Hiking Trails on Oahu

Ka'ala to Hobbs - June 10, 2018 My website is on hiatus for now since I'm all into native plants. However, this hike is worth mentioning. So I'll take the time to do a write up.  I've never done the WST from Ka'ala to Kalena. Today was important in gaining experience on this section of the WST. Baron who was getting ready for his hike to Mount Kilimanjaro needed some cardio burn. He invited me along with a number of other peeps throughout the week. The group swelled into 11 by Sunday. Joining the hike was Baron, Renee, Cat, Bernice, Darren, Katie, Patricio, Matt, Kellie, Marilou, and I.  View on Waianae Kai Trail I drove to Baron's house at 5:50am, he carpooled Cat, Marilou, Darren, and I to Waianae Valley Road. We started hiking around that 7:15 time. Kellie and Renee led a strong pace up Ka'ala. It was a cool day, so we could hike fast. In about 3 hours we topped out at Ka'ala. It got cold at the top, but wasn't socked in for some reason. The group...

Pohakea to Palikea - January 7, 2018 Baron invited OAG with him on this hike. He wanted to do a route from Pohakea to Palikea and make a loop out of it. Seemed a little ambitious, but he gave a 10 hour window for it, so there would be time to complete it.  I was excited as this would be an opportunity to do this section of the WST again and get a chance to see more native plants which is rejuvenating my passion for hiking.  Erik and Aprille picked Michelle and I at 6:15am and drove us to Walmart Kunia where we met with Baron, Darren, Kellie, Bernice, and Marilou. There would be 9 of us on today's trek. We would carpool in 2 trucks through the Kunia farmlands to the trailhead.  Baron has mastered this area and so has Darren and Erik, they easily made their way through a maze of dirt roads to the trailhead. We started hiking at about 7:15am. The initial part of the hike was on a jeep road up a steep incline. The grade was like 40%, although that is my estimate, it coul...

Kuaokala – September 22, 2012 I’ve never fully understood the Northern part of the Waianae Summit trail. There are a number of trails that connect which makes it confusing. At the northern end, there is a military tracking station and trails. Access becomes a problem. But don’t get me wrong, I have some experience on these trails. Last year, I’ve done the Kealia trail to the Makua Overlook. Today, I was going to take Michelle and the kids on the Kuaokala trail which accesses the crest of the Waianae summit from the Waianae side. tracking station trailhead Earlier in the week, I applied for the permit for access to the Kaena Point Tracking Station. We had a late start, 12:00 pm. After checking into the tracking station, we drove up the steep road to the top of the Waianae Summit passing a few more manned stations. We parked in a lot and started the trail. The trail stays on top of the crest initially, but contours the left side for a bit, before opening up. The first major benchmark is ...

  Mokuleia Trail – June 1, 2012 I set out to find Three Corners today, but failed. This now becomes a storied hike. This hike isn’t too difficult, but with the exposure to the sun, it becomes taxing and physically draining.            I woke up early, dropped the kids off at school, and drove towards the Mokuleia Access Road and parked my car. The gate is locked which means walking on the 4 mile long road. There are no big trees with long branches and wide leaves hanging over the road which means exposure to the sun. Being summertime in Hawaii, it was very hot. The initial walk on the road is level and easy, but the road will incline. I passed a few more gates, one was locked and one wasn’t. Somewhere after the second mile, I met Daniel and his friend Lisa. They started out before me and were now heading back. They walked near three miles on the road, but didn’t make it to the Peacock Flats Campsite. We talked about various topics, ...

  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 ...