Hiking Trails on Oahu

  Mo'ole Waterfalls - June 30, 2014 Initially, the plan was Lulumahu to Olympus, but with bad weather that was out. We had to figure out a plan b. Since we all have good knowledge of the area, waterfall options were at the top of the list. The two main options when your in Manoa or Nuuanu is the Manoa Waterfall Tour or Nuuanu Waterfall Tour/or Mo'ole Waterfalls.  This hike would be all OAG's, first time in a while we got 70% out on a hike. I remember when I was in 7D, if 50% of the crew was there, it would be considered a 7D hike.  But first things first. At the Pu'u Pia trailhead near the cemetery were only me, Bernice, Darren, Aprille, & Erik. We texted Allison and Daniel to see if they were willing to hike. Allison was down to hike and it was Daniel's birthday, so with an enticing hike, he would be in. DJ and Janice had commitments, so they couldn't join. Allison and Daniel would meet us at the Lulumahu trailhead at 10:30am to do Mo'ole.  After the pl...

Kahuwai'iki - June 29, 2014 Initially I thought I found all the waterfalls in Manoa in 2011. I was content and thought all my hard work paid off. With limited information on the web, solo hiking, and unbelievable passion, I spent dozens of hours in Manoa Valley looking for those waterfalls on my own. Then in 2012, hiking friends Baron & Marvin mentioned to me another waterfall called Kahuwai'iki, which spills from a stream that converges with Wahi stream in Manoa Valley. My first reaction was denial since I spent so much hard work trying to find the Manoa waterfalls on my own. This denial went on for at least 2 years. I was like ahhh, I found all the waterfalls in Manoa, so I'm done. But when hiking groups do the Manoa waterfall tour, they go to Kahuwai'iki which reopened my quest to at least make an appearance to this waterfall.  Being that today's Lulumahu to Olympus hike was canceled because of weather and it was 6:15am, we had some time to figure out what pl...

  Haleakala National Park Haleakala is known as one of those "epic" hiking treks in the state of Hawaii. It is said to be an awesome backpacking experience by many hikers in the Oahu hiking community. To plan a trip to Haleakala takes extensive research and planning.  In Hawaiian Mythology, Haleakala is the place where demi-god Maui resided. Maui was considered a prankster and loved to play jokes on others. One day he had a complaint from his mother,  goddess  Hina who said that her kapa didn't dry because the sun moved too fast across the sky. To solve this problem Maui ran up to the summit of Haleakala, lassoed the sun and moved it around the horizon slowly, so Hina's kapa would dry. It is said that Haleakala gets at least 15 minutes more sunlight in the summer than any other place in the state of Hawaii.  I digress, Ed usually goes to Haleakala once a year and asked me if I wanted to go this year. Ed claimed that this would be his 20th time. For me I jum...

Higgins Ridge Clearing Part 1 - June 25, 2014 This is Erik and I's third time scouting Waikakalaua. More practicing on google earth yielded me with enough tools to actually see the ridge close up. That, and my new droid phone with backcountry navigator app. on it results in some good navigation tools I can use for exploration.  Erik and I have this unbelievable desire to explore the Schofield East Range, a.k.a. Waikakalaua or South Kaukonahua Stream. Last time in May 2013, we found the Waikakalaua Tunnels mentioned in Stuart Ball's first edition of Hiking on Oahu. Unfortunately, those tunnels are boarded up, we did however intersect with a ridge. Building upon our efforts, we decided to check out the ridge today. Dayle Turner has the only write up of this ridge, he calls it Waikakalaua Ridge, I decided to rename the ridge Higgins Ridge, named after the road that leads to the trailhead. With so many hikes starting with wai, another hike that starts with wai would confuse people ...

Laie-Papali - June 18, 2014 Initially this was suppose to be Laie to Kawailoa. The goal was to hike the Kawailoa trail to the spot where Erik and I turned around in April 2014. By doing this, we could connect the blue lines on our gpx file. However since Erik had the whole day off and I'm in summer mode, we decided to tackle Laie-Papali. If I remembered correctly, I did this route with DGC and hiking crew and it took us 16 hours to complete, albeit we did get lost multiple times. Erik asked me during the week if we could do it faster. I hesitated, but threw out a number of 12 hours. What made this more crazy was that we started late 8am and we were going to go down Kawailoa to the spot.  To do this hike within 12 hours, I told Erik we have to be efficient which means minimal breaks and quickly problem solve the difficult twist and turns of the KST. We staged a car at Daniel's house. He has always been helpful when we plan these hikes and should very well be appreciated for his ...

  Waikiki Trail - June 17, 2014 Last time I did the Old Historic Waikiki Trail, it took a few days and a lot of trial and error. This time I knew exactly where all 23 markers were located. My goal this time was to complete the trail in 1 1/2 hours + take pictures and take breaks. To find all the markers is quite a distance about 7.5 miles or so. I also wanted to input all the markers on my backcountry app.  After dropping the kids off at summer fun, I drove to Waikiki, parked at the Diamond Head side of Kapiolani Park. Parking is free on this side of the park which is important because with metered parking, time will run out and you'll be at risk of a parking ticket. I started walking at about 9:30am. Before starting the first marker, I took some pictures of the Natatorium, San Souci beach, and the Kapahulu Groin. This set me back 10 minutes as I chose to walk on the Kapahulu Groin eventually meeting up at marker 1,2,4,5, & 6.  [all pictures shot with Rokinon 14mm] Ma...