Oahu Hike Tales

Maunawili demonstration trail The Missus and I went on a hike in Maunawili on Friday morning (8 May 2005), she being off that a.m. and me having (almost, save for a pile of research papers to be graded) finished the spring semester at LCC. We started at the Maunawili Falls trailhead after parking on Kelewina Street. Shoved off around 10:20 a.m. Nice warm day. Blue skies. Very dry trail. Hiking with Jacque is always an experience because she has an interesting way of looking at things. For instance, as we were hiking along today, she tells me things like, "This place reminds of Shirley Temple singing the song about blue robins" or "I'm expecting to see trolls and ogres somewhere around here." I smile hearing these things because they are so unlike the kinds of thoughts I have. She also loves colorful flowers, of which there was an abundance that day, all from non-natives like impatiens, African tulips, et al. So we hiked along, Jacque occasionally expres...

Tragedy was averted at yesterday's Olomana TM (12 Dec 2004). Two of our group fell, in one case 150 feet and in another 125. Both were able to hike out. Mel Yoshiokia was the first to fall, doing so while descending from Peak 2 to the saddle between 2 & 3. He fell to the mauka side of the mountain, "taking out four trees" as he careened down the mountainside, according to Mike, who was ahead of Mel on the descent at the time. At that moment, the group I was with, which included my wife Jacque, was making the final approach to the summit of Peak 3, having just made our way past the hole-in-the-rock section and climbed the steep roped section just past that. As were making our way carefully along, I stopped when I heard loud crashing thru the trees behind me back toward Peak 2. At first, I thought it was a boulder someone had dislodged. I'd heard the sobering sound before. It was different this time, though. Interspersed with the sounds of impact on trees and ...

Well, today was another postcard day on Oahu--clear skies, not a cloud touching the Koolaus, a wisp of a breeze, a pleasant nip in the air. And here I am, semi-laid up with a bothersome pain in my lower back. I give Pat Rorie a call at 7 a.m. to see what he's up to. According to Paka-lolo, he and Laredo "Rainbowman" Murray are bound for Aiea Heights to do the Aiea Ridge to Waimalu middle ridge hike. To say I was green with envy would be understating the truth. But Pat is kindly sympathetic, withholding his trademark laugh when I say I won't be joining them. A few years ago, before the hiking bug bit, I'd think nothing of spending an entire Saturday kicking back watching the tube, nibbling on munchies, and taking long naps. That's out of the question now, especially when confronted with days like today. I attempt to pass time by watching a basketball game on the tube and taking a nap, telling myself the rest will benefit my back. Ten o'clock rolls...

One night while channel-surfing through the several dozen TV channels available to Oahu residents, I spotted a blurb about a Sierra-Club sponsored hike along the Ulupaina trail, a trek I hadn't heard about before. Curious, I grabbed my copy of Stuart Ball's _A Hikers Guide to Oahu_ and thumbed my way through it until I found a brief description of Ulupaina in the "Closed hikes" section. "A short loop hike in the foothills above Kaneohe" is all Ball said about it. The thought of a hike so close to home had me foaming at the proverbial bit. Pawing my way through a couple of maps I have, I found Ulupaina, with a trailhead along Kahekili Highway not far past Haiku Road. Thinking that I'd have no problem hooking up with the hiking group, I didn't bother (foolishly, in hindsight) calling the Sierra Club contact phone number to obtain info. Sunday, the day of the hike, arrived, and after packing my gear, my water, and a snack, I jumped...