Hiking Trails on Oahu

Waiau to Manana – May 26, 2012 This hike has been in the planning stages for about a month now, ever since Marvin and I's overnight stay on the Waimalu summit. For this hike, Marvin and I invited the entire 7D group and other hikers. Making the hike was Ted, Steve, Ikaika, Marvin, & I. We were only missing Aida and Christian from 7D. What was great was that the entire crew for today's hike was entirely made up of 7D members. I knew we would have a great time and we did. Marvin initially wanted to do Waimano to Manana, which is a classic route experienced hiker’s take. However, I proposed Waiau to Manana for 3 reasons. 1) Last time, we weren’t sure where the Waiau summit was, and it would be a good idea to find it. 2) The HTMC just cleared the trail a few weeks back which makes finding the trail and summiting easier. 3) Waiau hasn’t been cleared to the top ever, well until a few members of the HTMC clearing crew did it a few weeks back. Historically, Waiau had been unfinishe...

  True Lanipo – May 25, 2012 Last time I was here, I didn’t summit true Lanipo. This left a bitter taste in my mouth. With the first day of the vacation upon all teachers, it was time for me to take care of business. Not only was I going to do True Lanipo, I was going to explore and try to find the Waialae Nui trail as this trail is part of my hiking checklist. The trail is called Lanipo, however the True Lanipo summit is about 25 minutes away from the initial summit which is Kainawa’aunui. Most hikers are content with Kainawa’aunui, but if you want to reach Lanipo, you would have to travel further. After researching Dayle Turner’s  blog on the Oahu Hiking Enthusiast (OHE) website, I was able to figure out where the terminus point of the Waialae Nui trail was. Here are the clues. It is 5 minutes to the east of True Lanipo, but before the power lines. Using these points of reference gave me a clear picture of what I needed to observe to find the Waialae Nui terminus. My plan wa...

Kaunala – May 13, 2012 Today was Mother’s Day, so it would seem I would celebrate the day with my mom and wife. One problem, both were working all day. I can’t just stay home right? Off it was to hike with the Hawaiian Trail & Mountain Club (HTMC) to do the Waimea Valley hike. The kids woke up late, by the time we got to Waimea; the club was off to do the valley hike. Instead of going home, I changed the plan to do the Kaunala trail. I’ve wanted to do Kaunala since we did Pupukea back in March. I guess today was the day to do it. From Waimea, we drove up the road and made a right on Pupukea road to the top. I parked in a grassy area, and we walked up the road, past the Boy Scout Camp, over a locked gate, and to the Kaunala Junction. We made the left. Immediately we hit a fork. Going straight was to what I think was the Ehukai trail. I have to do more research, but it looks like it. The Ehukai trail follows a ridge all the way down to Sunset Elementary and Ehukai Beach (a.k.a. Banza...

Castle – May 6, 2012 According to Stuart Ball, Castle is “considered the finest hike on the island”. Today on an outing with the Hawaiian Trail and Mountain Club (HTMC), I get to experience the hype that is Castle. To my knowledge, Castle was built by the James Castle team. James Castle was a sugarcane mogul that controlled plantation operations on the Windward side of Oahu. He is also the brother of William Castle - the first president of the HTMC. The Castle trail starts in the back of the valley in the Punalu’u area. Now a days the land is owned by Bishop Estate. Bishop Estate only lets the HTMC do the hike and frowns upon other people who ask permission or trespass on the property. In the briefing, Grant said Bishop Estate request that no one post pictures online. In an age where everyone does so, you could feel the disappointment in the air, but Bishop Estate does not want to hikers in the community to try sneak onto Castle because it is on private property. I entered the gate...

  Diamond Head Rim – May 5, 2012 With the new creation of a route up Diamond Head, the hiking community has been going in droids around the rim of the crater. With Ikaika and Marvin circumnavigating the crater last week, it was now our turn. Marvin was suppose to lead us on this hike, but he came down with a cold, so it was all us DH newbies attempting to go around the rim. Waikiki Sunset We met at Kapiolani Park at around 6p. The crew today was Aida, Steve, Stephen, Kim (his wife) and I. Three of us are in 7D. We parked in a lot near the small park adjacent to Kapiolani Park and on foot went up a street to a board of water supply station. There was barbed wire fence, but we took a route near a house. To do that, we climbed on a concrete wall where the gate was opened and bushwhacked until we found an obvious trail. graffiti'd stone Looks intimidating The ridge up the mountain looked intimidating. It looked undoable from our vantage point. We followed the ridge and got to the ...

  Ma’akua Gulch – May 4, 2012 After the Sacred falls incident in 1999, the state took a look at all their trails and discovered that Ma’akua Gulch posed the same hazards as Sacred Falls. The state indefinitely closed Ma’akua Gulch soon thereafter. Ma’akua Gulch has been closed ever since, sort of. Ma’akua Gulch is located in the town of Hau’ula. In fact, if you drive on Kamehameha Hwy and see the Hau’ula sign, make a left and take the Homestead road to its terminus and you’ll be there near the trailhead. Joining me was Marvin. Our original plan was to do Waiahole Uka. But when I met Marvin at the trailhead, it was pouring which immediately changed are plans, so we decided to do Ma’akua Gulch. Furthermore, it is not a good idea to do a gulch hike in the rain, but we took the risk. There was no flash flood in effect, yet. I drove us to the Hau’ula-Papali trailhead on Hau’ula Homestead Road and the rains decided to stop. We got out of the car and took the paved road passing the Hau’ul...

Koko Crater Rim – May 3, 2012 I knew there was another way to the summit of Koko Crater. A while back, I learned of a ridge going up the makai side of the crater. This ridge is also called the Koko Crater Arch because of a massive volcanic rock formation near the middle of the ridge with such a huge puka, you can fit 20 people in the massive hole. Today Ikaika and I were going to the arch and go around the entire rim after work. We estimated that the hike would only take 3 hours. I brought my headlamp just in case. Also, joining us were Marvin and Ahnate. We met at Marvin’s house and Ikaika carpooled us to the blowhole. From the road, you can see the ridge going straight up the mountain, it doesn’t look too bad. We started hiking at 4:30 pm. The hike up the mountain was steep; distracting the cardio buster is the arch. The natural arch is much larger than the pictures I’ve seen on the internet.  I would recommend anyone who wants to do it, to do it. arch We hit the summit in 20 min...