Hiking Trails on Oahu

  Anamolo (Olomana Reversed) – March 30, 2013 Last year on my birthday, I hiked the Pupukea trail with Marvin, Ikaika, & my wife. That was such a great birthday hike (cake, alcohol) that I wanted to do it again. I wanted to choose my own hike, but many of the hikers I generally hike with were doing Olomana Reversed a.k.a. Anamolo. Bad part is that my wife couldn’t join because of the danger level, but I guess it was my day. Really, no better way of celebrating a birthday than doing a difficult hike, but I would have to minus the cake and alcohol. I always categorized a difficult hike as a hike that HTMC wouldn’t do because of the danger factor. The club does Olomana to peak 3, but they don’t do the backside (Ahiki). Last year, I went down the backside of Ahiki which I thought was difficult, but I was still relatively new to hiking and really didn’t understand the magnitude of what I was doing. Added to that, I had passion for doing the dangerous stuff. A year later, I’ve been f...

  Olomana's Three Peaks & Backside - September 27, 2011 Today was the day I would do all of Olomana's Three Peaks and go down and up the backside.  Ted scheduled this hike early in the week and I was game.  During the week, I had to compartmentalize the hike and put it in the back of my brain because every time I would think about the hike, I would get excited.    Throughout the week, I had to forget about the hike and do my duties as a school teacher. On Friday, Ted messaged me that he came down with flu like symptoms.  I got kind of worried.  Who would lead me down the dangerous third peak?  Ted assured me that his friend Steve would do a great job.  Okay I thought to myself. Again, doing Olomana's three peaks is a dangerous hike.  Stuart Ball lists it as an expert hike.  Why?  Let's just say, crumbly rock, near vertical descents, lot of climbing, extremely narrow spots, and plenty of exposure.  Going down the backsi...

  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 difficul...