Stairway to Heaven Hike on Oahu
The Stairyway to Heaven (Haiku Stairs) - May 29, 2011
The Haiku Stairs or what people refer to as The Stairway to Heaven is infamous on Oahu. The brief history goes as follows. The steps were built in 1943 by the Navy who needed to set up radio communication. The trail was open until 1987 when vandals dismantled parts of the stairs. The stairs was closed from then on. The stairs was rebuilt in 2002 costing the state $875.000, however the trail remained closed because legal access to the trailhead had not been agreed upon by all parties involved. To add to this, residents in the Haiku Valley area have fought to prevent hiker's from accessing the trailhead. You can only access the trailhead by going through someone's property in the Haiku area. Residents of Haiku feel that hiker's illegally trespass, leave trash, and park irresponsibly. They too are an integral part in the stairs not reopening. The only way to get onto the trail is to sneak in illegally.
For years hiker's have been able to sneak into the entrance. The problem today is that a security guard mans the trailhead area. He use to get their at 5a, but now he gets their at 4am. If he sees you, he will chase you away and depending on which security guard is working that day, he may call the police.
A few months ago, while playing football, my friend Josh expressed interest in doing the stairs. He tried twice, but the guard was waiting and although friendly, chased Josh away. Josh also express concern about parking.
Josh eventually found help in a co-worker named Willie. Willie did the Haiku Stairs twice and was successful both times. Willie had experience with parking and would be a great crew leader for this hike. For the hike, we would assemble a crew which would include Josh, his brother, Blaze, myself, Willie and anyone who was interested.
With the help of Willie, the plan was to arrive early in ample time so we could access the trailhead before the guard arrived. The second part of the plan was to park in a residential area where it wouldn't bother residents, thus they wouldn't complain. Then of course, the final part of the plan was to be prepared as thoroughly as possible for the trek up the vertical stairs.
I picked up Blaze at 2:15 am. We were both tired, but had some adrenaline because we could foresee a great day of hiking. We met the crew in a residential area near the Haiku area at about 3 am. The crew included; Josh, his brother Jesse, Willie, his nephew, nephew's 3 friends, Blaze, and I. The parking area was sublime. It was near a church and there were a ton of parking in the area. Since the church was on a huge lot, the parking area wasn't too close to any houses, though we did end up parking by a house. Go figure.
We navigated through the church and climbed through an opening in the fence. We walked along a paved road for about 15 minutes until we reached the trailhead. A canopy for the guard was set up, but the guard wasn't there. It was about 3:30 am. I put my weightlifting gloves on, preparing myself for the railings. We quickly entered the trailhead and headed up the mountain.
Commuters can see the Stairs from H3. Commuters must think the ascend is crazy because its vertical. The initial ascent proved the commuters right. The first 15 minutes is just adrenaline. I've never hiked on such a steep mountain before and it was scary. To add to the fear factor was the total darkness. Though your eyes do get adjusted after 15 minutes into the hike. Hold on to the railing with both hands or you will fall. Gravity is not kind when going up vertical mountains. It was difficult going up with a flashlight in my left hand while at the same time my right hand was holding onto the right side of the railing and only three fingers of my left hand were holding on to the left side of the railing. Next time, It would be ideal to have a light attached to a hat.
We hit the first true vertical section in about 20 minutes. Just then a light appeared at the bottom of the stairs. It was the security guard. He tried to flash his light directly at us for about 5 minutes, but we were up pretty high, so I don't think he could see how many people were hiking. He probably seen one of our flashlights which prompted his response. It was too late to turn us away. We took a break before ascending the first true vertical section.
I took precaution going up and to my surprise I did it with ease. The railings are solid, I mean SOLID! The railings don't budge and a confidence came over me that I felt safe. There are 4 flat spots along the way to the summit. We got to the first flat spot in a little over an hour. Although dark, the view was amazing!
From the first flat spot, we had to ascend along and up a narrow ridge. It got vertical in spots, but it didn't seem as bad as the first vertical section. There were clouds and wind. On the narrow ridge, are huge drops on both sides. The right side is about a 2000 foot drop and the left side is a 1000 foot drop. Insane! It was dark, so you couldn't see the drops as of yet (on the way back would be nuts). The wind was blowing hard, and if it gets into your mind, it could rattle you. The wind did rattle me for a minute, but I refocused and ascended up the mountain. On hikes like this, you cannot stop and ponder, you just have to make sure your body is balanced and moving in good rhythm.
The second and third flat spots were easy. On top of one of the flat spots was a concrete structure that had a lot of graffiti inside. We hung up there for a minute, then continued on. The steps started to widen and you will probably lose your rhythm. You must adjust your gait to accommodate the steps and gain back rhythm. The final ascent to the top was vertical. It started to rain. Everyone pushed on through. We got to the top in a little under 2 hours. The summit was ugly. Pitch dark. Windy (like 50 mph wind). Cloudy. Cold. Raining. I tried to take pictures of the radio tower, but the pictures came out black. The only picture that came out at the summit was the railing covered by fuzzy clouds.
We stayed at the top for about 15 minutes. But with no view and nothing really to look forward to, we started to go back down. The sun came out. We could actually see now. At that moment, the experience hit me, I couldn't believe what I was seeing, it was unbelievable. The views that came into focus were amazing. The drops off the ridge were spectacular. The vertical alignment of the stairs was insane. It was what I seen from pictures on the Internet. I couldn't believe what was happening. The experience ran through my mind constantly. On the way down, I continually compared this hike to all the great hikes I've done in the past, and this one by far was one of the best.
I stopped frequently and took pictures every 5-10 minutes to soak in the experience.
I thought going down would be harder, but it was actually easy. The rails were supporting my body weight and I used it to my advantage.
We finally got to the bottom and to the start of the trailhead. We confronted the security guard. He started scolding us, saying that the cops were waiting at our parking spot and when we get to our car we will be arrested and have to go court. We said thank you, thank you, thank you and left. Josh was pissed, but I knew the guard was full of hot air. First there were no cops on the scene. Second, a cop wouldn't be waiting for 4 hours by a car that is legally park. The guard's story was filled with hot air, and nothing was grounding his balloon.
We eventually got to our cars with no police on scene. The total hiking time was 4 hours. We said our goodbyes. I thanked Willie for leading the crew.
We drove to Kailua and ate at Zippy's. Like always, that food had no chance against my stomach, especially after walking up 4000 steps on a vertical mountain.
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