A Backpacking Experience: Laie to Schofield

 

Laie-Schofield Video

Laie-Schofield - May 23-24, 2015

This was a planned overnighter, not one of my unplanned overnighters. One personal goal of mine in recent years was to complete the entire portion of the Koolau Summit Ridge sections from Pupukea to Makapuu, not including the 3 insane saddles - Moanalua, Nuuanu, Kalihi. I've completed the 40 mile section except the parts from Poamoho to Papali and Poamoho Cabin to Pauao. Over the last two years, every time I've planned to do those sections, something cancelled it. This time the commitment was real. Joining me on this adventure trek was an all OAG crew - Erik, Aprille, & Allison. This would also be a good opportunity for Erik, Aprille, & Allison to finish up their sections of the Koolau Ridge from Pupukea to Schofield-Waikane. 

Our agenda for day 1 was start at 7am ~ Laie 3.5 hours -> Kawailoa 0.5 hours -> Koloa Cabin 1.5 hours -> Castle 2 hours -> Opaeula Cabin 1.5 hours, ending at 4pm. Day 2 agenda would be to start at 8am ~ Opaeula to KST 0.5 hours -> Poamoho 3 hours -> Pauao 1 hour -> Schofield-Waikane 1.5 hours -> Schofield-Waiakne 4 hours ending at 6pm. 

Up front, I started a fb thread on the OAG page and told everyone that this plan was very ambitious considering the heavy packs and the vast amount of distance we had to cover in 2 days. I knew everyone was going to be mentally and physically tested. Other than my personal goal, the reason why I thought this trek would be good for the OAG's joining is because this would be the same crew that would go to Kalalau during this summer. In addition, some of the difficult terrain would be similar to Kalalau especially that crazy uphill going back to Ke'e on Day 3. Going out Schofield-Waikane would be a good exit route because the miserable feeling going out Schofield-Waikane would most likely be the same feeling on Day 3 of Kalalau going back to Ke'e. 

I wanted to replicate the 40lbs packs we would be experiencing on Kalalau. I packed anything that would be beneficial. My bulky items were my tent, butane stove, pot & pan, water, and food. Total weight of my pack was approximately 43 pounds. I also froze eggs wanted to cook that on the morning of Day 2, however the egg thing I would soon find out would be a huge mistake. 

We were suppose to start at 7am, but decided to start an hour early. We met at Erik's house at 5am and I drove us to Laie. I was preoccupied on where to leave my car. Most times, we just park at Laie field, however that field closes at 10pm and I would assume they would tow my car. So I decided to drop everyone off at the trailhead and park my car by the Hukilau Cafe. 

It was a 5 minute walk from the Hukilau Cafe to meet up with everyone. As soon as I put on my pack, I was like "holy shit, this thing is heavy". I should have wore it before hand to see if I could drop weight. One good thing was during the past 2 weeks, I've been doing a lot of upper body to prepare for something like this, so I wasn't too worried about the weight. 

For me, Laie was uneventful. I think I've done this trail over 10x already. We got up to the summit in about 3 hours, which was pretty impressive. We took a break at the foxhole before heading towards Kawailoa. It took us about 30 minutes to get to Kawailoa where we wanted to see the money view. Erik & I saw this view last year, it does not disappoint. The view is panoramic, its vast, and so open that you feel that your in the center of the world. 

Kawailoa Helipad

After Kawailoa, we continued on towards the Koloa Cabin. It only took us a little over an hour in the nasty mud. We entered the cabin and wrote in Allison's book. We ate a small lunch before continuing towards Papali. This section was surprisingly long, it took us three hours. The mud was relentless. The trail is overgrown on the leeward side which was the primary reason why our progressed slowed. You could tell we were tired as we sat down exhausted at Castle Summit. 

Koloa Cabin, Allison taking a break

Break at Castle Summit

From Castle Summit we weren't sure how long it would take for us to get to Opaeula Cabin. The mud now was getting deep. I think we all were a bit tired, but we've come a long way and I knew we would get there. We finally arrived at the Opaeula Cabin after 5pm. Weird how the adrenaline decreases and my core temperature dropped. I was shivering like crazy. I had a hard time changing into my spare clothes. The cabin wasn't spacious, but could fit about 10 people in bunks and there was also a nice table in the middle. Gear, most likely from the workers, covered most of the bottom bunks.There was a porch with a counter and a sink outside the cabin, but the sink didn't have any running water. After changing clothes, I tried to stay warm by bundling up in my space blanket. After a while, I went to go retrieve my eggs to cook, but realized right away that something in my bag punctured the ziploc and spilled all the contents throughout my bag. Yuck!!! It was actually pretty disgusting. Everything in my bag was slimy with egg. I immediately took everything out and tried to air dry it. After we all got settled, we cooked dinner. Since we had no eggs, we cooked Erik's MRE - Chili Mac, Aprille's spam, and Allison's quesadillas. It was a great dinner, one that we should do again on Kalalau.

Opaeula Cabin

Aprille was in awe of the Opeaula Cabin and its view. It offered a great sunset of Kaena Point. I think Erik was the only one who experienced this cabin, all of us were newbies. I was freakin' cold and bundled up in my space blanket. It was a little after 7pm, Allison was fast asleep. I went to sleep soon thereafter. I think Erik and Aprille stayed up for a while.

Sunset at Opaeula Cabin

I slept for a while before waking up at 12am. I tossed and turned a little, but was so tired that I couldn't remember too much during the rest of the night. I do remember my space blanket having condensation inside. That was not good, don't know why my blanket was sweating inside. I woke up a little after 5am, the usual time I wake up on a normal day. I checked my space blanket on the outside and it was completely dry, but the inside was wet. I was still freezing cold, but had a good night sleep inside the cabin. 

Erik and Aprille were already up. Aprille was taking pictures. I was still freakin' shivering, but got over it. We started breakfast. Aprille had saimen, rice, and spam, I had my can of spam.  Erik was teaching us how to use his pocket rocket, it's probably the best way to pack light, yet create a hot meal. We ate well again. I was full. A nasty cold front was arriving and started showering rain on the mountains. We had an 8am start time and tried to wait it out, but no use, we were going to get wet anyway, so we got packed and started hiking. Allison and I dreaded the put back on cold-and-muddy pants on again, but we had to do it. It actually wasn't too bad. I remember the last time I did this was at the Sugi Pines at Waiahole, Marvin went ahead while I changed. It was a miserable feeling.  

Breakfast of Champions

We started at 8:15am and got to the KST at 8:35am. I felt super strong today. Could have been the great breakfast, could have been the sleep, or it could have been all the crap I left in the trash bag at the Opaeula Cabin. Whatever it was, it worked. The goal today was to get to Poamoho in 2 hours, another 2 hours to Schofield-Waikane, and bailing out Schofield-Waikane in 4 hours. 

The hike to Poamoho took longer than expected. I think it took us 3 hours or so, probably because of the rain and mud. Only Erik has been on this section before. He told us we would encounter a fence and to be ready to deal with a lot of mud. There were no views for about 2 hours. We got to the Peahinaia Summit marked by a boot and a KST sign. Peahinaia is the holy grail of Oahu Hiking. One day I'm going to clear that bitch. For now nobody has hiked that trail in decades and it remains in disuse. Land issues prevent hikers from even accessing the trailhead. Fellow hiker Patrick Rorie messaged me that you can actually bushwhack down for a mile before it gets ridiculously difficult to progress down the mountain. He also mentioned of a nice looking waterfall at the bottom of a spur ridge.

Peahinaia Summit

As we neared Poamoho, it started to open up. Coincidentally, the rain started to subside and the sun came out. I always rated Eleao as the best view on the island and the section between Waikane and Poamoho as the third best view on the island, but this view between Papali and Poamoho, more closer to the Poamoho part rivals any view on the KST. It was just money, $$$. Sick!!!! I have to reevaluate my list shortly because of this. We were treated to some of the best out there. I remember telling Aprille that only a few people get to see this, so appreciate it. I couldn't remember how many times I've hiked 5 hours to a summit, only to see nothing and hike 5 hours back. Actually times like those make you appreciate what we got to see on this day.

As we got to Poamoho, we were still treated with the same great views. Every hiker knows that Poamoho is one of the best hikes on the island. I recommend any hiker to do Poamoho at least once. I've been fortunate enough to go there many times already. We took a long break at Poamoho which I call the "great seat" because it blocks that strong wind funneling through the Poamoho Meadow and is very comfortable...oh and there is also a view...one more thing Erik pointed out some koli'i nearby.   

Almost to Poamoho

Leaving Cline Memorial at Poamoho

Poamoho Cabin

We continued onto the Poamoho Cabin. Since they are building a fence, the trail to Poamoho Cabin was wide open. What use to take 20 minutes only takes 10 minutes. You could actually trail run it, its that wide open. The Poamoho Cabin was lock, they've been locking it, probably because of heavy traffic and vandalism. The stay there was short-lived however, as our objective was getting to Schofield-Waikane in reasonable time. It was a little after 12pm when we left the Poamoho Cabin. 

The trek on the KST towards Pauao was money. I loved every minute of it. I haven't done this section before, so experiencing it was great. It was also cleared. Walking on the contour of the KST, and experiencing being on the side of the mountain was just spectacular. We got to Pauao in over an hour and headed towards Schofield-Waikane. We predicted 1 1/2 hours, but it would longer than that. The views kept on giving. We eventually got to 

the washed out section. Somebody built some footholds on the washed out section, making it way easier to get across. Aprille thought it was sketchy. Allison didn't like what she was seeing. Erik and I were happy because we encountered this section with zero holds the last time we did it. I remember punching my hands and shoes into the dirt to get holds, all the way I see Erik 5 feet below me sliding down the mountain kicking his foot into the dirt to get a hold. Imagine that!!! What makes it sketchy is a 200 hundred foot drop below the eroded area. This time, Erik and I followed the path of least resistance.

It took us a total of 3 hours to get to Schofield-Waikane from the Poamoho Cabin. I do admit this section was way clearer than the last time we did Pauao-Waikane. Schofield-Waikane isn't the greatest trail in the world. It is poorly built with its ups and downs and unevenness of the trail near the top. Funny how Schofield-Waikane is the worst built trail by the CCC, but Kipapa which is a few ridges over is one of the best trails that the CCC built. 

Awesome part of the KST

I led. After the first mile, it appeared that Aprille and Allison had enough Schofield-Waikane. I tried to cheer everyone up during breaks, but that wasn't going to work. They were over it and we still had 5 miles left. I was like holy shit, this is going to be tough. As with all hikes, I reflected on how great this two day experience was while walking down Schofield-Waikane. I hope everyone in the group enjoyed this backpacking adventure. I think for me it was a great learning experience. I learned a lot about backpacking, preparation, rest, and nutrition in what is my second planned overnighter on the KST. I also had two other unplanned overnighters, not to mention the countless number of times I came out in the dark.    

Schofied-Waikane

We exited at the Wahiawa trailhead in the dark. The judge Darren Ito picked us up. Joining him was The Red Baron. They took us to Erik's house where we tried to wash off the best we could. Allison decided to go home to eat pizza, while the rest of us went to Teddy's Burgers. I thought I would be shivering because I was still cold, but inside the restaurant was very warm. We chatted for about an hour and ate some burgers.  

Erik was suppose to take me back to Laie. But I had a bad feeling that I left my keys at the Opaeula Cabin. After about 5 minutes of checking, I asked Erik if we could go to this house so I can empty my bag. When we got to Erik's house, I dumped all the material out of my bag and onto the floor. No keys. Fuck!!! I thought to myself, I left it at the cabin. Those damn scrambled eggs!!! I could cry about it, but it was no sense. Added to the fire, was that was my only key to the car. I told Erik to take me home so I can figure it out with Michelle. As I got home, I told Michelle that I left my key in the cabin. She was like WTF!!! After about 10 seconds of processing time, I told her well, "we have to do something". My famous words, I'm known for in the family. Lol, I think I put Michelle through all kinds of shit. That is why we are still married. If she can deal with all the shit over the years, then the marriage will last. Also, I deal with her shit too!!! Michelle came up with a plan to use our 24 hour roadside assistance by Geico, the next available lock and key service was at 9:00am the next morning, go figure. That was good because we could get some sleep. 

The next morning we drove down to Laie and low and behold nobody was by the Hukilau Cafe. Hmmmm, we looked at the sign and it was closed. The lock and key guy came. His costumer service skills were sub par, but that didn't matter because he was going to make another key for my car. We waited for a long time. I was so hungry. After about 45 minutes, he made a key for my car and we were off. Geico paid $100 of the $200 bill which was great. Breakfast was at Tita's Grill. Customer service at Tita's Grill was sup par too, seems like when Daniel is with us, there is a total change in attitude. The food was excellent as always. 

Moving forward, I think I'm ready to tackle Pupukea-Kipapa in a three day venture sometime soon, like this year soon. If that goes well, I'm setting my sights on the Silver Trail - Pupukea-Moanalua Saddle.