Hiking Trails on Oahu

Kealia (just to the picnic bench) – March 11, 2012 After doing Kealia in January of this year, I knew it would be a perfect family hike. What I look for in a family hike are three things; 1) a reward at the end (waterfall or summit view), 2) short - less than 3 miles RT 3) fun. The word fun is relative because my demented idea of fun is hiking for 14 miles in the Ko’olaus for 8 hours and doing it like it has been done before, which it has. Most peoples idea of fun hiking are the bird singing, native plants, and interesting terrain. I spread the word the day before, but no one took the bait, so it was just us and Jared’s friend Keito. I set the meeting place at Wahiawa McDonalds at 10a-10:15 am just in case. We ate at McDonald’s and by 10:15 am no one else came, so we drove to Mokuleia. We pulled into Dillingham airfield passing the runway. After getting ready, we started the Kealia trail. Kealia offers a good beginners trail. There are switchbacks to aid the knees, which means a gradua...

  Malaekahana to Laie – October 29, 2011 This was on my to do list for a little while now. By completing this loop, it will cross off two hikes on my checklist. This hike was planned a few weeks ago. I met Nate on the Heleakala hike with the HTMC. While coming down from Heleakala, we talked about doing this hike. Nate, who got into hiking a few months ago wanted to pad his hiking resume. I called Nate early in the week to give him the plan. We were to meet at Haleiwa Beach Park at 6:30 am and start Malaekahana ridge at 7 am. We would hike Malaekahana ridge, then at the junction go down the mountain to Malaekahana falls, then go back up and continue Malaekahana ridge till its summit, then cross the KST (Koolau Summit Trail) until we hit Laie’s summit, then go down Laie to my car. Though this was the first time we would both do this hike, I wasn’t worried. If you don’t pay attention to the jargon above, then it breaks down to ridge -> valley -> ridge -> ridge -> ridge. Th...

  July 15, 2011 - Papali Loop Trail About 1 month ago, the kids and I  did the Hau'ula Loop Trail. I asked them at that time if they wanted to do the Papali Loop as well. The answer was a resounding, "no". So I told them we will have to come back. I finally got a week day off during summer work and told the kids that we were going to do Papali. Surprisingly, they agreed. The plan was to do Papali, then go to Malaekahana Beach.  We started from Kapolei at 8:45 am, but while I was in Wahiawa, I realized that I forgot my wallet. Crap! I needed my wallet and decided to turn around. Well 40 minutes wasted. We got to Hau'ula Homestead Road at 10:45 am, got out of the car and walked up the road. To the right was the Hau'ula trail, I figured Papali was just a little more up the road. Just then we seen a trail: Ma'akua Ridge Trail? Perplexed, I thought that's not it, and we should go more up the road. Malia said that we should go onto the trail we just passed. I to...