Hiking Trails on Oahu

  Kaena Point (South Access) – April 1, 2012   Les Merrell Memorial Hike   If you haven’t been to Kaena Point before (before this day I haven’t), you are missing out my friend. The hike is hot, but short – 2.5 miles one way. There are two ways to get to the western most point of the island. The first way is from the Waianae Side. The second way is from the Mokuleia Side. The Mokuleia way is a bit longer (but not by that much).   At Kaena Point, there are marine wildlife like no other on Oahu. I saw monk seals, albatross, and whales, not to mention the fish and other sea life.  The monk seals were cruising on the rocks near the shore. The albatross were flying all over, so close in fact; you have to duck your head to avoid them colliding into you. The whales are just 100-500 yards off shore spouting water into the air. shearwater albatross monk seal With all the wildlife beauty, the hike today was to honor Les Merrell. I don’t know the back story of Les...

  Heleakala – October 16, 2011 Heleakala, not to be confused with Haleakala on Maui, is the ridge that separates Nanakuli and Lualualei Valley. I joined the HTMC today, the coordinator was the personable Bob. Trailhead directions were near Haleakala Avenue. I parked on the side of the road in a residential neighborhood and met everyone near a house. The HTMC trailhead is between two houses. We waited for a few minutes, were debriefed, and headed towards the ridge to Heleakala. I led the charge.  The initial climb up the ridge was tiring. My legs were getting tight in a hurry. Bob laid pink ribbons on the trail two weeks before. I followed those ribbons until I gained the crest of the ridge. from the residential neighborhood There were no trees in sight. The ridge was exposed. The sun was beaming down. I started to sweat like crazy. There was also a section where a brush fire destroyed part of the area not too long ago. It smelled like burnt grass when I entered the area. In ab...

  Mount Ka’ala via Waianae-Ka’ala trail – August 7, 2011 The Waianae-Ka’ala hike is not really an advanced hike; it is actually a really high end intermediate hike. With that being said, since Ka’ala is the highest peak on Oahu, it should get some credit and so I pushed it into the advanced category. Mount Ka’ala is the highest peak on the island of Oahu standing at 4,025 feet. While driving on Kam. Hwy heading towards the North Shore look left and you will see Ka’ala. Its summit is flat top and wide. The military has an FAA station up there for aviation purposes. There are many ways to get to Ka'ala, however the two most common routes are through Waianae-Ka'ala and Dupont. Today we took the Waianae-Ka’ala trail. I met Kahele at the trailhead at the end of the Waianae Valley Road at about 8:30 am. We started going up the concrete road. The concrete road is about 1 mile long, disenchanting, and leads to the trailhead of many Waianae hikes. The Ka’ala trail is marked with purple ...