Luaalaea Ridge, 1st ascent

One of the benefits of participating in miconia hunts with the Sierra Club is the opportunity to bash around in areas not often explored. In the past year, via SC miconia hunts, I've done a bunch of bashing around in the back of Manoa Valley. One area that caught my interest is to the east of Luaalaea Falls, specifically a spur ridge that extends to the summit, topping out about midway between Konahuanui and Mount Olympus.

Today, Scott "Saxman" Villiger, Wing Ng, and I gave this spur ridge a go. Starting at around 8:30 a.m. at the Manoa Falls trailhead, Scott and I succeeded in reaching the summit in three hours. Wing was somewhere downridge from us. Not sure if he topped out. Am sure that he'll post a report.

Anyway, to get to our spur, we crossed Waihi Stream right where the Manoa Falls trail starts then ambled around in a jumbled area of large ferns. We then picked up the trail leading to Luaalaea Falls and followed it for 10-15 minutes. At a spot that looked as good as any for heading up, we did. Put a double ribbon there for Wing, who had dropped back behind Scott and I somewhere.

Scott and I then began climbing, mostly thru scattered guava. Dry weather in the valley in the past week or two was beneficial, for the ground underfoot was dry. Could see that the slopes would be muddy in wet weather, so I was glad for the parched state of things. After 15 minutes of climbing, we hit occasional patches of uluhe. We lucked out by finding pig trails that skirted or bulldozed right thru the uluhe. Those pigs are good for something. Mahalo na pua'a.

As we continued to climb, we came upon a ten by ten foot clearing on the ridgeline. Planted in the clearing were two to three dozen pakalolo plants, most no more than a foot tall. My altimeter watch indicated the elevation was ~1100 feet. Scott and I were amused but did nothing with the plants. We left plenty of bootprints in the patch, to let the plants' owner know someone had been there. Heh.

More and more, uluhe became a bothersome and energy-zapping barrier as we climbed beyond the pakalolo clearing. We also encountered some steep, narrow dikes, but there were plenty of small trees to grab to help us ascend. One of the tougher segments of the day was a steep area of overhead uluhe at around the 1600-foot level. Our progress was painfully slow there. I even had thoughts of abandoning the summit try due to exhaustion. A well-timed rest break, hydration, and a protein bar helped to nix negative thoughts and reestablish optimism.

The morning and early afternoon, by the way, were perfect for heading to beach. However, the clear skies, piercing sun, and light breezes weren't ideal for climbing a trail-less ridge in the Koolaus. In short, we persevered.

Caught a break when the ridge started to level off and broaden and the vegetation barrier lessened. Uluhe was always there but instead of overhead stuff, it was knee-level or less and not overly thick. In a word, relief.

Scott and I reached the summit at just past 11:30 at an elevation of 2480 feet, sayeth the topo map. We topped out at a grassy bowl along the crest where on past hikes from Konahuanui to Olympus some of us have stopped to eat lunch. Today, we had super clear views to windward and leeward, and we enjoyed the visual reverie as we sat down for a 15-minute lunch stop.

On another day, we probably would have stayed longer at the summit, but Scott had to be back at his car at 1:30-ish because he had go home to shower and change to attend a late afternoon gig at Aloha Stadium. So after our short lunch at the bowl, we packed up and headed south along the summit, my legs feeling wobbly due to the rugged climb up Luaalaea Ridge. The plan was to descend the trail down the ridge we've named Manoa Middle and we reached the junction with this trail after a 15-minute hike along the summit.

The descent of Manoa Middle was tougher and slower than I anticipated because the route is badly overgrown. In some spots the trail has just about been reclaimed by the vegetation. We came upon some places that looked trampled down by hikers but I'd guess that human traffic along this ridge is next to nil.

After a bunch of stumbles and trips due to overgrown conditions coupled with fatigue, we reached the rope trail down to Waiakeakua Stream. Even that trail is overgrown and only a few ribbons saved us from completely losing our way on the steep descent.

Once we reached the trail along Waiakeakua Stream, we were able to pick up the pace. We stopped for a couple minutes so I could take a dreamed-about plunge in the clear, cool pool just below the the Gladstone Wright memorial stone. Feeling re-energized, I hiked out the rest of the way to cars with Scott, arriving there at 1:40.

Scott zipped off in his car for home. In the meantime, I took a couple minutes to jot a note on a piece of paper to let Wing know what we'd done and that we were out and gone. Stuck the note under his driver's side wiper, then drove off, stopping at a nearby convenience store to purchase a 2-liter bottle of Diet Pepsi and some choco-chip cookies. Consumed all this, plus a later purchased apple fritter from 7-11, before arriving at the Kaneohe homestead. Hit the spot.

A good day of hiking. Great workout. Nice views. Good to hike with Scott. Wing, too.

Hope others on OHE had a chance to get out and be outdoors today.

--dkt

Waiakeakua miconia hunt

I know I've had a nice Saturday when among the things I did on it were hiking in a place I've never been; floating peacefully in a pool of a clear, cool mountain stream; talking story with a group of friends while enjoying snacks and cold drinks; and getting a hug and kiss from a pretty young woman.

What am I rambling about? The monthly miconia hunt sponsored by the Sierra Club, of course. I've written about these before as have Charlotte Yamane and Tom Yoza. And we encourage all hikers to turn out for hunts because they're fun, albeit sometimes rugged and strenuous. And the hunts are for a good cause, namely finding and eliminating miconia, the purple-leafed menace, which fortunately hasn't yet made big inroads on Oahu.

For me, the hunts, in addition to the eradication goal, are a good way to grab a workout and do some exploring, two things I relish when hiking. Today, with our targeted search area the east (Koko Head) side of upper Manoa Valley, I got both.

Ten of us turned out this morning, including OHE/HTMC folks Tom Yoza, Kay Lynch, and Stuart Ball. Hoala Fraiolla, Amy Tsuneyoshi, Ray Baker, Ryan Smith, and Randy Ching were the others in our small but interesting cast.

Most OHE list members know Tom, Kay, and Stuart but probably little or nothing about the others. Ho'ala, in her early 20s and a botany student at UH Manoa, is a sweet young woman with an angelic personality. She was the listed leader of today's expedition, and during the pre-hunt spiel, I could sense her nervousness telling us veterans the procedures and the day's plan. But we all were nice and she overcame her nervousness and did fine. Acting as co-leader was Amy, plant propagator at the Board of Water Supply's Halawa Xeriscape Garden. She's a veteran of many hunts, and I'd bet if Amy were to come out hiking with the HTMC, she'd be one of the top wahines in the mountains. A tough cookie, no doubt. Dr Baker, the grounds superintendent for Lyon Arboretum, is an expert on palms and a strong hiker to boot. Ryan, in his mid-20s, is upbeat, energetic and works for the Oahu Invasive Species team. In other words, he hunts miconia and other invasive flora for a living. Randy is a former HTMC member (he says he'll reapply for membership in the future), the Oahu Outings Chair for the Sierra Club, and a math teacher at Maryknoll School. He's also a nice guy who I've hiked with before.

A new twist for miconia hunting was that we each were issued a compass beforehand. Tom gave a brief lesson on orienteering (a former Boy Scout?) and Ryan tested our ability to find a compass bearing by having us turn and face a given direction. Good news: we all passed!

Ryan said the plan was to use the compasses to maintain an established course while hunting. For example, if a bearing of 90 was stated, we'd use our compass to maintain that line and thus the keep the spacing between us.

"Sounds good in theory," I said, smiling while thinking about how the terrain often dictates how well we can maintain our search phalanx.

"Everything sounds good in theory," replied Amy with a chuckle.

As it turned out, I never used my compass during the entire outing. And neither did any of the others on the four-person team I was on. So much, it seems, for theory. On my team, by the way, were Ryan, Tom, and Ray. We ended up searching a ravine I'd never hiked before. The ravine stemmed off to the right (east in this case) of Waiakeakua Stream just makai of the Gladstone Wright Memorial Stone. Tom and I focused on the left side of the ravine and Ray and Ryan the right. Meanwhile, Amy and Ho'ala led the others in a systematic sweep of an area west of us between Waiakeakua Stream and Waaola Stream. In the end, no one found any miconia, a good result.

The day was a humid scorcher, and by lunch time my shirt and pants were soaked with perspiration as if I'd just emerged from a swimming pool. I achieved this soaked state as a result of a couple hours of grunting and clawing my way up a spur ridge to the Wa'ahila/Olympus trail. After reporting my whereabouts via walkie-talkie to my teammates, I sat down (more like collapsed) to eat and rest at a clearing often used as a rest stop by Wa'ahila hikers. In fact, when I stepped onto the clearing, a haole couple was resting there. As one might guess, they were surprised to see me appear in a spot where no trail existed and, of course, they were curious about what I'd been doing and where I'd come from. So I told them about the hunts, and they expressed interest in volunteering for one in the future. I hope they do.

No less than a dozen hikers went by as I sat in the clearing for lunch. Later, after I was finished eating my cottage/tuna/curry goulash, I hiked down the Wa'ahila trail because I was too sapped to head back down the spur ridge I'd climbed. As I hiked along, I saw that the trail up Wa'ahila is being well-used and is open. Good deal.

Arriving at a signed junction, I headed down the Kolowalu trail, noticing a typo "Kolowalo" on the Na Ala Hele trail sign. I came upon seven more hikers huffing their way up Kolowalu. I give them credit, since Kolowalu is a lung-buster to ascend, even moreso given today's hot mugginess. From Kolowalu, I hiked along the Pu'u Pia trail for ten minutes then descended a steep "trail" to return to Waiakeakua Stream.

Still dripping with perspiration, I figured I'd cool off by way of a dip in a pleasant little pool a minute makai of the Gladstone Wright Memorial. Arriving at the pool, I took off my daypack, fanny pack, and shirt. Then, kaboom, in I plopped, the cold water of the pool infusing energy into my tired, overheated body. Feeling the heat from my body core plummeting pleasantly, I just floated there. I don't know how long I lounged in the pool, maybe just fifteen minutes. But the time spent was wonderful, and I daydreamed of small-kid days when I spent hours swimming, diving, and playing in the stream near where I lived in Kaneohe.

I had hoped to wait at the pool for Tom, Ryan, and Ray, but I decided to hike out after a walkie-talkie call to them indicated they'd probably take a while to reach my location. When I hiked back to where we had left our cars, I saw Stuart, Kay, and members of their team waiting there. Ho'ala had guava juice and potato chips for us, and we enjoyed these as we talked story and relaxed on a bus stop bench along Manoa Road. Fifteen minutes later, Tom, Ryan, and Ray appeared, and they, too, joined in on the refreshment and talk-story session.

Before we left, Ho'ala gave each of us a hug and a kiss on the cheek

"Thank you, uncle," she said when I received my hug and kiss.

"You're welcome, Ho'ala," I replied. "See you next month."

A nice Saturday it was.

--dkt

Kului Ridge 1st ascent

Kului Gulch is located just to the west (ewa side) of the Hawaii Loa Ridge Trail. On a day that started off beautifully but later deteriorated weatherwise, Wing and I hiked partway up HLRT and crossed Kului Gulch to gain the ridge on Kului's ewa side. We then pushed our way up this ridge, which I'll refer to as Kului Ridge, to the Koolau Summit.

We met at 8:30 at the end of Anolani Street in Niu Valley. Plan A was to hike up the trail in the valley then climb up the guava spur club route to the HLRT. But since the only hikers to show up at Anolani were Wing and I (several others were invited), there was a change to Plan B, which was to drive up Hawaii Loa Ridge and start there. So Dr Ng and I jumped into his aging but dependable maroon Mustang, leaving my aging but dependable blue Cherokee at the Anolani Street terminus. After signing a liability waiver--one of the stipulations being that we refrain from ti leaf sliding (yup, really)--and showing proof of Hawaii residence to the guard at the Hawaii Loa estates security post, we proceeded to the HLRT starting point.

Shoving off at just past 9 a.m., Wing and I hiked together up HLRT, talking about this and that. He pointed out places he and the Wedgees (Jay Feldman and the Wednesday gang) had hiked to on Kului Ridge to our left. Kului, according to info gleaned from the web, is "a large shrub or a small tree which grows up to 15 feet in height. The 'kului' is peculiar to the very dry regions of all of the islands where often nothing else grows. Its silvery-gray foliage and drooping flowers make it a conspicuous and attractive little tree. Nototrichium and another Hawaiian member of this family, Charpentiera, are the world's only woody amaranths." For a pic and info, see

www.nhm.org/research/botany/Hawaii_Vanishing_Flora/Dry_Forest_Folder/not_san.html

I'm not sure if we passed any Kului during our hike today. Since I'm not flora akamai/observant like Ken, Charlotte, Brandon, Kay, and others, I could have hiked right past some and not even known it. Two lashes with a clidemia branch for me.

We departed from the HLRT in the uluhe section just mauka of the last big guava pu'u. Wing set off into the uluhe abyss first while I sat down to put on long pants, eat an energy and a protein bar, and drink some water. After pants-ing and fueling up, I followed Wing's swath and caught up in a couple minutes. Instead of following Wing from that point, I slid down an uluhe embankment (fast and fun!) until reaching an open guava slope. From there, the going was open and easier, and I descended to a dry streambed, with Wing following not far behind.

After crossing the streambed, I then began climbing a spur ridge, with the objective being to gain the crest of Kului Ridge on the gulch's far side. Thick with uluhe was the spur, so we had to shift into bulldozer mode as we climbed. I recognized several large Halapepe specimens (patting myself on the back while sending kudos to my plant kumu, Kenji), which were as big as the ones growing along the Halapepe Nui Trail. Otherwise, it was uluhe heaven (or hell, depending on one's mood/point of view). I was hoping to find a swath/trail of some sort on the crest of Kului Ridge but alas there was nothing--nada, zip, zed, zilch. Not even na pua'a roamed on this ridge [insert expletives of your choice here].

At this point, Wing and I kept in contact via walkie talkie since the distance between us increased. Proceeding mauka up Kului Ridge, I (tool-less) occupied the primary battering ram slot, with La Wingo following behind, trusty loppers at the ready. The ridge initially was rolling and fairly broad; then it steepened and narrowed; then it broadened again but remained steep, but never cable-steep. Separated by about 100 meters but in contact via walkie-talkie, Wing and I sat down on the Kului Ridge hogback to eat lunch at just past noon. I found a bit of shade on the upslope side of a kopiko tree, and I was glad for some coolness as I watched steam wafting off my sweat-soaked shirt.

Lunch for me was brief (didn't want to stiffen up). Plus, I was eager to summit. Thirty minutes of tough climbing and pushing through after lunch, the summit of the Koolaus was acquired, elevation 2660, according to my altimeter watch. Today's climb was tough, as is the case when ascending trail-less ridges in Oahu's mountains. However, there have been tougher ones, namely Manoa Middle Ridge aka Waiahilahila Ridge (which I did with Wing and Brandon Stone), Pauao Ridge (which I did with Pat Rorie, Steve Poor, and Laredo Murray), and Kamaohanui (which I did with Steve Poor).

Kului Ridge crests out two nobs to the west of the Hawaii Loa Trail terminus. The trail on Kului Ridge isn't much of trail, so if anyone has plans to hike it, be prepared for a rough go. At least a swath is now in place. And, please, no verbal attacks on Wing or I for doing this. We were not doing it for the HTMC. For that matter, if the club never hikes this ridge, that'd be fine with me but if the Wedgees are looking for something to do :-). And while I can't speak for Wing, any damage done to native flora was minimal. So there.

I exited via HLRT. When I reached the HLRT terminus, I chatted briefly with three burly military guys, who inquired about where I'd come from. I explained what Wing and I had done, summing it up by saying, "We get our kicks doing stuff like that." The three burly guys smiled, one saying, "I can relate, bro."

The descent of HLRT was fairly uneventful, with the main item of note being that it began to rain. It had been so clear and sunny all day that precipitation, save for a mention of its possibility by weather forecasters, was completely unexpected. While I was descending HLRT, I contacted Wing one last time by walkie-talkie. During that conversation, I had a visual fix on him as he was making the final assault on Kului Ridge. I'm confident he topped out and descended HLRT back to his car. I'm sure he'll file a report on OHE as well.

To get back to my vehicle, from the HLRT, I headed down the club's guava spur trail to Pia Valley. Having descended that safely, I followed the valley trail back to Anolani Street. Pau by 3 p.m. dripping wet from the rain.

Tomorrow, it's back to Anolani Street for HTMC TM of the Kulepeamoa Ridge Trail--unless, of course, my aging body says otherwise when I wake up in the a.m.

Hike on, all you enthusiasts.

--dkt