Olomana Hike
Olomana – August 30, 2011
This hike was long overdue. The first time I heard of this hike was in the year 2000. Michelle did this with her military friends. She said it was the most difficult hike she’d ever done. Michelle was in good hiking condition back then, and I in my early 20s, believed her story. Over the years, I heard many stories of hikers getting into trouble when hiking Olomana. The lore kept on building up and doubt began to weigh on my psyche. There were times when I felt that I couldn’t challenge the mountainous beast.
Olomana isn’t very high. It stands at 1,643 feet. There are three peaks that make up the hike. The first is called Olomana, followed by Paku’i, and finally Ahiki. The first two peaks are considered intermediate hikes, but Ahiki is considered an expert hike because of an exposed ridge, great drops on both sides, and a near vertical climb. In addition some of the best hiker’s on the island end up doing the backside of Ahiki which is extremely difficult and should only be attempted by great hikers.
To add to the lore of Olomana come the Hawaiian Mythological story of the Great Giant. Olomana was one of the greatest warriors on the island of Oahu. He was a giant standing at 36 feet tall. No one, not even Ali’i Chiefs dared to confront Olomana. One day a young warrior named Palila, a confident young soldier decided to confront the giant. He snuck up behind Olomana and jumped on his shoulders. Olomana startled, asked the little warrior to identify himself. Palila not scared said he was a fierce warrior with supernatural powers from the island of Kauai. Olomana grew intimidated of the young warrior and tried to run away. Palila hit the giant cutting him into two pieces. Sounds like a David and Goliath story, every culture seems to have one.
I woke up early on this day, dropped the kids off at school, and headed towards the east side of the island. There was traffic, and it took forever to get onto H3. I had to stay on H3 and onto the Kamehameha hwy. exit. I made a mistake of getting onto the left lane. Going left takes you on Kalanianeole hwy., but I was supposed to get onto Auloa Road, so I had to turn around. I drove on the winding road near its end. To the right is Luana Hills road. You have to park right before going into the golf club.
I ended up walking at the entrance of the Royal Hawaiian Country Club and checked in with the guard. He was nice and explained where the trailhead was. I walked for about 8 minutes until the trailhead sign appeared. I went left and the Olomana trail begins.
The first part of the trail is through a forest. There is a gradual incline, but immediately it starts getting to business. About ½ hour in, the trail ascends greatly. I had to take a few short breaks to catch my breath, but nothing too bad. I was sweating like hell though. I got to cut down on my drinking. The trail gets steep, it becomes scrambling up rocks. I got to the vertical wall. It looks kind of intimidating. Since I’m experienced, it wasn’t too bad. However, if I tackled Olomana last year, it would have appeared more difficult.
I did the vertical rock face with little problem and scrambled up until I hit the summit. Wow! 360 degree panoramic view of the area. While standing straight up; the Ko’olaus appeared to the right of me, Paku’i, Ahiki, and Makapu’u straight ahead, Kailua to the left, and Kaneohe behind. That is your 360 degree view. Amazing! Getting to the summit took me less than an hour. A good hiker should do it within an hour.
I was happy to get to the summit of Olomana. It will go as a memorable hike. But like all conquest, it was short lived. Even though I hiked solo today, I looked straight ahead at Paku’i to see if it was doable. I took one step forward and didn’t look back.
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