Aiea Ridge to the Summit

Aiea to KST - March 3, 2018

I wanted to do this hike because of the plethora of native plants. But I think everyone had their own agenda. Erik, Daniel, and Bernice wanted to get to Red Hill. Daniel wanted to get in shape. Michelle came because...I'm not sure. 

The plan was to start on the Aiea Loop Trail and crossover to Red Hill. I thought the hike would take about 12-15 hours because of the distance. 

A cloudy day was in the forecast, but earlier in the week the forecast called for rain so we rolled the dice. 

Tomi, Bernice's husband met us at Moanalua Valley Park and drove us to the Aiea Trail Head. Yup the gate was open, we saved 15 minutes walking up the hill. 

Most of us had a big pack and a heavy load, it was slowing us down. The hike on Aiea Loop was short, about 45 minutes. Aiea ridge beckoned and the beginning parts of H3 could be seen from the ridge trail. The Hirano tunnel was still far far away. 

The good part of Aiea ridge was the native plants. There were so many that we could improve our plant identification development. We were on Aiea ridge for a while. It was socked in bad. In about 4 hours we hit the helipad and I knew we were falling behind schedule. But if everyone didn't mind hiking in the dark, it would be okay. 

Yellow Lehua Ohia

Manono

We hit the last false peak and summited Aiea in about 5 hours. It was socked in. As we past the powerlines, we saw a gulch with so many native plants. We wanted to find the ohe naupaka today, a rare naupaka on Oahu. But Darren and Bernice couldn't remember the junction to go down. 

Just then, the rain came in full force at this time on the KST. From the powerlines, it was traveling on the KST in tough conditions. It mentally breaks a person down. Michelle and Daniel were feeling the mana of the mountain. It can zap a persons will. Bernice was having a grand ole time, like she was having the time of her life. I think she was. 

Just then, I heard Bernice's voice. "I found it!, Get over here". I went back. There it was the ohe naupaka. I slid on the side of the mountain to get a money shot. We would later find out that it was Kamakahala, still a rare plant, only 200 left in the wild. The pictures I got was money. 

Kamakahala

About another hour on the KST, Michelle was dying already and struggling. Daniel too, he couldn't see because his glasses were fogged up. Erik found a load of gaudichaudii at least 2 dozen. It was really cool. The wind was blasting and it was raining hard. We took a break at a windbreak spot and assessed the situation. I could see Michelle and Daniel's spirits were down and not so good. The KST was trying to claim victims. Erik asked how far we were from the stjohnii enclosure. I told him we should have been there an hour ago, so getting to Red Hill will be late in the evening. 

Lobelia Gaudichaudii, couple more years

going up on the KST

We decided to turn back. Going back was tough for Michelle. She struggled. After we got to Aiea summit, I thought things would get better, it didn't and she fell ill. I thought for sure we were going to call rescue. But that didn't happen as I guided her the best I could on the trail. It got windier the more we went down Aiea ridge. The rain fell even harder. It was a tough hike. Michelle broke down and the mountain claimed a victim. But she got it together and got out. I told her to respect the mountain because it doesn't who you are. 

After cleaning up we walked down the hill to greet Aprille who finished work. Our initial post hike meal was at The Alley, but we were starving and the wait would be 1 1/2 hours. Instead, we went to Zippys. I was sleepy as hell. I had a hard time driving home. 

The next morning Michelle was in pain. I told her how is she going to handle the marathon, LOL. I was sore, but not too bad.