Oahu Hike Tales

Mauna o Ahi ridge My wife and I hiked today (23 July 2005). Our original plan was to hike out in Hauula, but the weather out that way wasn't cooperative as we discovered when we drove out to Hauula Homestead Road at 9 a.m.  So, as big drops of rain pelted my white 'yota, we backtracked along Kam Hwy to Kaneohe, where the sky was overcast. Still not looking good for hiking. Hoping that the weather scenario would improve later on, we decided to attend a meeting of a group we are members of and then perhaps catch some better weather thereafter.  Yup, by 1-ish, the weather shaped up quite nicely, so we motored out to Hawaii Kai to hike in the back of Hahaione Valley. Jacque had never hiked in this area before, so she was excited about exploring new territory and getting a good workout. Ditto the latter for me, especially after having my heart problem (irregular rhythm) fixed via a catheter ablation procedure in mid-June at Queen's Medical Center where Jacque works. Happy ...

I joined Bill Gorst, Richard McMahon, Rich Jacobsen, Fred Boll, and John Hall for yesterday's WEHOT hike. Bill and I carpooled from Kaneohe and met the others at Kenny's Burgerhouse at the Kam Shopping Center in Kalihi at 9:00. We spent a few minutes talking story at Kenny's and I enjoyed an order of pancakes and drank a large-sized drink. At 9:20, we made the short drive over to Perry Street , at the end of which is DeCorte Park. The city has just completed a new parking lot at the park and our vehicles were the only ones there when we started hiking around 9:30. To get to the trailhead, we had to skirt around the left (mauka) end of a large, high fence that borders the park's basketball court and ballfield. There are a couple gates thru the fence but both were locked hence the left side skirt-around. Once around the fence, we walked along it for maybe 50 meters and picked up a trail that heads up a rocky segment of the hillside. Just above the trailhead, a hug...

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...