A case in point of my interest in maps is the cross-country route I'd pinpointed to reach the Halawa ridge trail from Moanalua Valley. Yesterday--a clear, cool Sunday--a bunch of us set out with the intent of determining if theory could translate into practice. And dog-gone, it did.
Our hiking day started at the neighborhood park at the Ala Aolani Street in Moanalua Valley. Normally, to access trails in the area, we tramp on up the valley's dirt road (not a fun thing for me), but yesterday we climbed a route that began behind the park's mauka-most basketball court. The route isn't a new one, for previous hikers/hunters have placed ribbons and done some cutting to establish a line up the ~700-foot face of the mountainside. Of note are a couple of rock faces to scale, one which has a cable for assistance, but these climbs aren't technical or dicey.
Once the 20 to 30 minute climb to the crest of the (Red Hill) ridge is completed, there's a jeep road to head up. The road passes several power line towers while proceeding about a half mile or so up the ridge and terminating. In a recent post to OHE, Jim Pushaw noted an encounter with a thick stand of guava (likely the one we came to at road's end) that seemed to discourage further mauka progress, but with some poking around (by Dick Cowan) a contour path through the guava on the left was found. Thereafter, a well-maintained trail on the ridge continues. Mabel Kekina and Peter Kempf did good work opening up some brushy uluhe sections, making our return in the afternoon much easier and quicker.
The trail, which offers nice views into Moanalua Valley to the right and South Halawa Valley to the left, passes a large landslide scar on the right before dipping to a saddle lined by a row of Cook pines. After the saddle, the path climbs steadily to a prominent pu'u topped by a grove of more Cook pines. The topo map identifies this pu'u as 1620 feet in elevation (hence I refer to it as Pu'u 1620). While examining the map last weekend, I eyed a well-defined spur descending into South Halawa Valley (H3 is in North Halawa) from the mauka-facing flank of Pu'u 1620. Today we went down the spur, clearing it as we descended. The spur was uluhe-free (a good thing) and we noticed old cut marks, likely made by hunters, so we knew we weren't the first down this way. On our descent, we cleared branches and encroaching vegetation, creating a useable route down to South Halawa Stream, which I, and most of the others, had never been to before.
Once at the gently flowing stream, we picked up an established trail on the far bank. We later met some hunters who'd hiked up the stream trail with their dogs from the end of the restricted-access road that passes Halawa Prison (they may have gotten access because of their membership in the pig hunters' association). Less than 100 meters mauka of our bottoming-out point, we started up another spur ridge with the hope of reaching the Halawa ridge trail. Taking turns at the front, we plowed through uluhe, weaved and chopped our way through stands of guava, and climbed steadily. An hour and 45 minutes of chopping and climbing after leaving the stream, we gained the Halawa trail at a point a 100 feet mauka of a recent landslide that has obliterated about 20 meters of the contour path. That we had reached Halawa from Moanalua would probably make Sgt. Lytle smile.
We ate lunch seated on the Halawa trail, and I dined on my latest culinary concoction: a mixture of a half cup of cottage cheese, a can of tuna, a tbsp of olive oil, and a couple dashes of curry spice, consumed with a couple of taro muffins. Mmmm-mmm ono! Before lunch, I made a declaration on the walkie-talkie that I'd had enough of cross-country bashing and wanted to exit via the Halawa trail (I'd request a pickup in Halawa Valley by one of the other crew members). A couple other folks liked the sound of the out-Halawa proposal, so talk at lunch centered on how long it would take to hike out that way and where it would be best to emerge.
Rest and water and food, however, brought on a more energetic outlook, and I decided that retracing the route back to Moanalua wasn't as bad as it seemed ("It's really just one up," said Dick). Ed "Glutton for Punishment" Gilman tried to enlist others to join him for an ascent of Halawa Ridge and a crossover on the summit to return to Moanalua, but he found no enlistees, so he decided to waylay that plan hike back with us.
The return leg gave us a chance to inspect the clearing work we'd done on the outbound trip. And our inspection indicated the route up to the Halawa trail from South Halawa Stream is now reasonably cleared and marked (double ribbons just mauka of the large landslide on Halawa ridge mark the down-point).
The ascent from stream to Pu'u 1620 (the "one up" that Dick mentioned) was a sweaty, heart-pumping affair, and I was encouraged that I was able to complete it without having to double over and wheeze as I've done on hill climbs in recent weeks. My bodyweight (244) is the lowest it's been in a year, so maybe the lessened load is helpful.
A group led by Jason Sunada, Tom Yoza, and Ken Suzuki climbed a spur mauka of the one from Pu'u 1620 and reported that hunters had already established a marked route on it. Additionally, as Jay reported, Mike Algiers and Helene Sroat ascended Red Hill Ridge another mile and change mauka of Pu'u 1620, encountering heavy uluhe growth and some narrow dike sections en route. They steadfastly plowed through the uluhe to the junction with the Godek-Jaskulski spur trail which they descended to Moanalua Valley to a point near the start of the Moanalua Stream and middle ridge trails. A walk on the valley's dirt road brought them back to the morning's starting point.
By mid-afternoon, all who set out in the morning were back at the neighborhood park partaking of refreshments ala Mama Mabel. The fare included fresh fruit, hot dogs, dirt cake (a wonderful dessert made up of, among other things, Oreo cookies, pistachio pudding, and cream cheese), and more. While eating, our spirits were high since we had a good day of exercise, camaraderie, and exploration.
Notes:
As Waianae Steve reported in a post last week, a good deal of climbing is involved to reach Halawa ridge and return to Moanalua-over 3000 feet of vertical gain all told. Consequently, using today's route as a means to maintain Halawa ridge isn't feasible because we'd expend too much time and energy to get there and return. Ken suggested that club ask the quarry management for permission to use the quarry road to drive up the initial part of Halawa ridge. It seems the pig hunters' club has such an arrangement, and Ken is right, asking can't hurt.
Jay is gung-ho about adding Red Hill ridge to the summit to the HTMC's inventory of hikes. I agree that opening up the route is doable and is likely something that the crew will tackle, if the schedule committee and Mabel give their blessings, of course.
We heard walkie-talkie chatter from club members taking part in today's HTMC Treasure Hunt on the Aiea Loop trail. I hope an OHE subscriber took part and reports on what happened
Speaking of treasure hunts, Ken conducted one for us at the post-hike refreshment gathering. The objective was identifying a plant based on a leaf sample he showed us. The winner: Mabel. The answer: guava. Among the prize choices: a mini mag light and a Swiss army knife.
Yesterday's participants (13): Mabel Kekina, Peter Kempf, Dick Cowan, Brenda Cowan, Jay Feldman, Ed Gilman, Dayle Turner, Tom Yoza, Jason Sunada, Ken Suzuki, Georgina Oka, June Miyasato, Lynn Agena.
Today (Monday), a group led by Stuart Ball and Tom Yoza will be continuing to work on the old Kahuku trail via Pupukea. Tom or some other participant in that adventure will likely post a write-up to tell us how it went.
I'm not sure what next Sunday's TM outing is. I'm certain Jay or someone else will post the info to the list this week.
Go HTMC!
--dkt
