikes. My goal for this hike was to start in Nanakuli and hike to my house in Kapolei. That didn’t happen today; nevertheless, we achieved a different goal – a great experience that no one can take away. This hike is categorized in the super hike category not because of its length. I think being mentally prepared to do a long hike in one day has to be thought about before doing this hike. Marvin and I invited anyone and everyone we knew, however anybody and everybody had something going on. It was just Marvin and I. Since Marvin doesn’t have a car, we had to problem solve the staging of the cars. Since the end of the hike is in Makakilo, I figured my wife could pick us up at the hikes end which meant that I would drive to the trailhead. Last time I did Heleakala was with the HTMC in the fal...

Piliwale – February 17, 2012 This hike had it all – a dangerous ridge, summit crossing, trail connecting, all ending in a waterfall. It all starts with Silver Piliwale. He was a long time hiker for the Hawaiian Trail and Mountain Club (HTMC). If you recall, the goal of the HTMC is to find and maintain old Hawaiian trails. In ancient times, message runners called kukini delivered messages to Ali’i chiefs of ruling valleys. Any important message needed to be delivered as quickly as possible so communication would be at a premium. The kukini would have to find a quick route over the mountains to neighboring valleys. The best kukini would keep their routes a secret for life and only pass it on to their children. I digress; Silver Piliwale was a fearless hiker who would re-discover these routes created by the kukini. Silver Piliwale also pioneered many other routes. One route Silver Piliwale pioneered was a ridge on the windward side that goes straight up to Konahuanui (The Ko’olau’s larges...

  Kawai’iki – February 12, 2012 Seventy-Six hikers came out today to do a hike that is very difficult to access. Kawai’iki is a trail located deep inland and on land owned by the B ishop Estate. To get to the trailhead, you have to drive on dirt roads through 3 gates, then on a military access road to the trailhead. The reward is a 5 mile roundtrip hike through the heart of the Ko’olaus. My day started off at 7 am. The big problem was that the hike started at 9 am. I got impatient waiting around at my house, so I started driving to the North Shore. At 7:30 am, I was there. Not wanting to wait, I drove to the Banzai Pipeline. The waves were firing; there were at least 50 people in the lineup. I’ve always dreamt of watching waves break at pipeline. The waves were at least 10 feet high, if not bigger. I observed for a while, watching surfers barrelling stellar waves. After sometime, I went back to my car and drove to Haleiwa Beach Park. At the park was an overload of cars . Getting ou...