Malaekahana-Kahuku

This hike took place back in June 2001 and involved three trails: Malaekahana Ridge, Koolau Summit Trail and Kahuku Ridge. The whole thing had to be at least 12 miles but it could have been as much as 15. Whatever it was, we all had a sweaty, muddy workout. Ken Suzuki even said the plants along the Kahuku Trail are better compared to sister ridges, Laie and Malaekahana.

The hike started at the Laie ballpark on Poohaili Street, the trailhead for the Laie Trail hike. The first phase was a romp along a dirt road that passed the Laie trailhead and crossed a (dry) stream. There are several side roads on the left and right leading to farms. One concern along this stretch is harassment by dogs. A couple barked and growled as we went by in the a.m. but no dog hassles took place in the p.m., at least when I went by.

Not long after the stream crossing, we headed mauka on another dirt road.
This road eventually becomes eroded and rutted and then transitions
into the Malaekahana Trail, which we headed up. About an hour from the
cars, we passed the junction with the trail heading down to Malaekahana
Stream and continued mauka up the ridge. The trail beyond the junction
was overgrown but still passable.

Eventually, the ridge trail angles left, goes over several humps, and
arrives at a junction at a low saddle, now very well ribboned. This is
about 2 to 3 hours from the cars, depending how fast one goes. It was
there we left the ridge trail (heading right) to begin a segment we
called "The Shortcut to the KST," a longtime brain-child of Bill Gorst.
This route drops down to a little stream, passes some paperbark trees,
winds around some low ridges and ravines, crosses little streams at least
twice more, and eventually gains the summit trail about a half mile (as
the mynah flies) north of the KST/Malaekahana junction. It takes about
half an hour.

Once on the KST, our loop headed right (north) toward the Pupukea summit
hilltop, where the terminus of the Kahuku trail resides. The KST segment
was muddy in many places (to be expected) and about 2/3rds was
well-cleared. Count on at least an hour to get this part done.

At the base of the Pupukea summit hilltop is a signed junction. Today's
correct choice was to head up to the right (heading straight ahead would
take one around the hilltop and on to Pupukea). Near the top of the hill
was another signed junction. This is where the Kahuku trail begins/ends.

Getting back to the cars from this location will take approx 3-4
hours. We did it by heading down the Kahuku trail, which is a typical
uluhe-ohia ridge higher up. This part is very obvious and marked well.
After the uluhe abates, the trail transitions into the guava zone. The
corridor thru the guava is generally distinct and well-marked when the way
becomes less clear. After the guava zone, the trail becomes drier, more
eroded, and populated by vegetation like ironwoods, some pines, and
christmas berry, with some guava thrown in to keep things from
getting too easy/pleasant.

About 90 minutes from the summit, there is a junction with what appears to
be an old jeep road. We went right at that point, leaving the Kahuku
trail, which continues straight down the ridge, very broad at
this point. The old road arrives at another junction in a forest of
ironwoods. The correct way at that point is to head right to begin
descending to Malaekahana Stream. Ribbons mark the way, which eventually
gets steep and proceeds down a swath thru uluhe, then a large eroded
patch, and then puts one in the side fork of the (dry) stream. The side
fork quickly leads to a junction with the main (babbling) stream. At that
point, there is ribboned trail that gets the old ticker a-pumping by
climbing steeply to the ridgetop of the south side of Malaekahana Stream.

Once the ridgetop is gained, the trail heads mauka for a short spell, then
swings to the left thru a forest of guava and ironwoods. This area is well
marked. The trail reaches a barbed-wire fenceline, which is followed for
a bit and then ducked under at a ribboned point. A road covered
with horse manure heads makai to mauka (head makai). Heading as such will
lead to a large antenna tower. Near the tower is an indistinct (but
ribboned well today) path that heads to the right. This path leads to a
gate and the start/end of a dirt road. Go thru the gate (make sure to
secure the gate with the attached rope) and proceed down the road.

This road will lead to a junction with the dirt road leading to
Malaekahana that was walked on earlier. The conclusion of the hike is the
dirt road amble back to the Laie ballpark.

Some notes about the hike:


Several folks ran out of water en route. This is at least a three-liter
hike, especially in the summer months.

Walkie-talkies were useful in helping us keep track of who was where. For
those who don't have a walkie-talkie, consider purchasing one.

Dupont/DePonte Trail on Oahu

"Honesty's the best policy" is a saying we're all familiar with.
Dr. Wing Ng calls Kamaileunu an "honest trail" because from start to terminus there is no concealed agenda: one climbs steadily with no appreciable drops. The antithesis of Kamaileunu is Manana, which taunts hikers with as many downs as ups. Like Manana, Schofield falls in the "dishonest" category, for its rollercoaster progression will kick one's tail ascending or descending.


Back in 2002, Pat Rorie and I, not in the mood for treachery, hiked what may be the most honest trail on Oahu: De Ponte (also referred to as Dupont). The route begins on a cane field road adjacent to Waialua High School and ends after a 4,000-foot vertical ascent gain at the summit of Mount Kaala, the apex of Oahu.


Stuart Ball tells us that Dupont (or De Ponte--recall a recent post quoting a *Honolulu Magazine* article) is a classic climb. He also says that the horror stories about the dangers of the trail are overstated. On both counts, he's correct.


Although not a cupcake, De Ponte isn't overly perilous. Previous hikers have strung an array of cables at steep and rocky sections of the trail (in some cases, the cables are overkill). And yes there are dike sections to traverse but these aren't of the Kalena- or Manamana-esque ilk. I suppose my view may be colored somewhat because De Ponte was dry and relatively windless today. Throw in some brisk trades on the dikes and some mud on the steeper sections and the hike would have been much tougher and tiring and potentially more dangerous.

Photo credit -- Jason Sunada

And it was plenty rugged and tiring as is, primarily because of its "honest" nature that had us climbing from the get-go to the end. We needed 3.5 hours to hike the 5.5 miles from our parking spot along Farrington Highway near the high school to the lookout spot by one of the huge soccer balls (FAA radar site) at Kaala's summit.


I can't say I enjoyed the ascent (sweating like a melting popsicle and listening to one's heart racing like a snare drum gets old after a while), but the miles and time moved by with reasonable quickness. We also were fortunate not to be stopped by anyone from Waialua Sugar or the macadamia farm or the horse ranch while going up or down. And although we saw scat of wild goats and pigs, we saw no signs of the scat makers. Further down, we did pass penned up goats, some wild pea fowl and later some horses resting under a copse of java plum. And the scratchy blackberry was present but not in huge quantities so we did not suffer any major flora abuse.


Thee trail passes through some lovely dryland forest and some exquisite native Hawaiian cloud forest near the summit. As inept as Pat and I are at identifying plantlife, we were able to recognize some trailside lobelia, lapalapa, and the more common koa and ohia. Hopefully, someone like Brandon Stone, Ken Suzuki, or Kost Pankiwskyj will hike the trail and provide a more detailed flora report.


Weather-wise, Pat and I had good fortune because a socked-in summit became a cloudless summit when we reached it, and during our one-hour lunch break we were treated to excellent views of the Oahu central plain and the distant Koolaus, the latter pelted by rain from dark gray clouds.


For me, the descent went much quicker and with less pain than I anticipated. Usually, a dry trail means a hard trail and a hard trail means pounding on feet and knees which means ouch to the 100th degree. But padded insoles, a pair of surprisingly comfortable Nike Sharks cleated shoes, and three aspirins popped down after lunch made the 5.5-mile descent quite nice. We left the summit at 1:30 and reached my vehicle at 4:00, ending an interesting day in the Waianae range.


For the record, this was Pat's third trip up DePonte and my first. And despite the long, tiring ascent, I'll do it again someday.


Honest, I will. :-)


--DKT

Kaunala Trail out on Oahu's North Shore

My wife and I lead hikes for the Hawaiian Trail and Mountain Club and the last hike we led (4/10/10) was on the Kaunala Trail in the hills above Waimea Bay on Oahu's north shore. About 40 people turned out for the hike, which was captured in words and pics by Richard Bailey and Nathan Yuen. The pic at left, in fact, was taken by Rich and in it are my wife and I hiking on a section of Kaunala.  Mahalo, Rich.

One of the new features of this hike is a newly paved road in the mountains.  Apparently, the military found it necessary to pave the formerly dirt road to make negotiation of the mountains easier for its vehicles.

For specifics about Kaunala, I wrote more about it.