Tuesday, August 17, 2010

The Ngs and Turners on Pu'u Maelieli

Yesterday, I called up my friend Wing Ng to ask him if he wanted to come along  to check out the Maelieli trail for an upcoming HTMC hike (8/28 Saturday, coordinated by Justin Ohara).

Before saying yes or no, Wing asked me who else would be joining me.

“My wife,” I said.

“Good,” said Wing, “I have one of them now, too.”

Wondering if I was hearing things right, I asked Wing to clarify what he said.

Indeed, Wing is now a married man, having departed the ranks of bachelorhood on June 25, 2010.  And he said would be bringing his new bride along to hike with us.  

“She can hike faster than me,” said Wing, as if tempting me to make a sarcastic remark about his hike pace, which I refrained and restrained myself from doing.

“Good,” I said.  “We look forward to meeting her.”

 And we did meet her. And Wing is right.  She can hike faster than he. 

The write-up in the club schedule credits my wife and I for pioneering a new route that stems off the Maelieli trail.  For the record, who also should be recognized as a pioneer is Wing, who joined us in scouting out the route last year. 

Today, the four of us scouted out an even newer route which I must say is even better than the one we used last year.  Just like last year, the newer route drops into the lowlands on the Kaneohe Bay side of the Maelieli Ridge, but what we found today is much more wide open, better marked, and more efficient.   For those interested, come out in a couple weeks to join Justin at Maelieli.

In the map at left, the yellow dots are the usual route to Maelieli which begins along Kahekili Highway near Temple Valley Shopping Center and proceeds along a ridge to a WWII bunker (blue dot).  The red dots follow the approximate route of the newest extended route that we scouted today.

Wahiawa to Lualualei via Kolekole Pass

Today (4 Aug 2001), accompanied by several hundred folks, including the J&J girls (Jackie and Jamie), I completed a 13.1-mile "hike...