Hiking Trails on Oahu

Pu’u Ohulehule – June 17, 2012 I’ve always wanted to get to the pyramidal peak that dominates Kahana Valley. To get there becomes a story of determination and will. Marvin invited a few Oahu Weekend Hikers (OWH) members. Joining Marvin and I were Aaron, Thessa, and Lynne. No doubt, they have done and can handle this hike. The route today was up the Northwest ridge. There is also the Southeast ridge which Stuart Ball deems the, “the most dangerous hike on the island”. Doing the Southeast ridge today was 7D Steve. The goal was to meet up with Steve at the top of Ohulehule. Also, we were joining HTMC today as this was on their schedule. We started on the Nakoa trail and immediately crossed the Kahana dam. From there we went off the Nakoa trail and into a bamboo forest for near a mile and a few more stream crossings along the way. We eventually hit the northwest ridge of Ohulehule. Then it was incline hiking through a clear path surrounded by uluhe ferns. HTMC cleared the trail a few weeks...

Pu’u Piei – January 21, 2012 I needed to do a short hike because I had to get to a birthday party by 1pm. So I decided to do Pu’u Piei. According to Stuart Ball’s book  Hiking on Oahu , Pu’u Piei is about 3 miles long. I figured it would only take 3 hours to finish this hike, so if we got to Kahana at 8a, there would be no problem. Pu’u Piei is a high end intermediate hike. The trail goes uphill for about 1600 ft. until you hit the crest of the ridge, then its more ups and downs before you hit the summit. I had a feeling that there would be a lot of huffing and puffing. I picked up Nate at 7 am and off I drove to Kahana valley. At 8a, we parked at the Orientation center. As we were getting ready, Pu'u Piei was looming in front of us. We started to walk on the gravel road towards the Nakoa trailhead. We then turned right on a paved road and headed into the valley looking for utility poles, none where in sight. After about 30 minutes, we were perplexed. Where was Pu’u Piei and the ut...

  Kahana Valley Hike a.k.a. Nakoa Trail - July 31, 2011 Summer is over. This will be considered my last hike of the summer, a summer filled with the best hiking of my life. On the HTMC schedule today was Kahana Valley. This hike is considered a favorite hike by many hiking enthusiast because of its variety of plants, interaction with the stream, musical forest, and its pleasant non-strenuous double loop. Even Stuart Ball mentions in his book that, "...the stream loop is perhaps the most beautiful valley walk on the island...There are few things better in life than spending a sunny afternoon by Kahana Stream" (Ball, p.214). So, I was off to Kahana Valley to see it for myself. First, I met some HTMC members at Iolani Palace. I was curious to see where the meeting spot was for most of the hikes. But most hikers just meet at the trailhead. After a short meeting in back of Iolani Palace, we convoyed to Kahana Valley State Park. There were at least 50 hikers waiting in the parking ...