Not the most enjoyable grinder on Oahu
Pupukea to Laie – August 25, 2012
I was nervous about this hike, but knew we could complete it.
Recently a few crews have documented a trek from Pupukea to Laie. Chase, Cory, & crew did the hike in May and Kaleo and crew did the hike (to Malaekahana) in June of this year. Chase and crew did some trail markings and light clearing on their trek, making the going much easier for the rest of us.
This will also be 7D member Marvin’s final grinder hike to complete 96% of Ko’olau Summit (Pupukea to Makapuu), a feat well worth noting. After today, Marvin would just need to do the second leg of the Nuuanu Saddle (Notches to K1) and both sections of the Kalihi Saddle to complete the entire Ko’olau Summit.
Preparation for this hike was simple. Expect an overnighter. As the Ko’olau Summit rules go, any hike estimated to be over 8 hours will result in extra preparation. Preparation includes, a space blanket, tarp, bungi cords, flashlight, matches, extra clothes, two-way radio, and extra food/water. Marvin did additional preparations by uploading the gps file for the trek. He also provided me a file to upload in case his gps crapped out.
Joining us today was Lynne and Quyen. Both women can handle their own. Both have a wealth of experience and would greatly benefit the crew today.
We met at Laie soccer field at about 7:15 am and headed towards Pupukea. We started hiking at 8am. Getting to “Black Junction” is always an extraveganza. Why? The name says it all. Last time we did Pupukea was on my birthday and after some alcohol, I felt the buzz kick in at Black Junction. Anyway, back to the story, we made the right at Black Junction at 9:45am, hiked about 35 minutes to Pu’u Hina which is considered the Pupukea Summit.
After the summit, the trail starts to get overgrown with strawberry guava trees. Believe me, they scratch violently. Lynne and Quyen were constantly getting scratched by strawberry guava trees. I wore my long soccer socks again, but didn’t have a long sleeve shirt and I paid for it. After hiking for a while, we hit what we thought was Kahuku junction. It looked like it? From there was more strawberry guava trees and mud. The trail kept on contouring the mountain switching over from windward to leeward. Sometimes, it went down the mountain a little and then disappeared, but reappeared a few yards later. We lost the trail a few times and went astray. However, Marvin and I were very cautious, making critical decisions to backtrack and stay true to our gps tracks.
About 2.5 hours on the KST, we took a long break at a clearing. It was no doubt a grind, but we were handling well. Total hiking time at this point was 5 hours. Another hour of hiking, and we hit the Malaekahana summit labeled by a green sign? We were somewhat confused at the sign which was pointing right. Marvin concluded that we summited Malaekahana before the green sign, which made sense as I’m writing this entry. At the time, it made no sense to me. Added to the problem at the time was that Marvin went down an obvious trail for about 2 minutes. I yelled at Marvin to, “come back” as I knew it was Malaekahana ridge. When Marvin came back, we followed a trail that went leeward. My experience doing Malaekahana to Laie with Nate in 2011 helped out during the section as we methodically made the trek to Laie with very little problem. Although I couldn’t remember too much, I did remember enough to help us get to Laie.
On a side note, doing Malaekahana to Laie isn’t easy. You may lose the trail from time to time. Staying true to your instincts and knowing which ridge is Laie and Malaekahana would help. There are a few short ridges in between the two main ridges that can confuse you, but don’t get disoriented and stay true.
We made it to the Laie summit at the 7.15 hour mark, doing Pupukea in 2.15 hours, crossover in 5 hours. I felt happy for Marvin as he completed his main objective traversing the Ko’olau Summit journey which he started in 2011. As mentioned earlier, he still needs to do the second half of the Nuuanu saddle and Kalihi saddle. I think he wants to do it, before, it was a definite no and he was content doing the Ko’olau Summit without the 3 high end saddles. But since his original plan, Marvin ended up doing the Moanalua Saddle and part of the Nuuanu Saddle, so I think he has confidence.
As we headed down Laie, all of us were so tired. After 1.5 hours, we hit the cook pines. On the way down, I banged my shin against a tree root, the pain was intense, but I calmed myself down fast. It was super sore, though. Another 1+ from the cook pines and we got to the car.
A great hike indeed. It takes experience to do this. Do not try this on your first crossover because if you are not able to handle the trail being overgrown and the distance, there are minimal bailout ridges and you would have to turn back. The only major one is Malaekahana and that is 6 hours into the hike. The trail is also confusing contouring leeward and windward. If you make a wrong turn, it will become disastrous. Remember if you make a wrong turn and follow it for 30 minutes, you are 1 hour behind schedule. This hike already takes 85% of daylight in itself, maybe 70% in the summer, so have overnight gear ready just in case.
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