Hiking Trails on Oahu

  Anamolo (Olomana Reversed) – March 30, 2013 Last year on my birthday, I hiked the Pupukea trail with Marvin, Ikaika, & my wife. That was such a great birthday hike (cake, alcohol) that I wanted to do it again. I wanted to choose my own hike, but many of the hikers I generally hike with were doing Olomana Reversed a.k.a. Anamolo. Bad part is that my wife couldn’t join because of the danger level, but I guess it was my day. Really, no better way of celebrating a birthday than doing a difficult hike, but I would have to minus the cake and alcohol. I always categorized a difficult hike as a hike that HTMC wouldn’t do because of the danger factor. The club does Olomana to peak 3, but they don’t do the backside (Ahiki). Last year, I went down the backside of Ahiki which I thought was difficult, but I was still relatively new to hiking and really didn’t understand the magnitude of what I was doing. Added to that, I had passion for doing the dangerous stuff. A year later, I’ve been f...

  Wailele Falls – March 24, 2013 Marvin and I planned a hike today. We wanted to do Hobbs-Ka’ala, but with rain, we decided to do Koloa Gulch. Then I drove, it started pouring really bad, so we decided to do Wailele Falls. Neither Marvin nor I have done Wailele Falls. I knew we needed a Hawaii Reserves Permit. I have mine, but it expired in 2011. Since Marvin and I weren’t prepared for this hike because it was a last minute adjustment, I looked on my iPhone for directions. On Everytrail, there was a map so Marvin and I looked at the map and figured it out. We parked near the Polynesian Culture Center and took a road that led to some farmland. The place was a no doubt farming area, in a minute I expected some dogs to come out running at us. But no dogs came after us, it was too wet today. We neared a house, Marvin and I tried to find a side trail though the forest, we did, but the side trail led to the house, some inconspicuous hikers we are. The dirt road led into the forest. ...

Waikiki Trail – March 23, 2013   This was all meant to be a humorous act. I joked to my hiking friends that I would hike the Waikiki trail. I told them, I would prepare for it like any other hike. I got some chuckles. As I planned my route, I was surprised to see that there was in fact an actual trail. The route is labeled by 21 markers (23 I would come to find out). This gave me a sense of purpose for hiking it. In addition, I love to play tourist in my hometown. I believe that not only does it create a fun escape for oneself, but provides a deeper understanding of what visiting this island is all about, which in turn creates more of an internal appreciation for what we have here on Oahu. I did a three day adventure in Waikiki. Joining me on the first day was my wife (more of a lunch date), day two was the family (the bulk of the makers), day three was hiking partner Marvin (just to finish up the trail).   I digress, The Historic Waikiki Trail as it’s called was created by Ha...

Waikane-Pauao – March 19, 2013 According to Dave, this hike reveals the best section on the Ko’olau Summit Trail (KST). The views are one of the best on the island. After today, I totally agree. The plan today was to go up the Waikane trail, make the right crossover on the KST towards Schofield-Waikane, continue further until Pauao, then drop down Pauao into Kahana Valley to our cars. We had a 7a start time. Joining the hike today was Erik, Daniel, and Dave. Dave author’s the blog Not So Great Hiking . He no longer adds anymore post, but the information on his site is gold. We entered the Waikane trail and had dogs chasing after us. We kept our cool. The dogs did not maul us. I’m always amazed that dogs of private owners have so much self-control. I’ve been chased by many dogs all over the island and no matter how loud the bark is or how aggressive they appear to be, they don’t maul. Not that I want to be mauled or anything.  The hike up Waikane Valley is really nice, if you don’t ...

Waiawa Trail (Ahren’s Ditch) – March 19, 2013 Well, I think we did it, somewhat. If you look on the web for information, there are only a few articles. Going on that small piece of info, Erik decided to join me on finding the Old Ahren’s Ditch A.K.A. Waiawa Ditch Trail. This hike will turn hikers off for many reasons 1) you have to go in and out of 2 valleys and back 2) little reward 3) no clear directions on the web (only the McMahon news article in 2001 & a few Dayle Turner post). The plan today was to start on Manana, drop off into the valley up to Iliahi ridge, and drop off into the valley again up to the Waiawa trail. Then we would go either left or right creating a loop while finding the Old Ahren’s Ditch, and then go back the way we came. Mileage – a lot. There is also an alternative route that starts by the Mililani Memorial Cemetery, but that would have to wait for another day. Erik and I met at the Manana trailhead and started at 8:30am. We veered off the Manana trail...

Waiahole Uka-Manana – March 16, 2013 Last time I was here, two words described the hike: unfinished & lost. The unfinished part was because the crew crossed over and went all the way to Manana, while I did an in and out. The lost part was that we were lost for 3 hours trying to find damn Waiahole Uka ridge. In addition, the crew was socked in all the way to Manana creating disorientation. That was a while back. A few weeks ago, I received a msg from Ted inviting me to Waiahole Uka-Manana again. I jumped at the opportunity. However, the list of hikers that will be attending was very intimidating. The list was Ted, Ly Zel, Steve, Robin, Heather, Laredo, & Marvin. Not only can these people hike fast, they can sustain the pace for a long period of time, which got me worried. I didn’t want to hold up the group. I knew I could do this hike, but question is, would my body hold up at a blistering pace throughout? The plan today was to start off on Kuolani-Waianu counter loop, then find...