Castle Trail, One of the Top Hikes on Oahu
Castle – May 6, 2012 According to Stuart Ball, Castle is “considered the finest hike on the island”. Today on an outing with the Hawaiian Trail and Mountain Club (HTMC), I get to experience the hype that is Castle. To my knowledge, Castle was built by the James Castle team. James Castle was a sugarcane mogul that controlled plantation operations on the Windward side of Oahu. He is also the brother of William Castle - the first president of the HTMC. The Castle trail starts in the back of the valley in the Punalu’u area. Now a days the land is owned by Bishop Estate. Bishop Estate only lets the HTMC do the hike and frowns upon other people who ask permission or trespass on the property. In the briefing, Grant said Bishop Estate request that no one post pictures online. In an age where everyone does so, you could feel the disappointment in the air, but Bishop Estate does not want to hikers in the community to try sneak onto Castle because it is on private property. I entered the gate...