Welikehike

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Unknown Trail (in Waianae Valley)

We were supposed to do Waianae Kai, a 6-mile trail which starts at the same trailhead as Waianae Kaala, but unfortunately, we took a wrong turn somewhere in the middle and ended up in an unknown trail. Laarni and I brought our Stuart Ball book but left it in the car due to some misunderstanding. Our visitor friend agreed to carry the book and play navigator but told me after a mile into the hike that he left it in the car. I hoped to rely on my faint memories of the Waianae Kaala hike done about 4 years ago but my familiarity of the trail did not cut it. We actually got lost twice. Our first deviation from the intended path led us to a trail known as Waianae Ramble. We were heading downwards and memories of the Kaala trail brought me to a halt for I remembered the trail being at a constant incline. We lost about 30 minutes as we decided to turn around. As we arrived at the fork, we took the trail leading to a gradual climb along a ridgeline. It was well marked and it would soon lead us to an overgrown section of thorny shrubs which was the most irritating part of the trail. I did not remember this; I thought the trail was just overgrown with new weeds. It left scratch marks all of over our arms and legs. As we came closer to the top, I saw a familiar rock face and was reassured that we were on the right path. But moments later, the trail would come to a dead end. Luckily, the trail ended at a clearing with nice views of the Waianae Valley; we decided to eat our lunch here. Some of us were disappointed that we got lost, I don’t blame them. We want to do this trail again and conquer this bad boy. Next time, we’ll add Kaala and the unknown peak to seek our vengeance.

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Puu Piei (revisited)

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Mount Olympus (revisited)

by welikehike

Cold, windy, and wet!

This hike is in my top 5 for the worst weather adventure. Mountain biking at Kuaokala still holds its place at #1 for hurricane-like winds and slippery muddy terrain. But for this hike, I never complained so much about being cold despite having my jacket on. Luckily, we had a brief window of view of the windward side at the end, a view worth all the danger.