The Stairway to Heaven Hike, Oahu

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 Stairway to Heaven - May 29, 2017



Michelle wanted to do the Stairway to Heaven for a while now. She wanted to go from the bottom, but with a possible $1,000 fine I decided that it wouldn't be the best place to start. Darren wanted to take his friends up the stairs. Even though Darren and I did the Hibiscus Half Marathon the previous day, good weather was in the forecast. With good weather looming ahead, it was a go. 

I picked up Darren at his house about 5:30 am. I drove down to Moanalua Valley park to meet up with everyone. Jana was coming from work so Darren had to wait about 1 1/2 hours for her. Joining us were Bernice and Darren's friends Brent and Aaron. They are athletes, so they wouldn't have any problems.

We started hiking a little after 6 am. Clear skies were in the distance. The road walk felt short, but it took us 1 hour and 15 minutes. From there we hit the middle ridge right away. Going up was all cardio. I was surprise how much cardio needed. We went up at least 5 steep inclines some had rope. I don't remember having too much trouble, but my legs were very tight from the run yesterday. 

Moanalua Middle Ridge

We topped out at 3.5 hours and enjoyed the moment. The top wasn't too busy, maybe about 5 people. We decided to go down before it got busy. There were a few groups, but it wasn't too busy. I tried to take a lot of pictures because I felt that this would be the only time Michelle would get a chance to visit the stairs. It got socked in a bit at the top, but cleared up as time passed on. We waited for Jana and Darren who would meet up with us about 1 hour later. No doubt our group soaked in the moment.

Going down the stairs

going back up the stairs

 
We took a super long break and that was a bad thing because I was tired already. Going back would be tough. I thought it would be faster to go down the middle ridge albeit it was all down hill. But Michelle doesn't go fast downhill and it took a while.  

We finished the trail at about 3:30 pm. It took us about 9 hours. I was sun burnt and wasted already. Post hike meal was at 99 Ranch. Teddy's Bigger Burgers had a food court store there. The burger was excellent, but they didn't give me too much french fries so that was crappy because I love my french fries. 

Michelle just did Stairway to Heaven, something great for her. 

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