Kipapa Windward

Jason Sunada, Pat Rorie, Laredo Murray, and I were successful in reaching the summit of the
Ko'olaus from Waiahole Valley today.  Since the topping out point was quite
near the terminus of the Kipapa trail, I will refer to the ridge we
climbed as Kipapa Windward.

As I mentioned in a recent OHE post, Jason and I pushed partway
up the ridge last Sunday. What took us two hours a week ago required
only 30 minutes today.  What a difference a swath made.

Once we reached last Sunday's stopping point, we were on virgin
ridge.  Laredo, shirtless and with hair dyed partially red, jumped out
into the front and bravely ascended through uluhe, an assortment of native
plants, clidemia, and the like. The most challenging sections were
1) a contorted climb around/through an ohia tree that spanned a narrow
section of ridge, and 2) a steep scramble up a loose rock section just
above the tree.  Cables and/or rerouting might help for future
ascents/descents.

The critical area was between the 1500 and 2000-ft level where we saw very
closely packed contour lines on the topo map, a red-flag zone meaning very
steep stuff.  Yes, it was steep but never cable-steep, and with plenty of
grunting, twisting, ducking, and crawling, we made progress.  At one point
during the steep section we found ourselves tunneling through a dark
corridor formed by uluhe, an interesting albeit less than pleasant time.

After the 2000-ft point, Pat assumed the lead and powered us up the
ridge.  This section was fantastic, with more open ridge conditions so we
could see the hogback ahead as well as the array of steep, magnificent
spurs left and  right that stretched and strained up to the crest.  We
passed plenty of native vegetation, including loulu palms, lapalapa,
olapa, kopiko, and others I can't name.  Yes, we damaged native plants as
we climbed and later when we headed back down.  There was no malice in our
damage.

At 11:45, 3.5 hours after we set our from our vehicles, we summited at a
wind-whipped pu'u at the 2640 elevation level. Shouts rang out and
arms were thrust skyward, save for Jason, who is not the shouting or
hand-thrusting kind.  We also exchanged handshakes, Jason a bit
begrudgingly, to mark the summit acquistion.

In an adjacent ravine to the south (our left) was a grove of sugi pines
where the remains of an ancient cabin (sometimes referred to as
Uncle Tom's cabin) lay in shambles.  We descended toward the ravine,
hopped onto the Ko'olau summit trail, and hiked to south side of the pine
grove to hunker down by the cabin ruins for lunch.  From our lunchspot,
the Kipapa summit was about ten minutes away.

Clouds had enclosed the area by this time and a chilly wind prompted us to
put on raincoats or windbreakers to stay warm.  We spent half an hour
resting and eating, and perhaps would have lingered longer if we had
warmer, sunnier conditions.  A brief rainshower prompted Jason to open
an umbrella and ultimately the wet stuff hastened our departure.

The return down the ridge back to Waiahole was one of the great descents
I've experienced.  After 15 minutes or so of down-hiking, we were below
the cloud line and from there the ridge dropped in fantastic fashion like
a steep escalator toward the valley floor.  There were often precipitous
dropoffs left and right but since the ridge never narrowed to dangerous
proportions and since we were surrounded by ample vegetation that provided
security, I never felt in danger.  It was actually quite enjoyable.

The rain had made the way slick, but we took care not to make a bad error
that might lead to "the plunge."  In all, we needed about 90 minutes to
reach the ditch trail from the summit (more handshakes exchanged) and
another 30 minutes to hike back to our cars. By 3 p.m. we were on Kam Hwy
headed back to home and warm showers and meals.

--dkt