Hiking Trails on Oahu

Tom-Tom to Pu’u O Kona – April 21, 2012 I never did the Tom-Tom trail before, hell I didn’t know where the trailhead was. After today, there was no doubt that I would find it and do it again. Tom-Tom is a windward ridge in Waimanalo. The trail is the easiest out of all the southern end windward ridges on the Koolaus. In ancient Hawaiian times, kukini were able to use the Tom-Tom trail to hike from Waimanalo valley and deliver messages to Ali’i Chiefs in the many Hawaii Kai valleys. Tom-Tom is a trail named after two Toms back in the early 1920s, HTMC named the trail “TomTom” to honor Tom McGuire (a forester) and Tom Cadle (HTMC president) who rediscovered the ancient Hawaiian route (Nate Yuen, HawaiianForest.com).  The plan today was for Ikaika and I to hike from Tom-Tom to the Kuliouou state trail. We staged one car at Kala’au place near the Kuliouou trailhead and then made the long drive to Waimanalo. (Long is relative) We would park on Maunawaialoa Street and start the Tom-Tom t...

Bear Claw Right Fork – January 28, 2012 An unbelievable day of hiking! We climbed up Bear Claw’s Right Fork to the Ko'olau Summit, took a right on the Ko'olau Summit Trail (KST), passing Pu’u O Kona and Niu Valley Summit, before descending down Niu Valley Ridge to our cars. Total trek for this hike, 7 hours.    This hike is in the extreme category for one reason, its fricken dangerous! I called on Ted to help me conquer this trail. Ted has done this hike a few times and is one of the most experience hikers when it comes to difficult hikes on the island of Oahu. He knows how to handle the most challenging situations. I also invited Nate, for I felt that he was ready to handle an extreme hike. Others joining us on the hike today were Steve, Kyle, and LeMomi. For Steve, this was his 6 th  time doing Bear Claw. His experience, coupled with Ted’s would greatly benefit us today. Bear Claw can also be described as Pu'u O Kona Windward. By that I mean you gain the summit of the P...