Pali Notches Hike
Pali Notches - December 5, 2011
After Pali Puka, it would be a good idea to do Pali Notches. Pali Notches is way more difficult than Pali Puka. And by that I mean there was no doubt what category I would put it in. It is definitely an expert hike. The Pali Puka trailhead is located to the left by the buses parking lot. The Pali Notches trailhead is located right near the lookout. Right before the lookout, look up to the right and you’ll see the trail. This trail is longer and steeper than the puka trail. The gain in elevation is substantial. If you are a novice or intermediate hiker and gain this much elevation with this much exposure, you will begin to have doubts in your head and panic may enter your body.
Nate led the way. The initial section is steep which was fine for me. The problem was the foot and hand holds. Don’t get me wrong, there were roots and tree trunks. But that was all. It was upward scrambling. I had some difficulty as I always do with either slippery mud or brittle rock. My legs were having difficulties, but I would hold onto a root or tree trunk to gain leverage. After this section, the trail became super exposed and steep.
There were a lot of hand and footholds, and we were gaining elevation rapidly. Nate was unsure about the rapid elevation we were gaining. I told him that the key is to focus and stay methodical. When gaining elevation rapidly and doing an expert hike, your mind set has to change. You change from a casual hiker to a serious one. Focus is of the utmost importance because if you fall, then you are in trouble. The margin for error is slim.
In about 30 minutes we got to the first notch. I say it was about 15-20 feet high. I read that the first notch was easy to get down. That visual stayed in my mind. However, getting down the first notch was a little difficult for me. Why? You have to be somewhat technical. After getting down the first notch, we got to the second notch which is super intimidating. I thought I was a good climber, but this second notch humbled me. The second notch is at least 35-40 feet in height. After a short break on top the second notch, the winds decided to start howling. I’d say the wind was blowing at least 30 mph. I decided to charge down the second notch. It was difficult to say the least. From my vantage point, I started near the right side, but after resting on a ledge, there were no foot holds going down. However, there were footholds in the middle of the notch, so I decided to transverse. I found a few footholds and got stuck. I decided to go back up and reexamine the route.
After pondering, I made a decision to do the far right route, however the footholds were too wide for me. This route was dangerous because the drop is automatic death. If I fell, that was it. I tried, immediately I knew that it was too dangerous so I went back up.
I took a rest for a while and talked with Nate another route down, I realized that the first route was the best choice. It didn’t look to be too difficult from the top, so I tried it again. I took the same route and got stuck at the same point – right in the middle. I had about 8 feet to go. My right hand hold was slipping. I made the awful decision to jump. I landed on two feet and was fine. But I regret jumping and knew the mountain beat me. Nate thought I was nuts. I felt ashamed. I climbed up the rest of the second notch and examined the chimney which is further up the mountain. The chimney looked impossible from a far. But I’ve seen people do it on youtube, so it is possible.
After a while, I decided to work my way back up the second notch. I decided to start in the middle of the second notch. I reached for a hand hold and fell to the ground, but since I was in the middle, I landed safely. I decided to do the far right route (which was the left side now) which had the most hand holds, but was extremely dangerous. I got up to near the top and couldn’t find a hand hold. I panicked for a second and re-focused to finish the route to the top. There was a 1000 foot vertical drop into Nuuanu valley. If I did fall at this point, I would of fallen to my death. We headed back to the lookout.
Again it was a humbling experience. It would be a good idea to have a rope when doing the second notch. The question would be where to put the rope? The hike down the trail was a little difficult, but I had so much adrenaline from the notches, that I blazed it quickly. I think it only took me 25 minutes to get down.
I got to the Pali Lookout and felt that a dodged a big one. I was in no way skilled enough to do the notches, but I did. It was a very humbling and dangerous experience.
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