sade005

The subject line reveals what we worked on for yesterday's HTMC trail maintenance outing, which has to rank up there with the longest and toughest I've been involved with. Three ways were used to access the Koolau Summit Trail: the end of Pupukea Rd, the Kahuku Trail, and the Laie Trail. By day's end, exit routes included Pupukea, Malaekahana, and Laie. We met a half hour earlier than usual (7:30) at the Laie ballpark and from there, the majority loaded into a couple trucks for the drive over to Pupukea. In the meantime, the remainder would hike to the KST via Laie or Kahuku trails. The weather report for the day mentioned the possibility of thundershowers, so I kept an eye on the sky for any approaching gray masses. Except for a misty sprinkle a couple of times, nada on the thundershowers. By 10, the Laie team (Ed, Thomas, Dusty, Roger, and I) was at the KST and hacking away (the crew had cleared Laie a couple months ago and it is still in good shape). Roger had lugge...

Kahana is broad. Kahana is green. Kahana is also home to Pu'u o Kila, which we hiked to today. Our main objective was to clear a loop route the club uses to acquire Kila's summit, and 17 turned out to tend to the task. The members-only club hike will be on Sunday, March 4. Roll call: Mabel Kekina, Gordon Muschek, Connie Muschek, John Hall, Jay Feldman, Bill Gorst, Roger Breton, Arnold Fujioka, Grant Oka, Georgina Oka, Dick Cowan, Peter Kempf, Dusty Klein, Ed Gilman, George Shoemaker, Tom Yoza, Dayle Turner. >From the hunter's check-in where we started, Kila is visible toward the back of the massive maw that is Kahana. Jay, Dusty, Roger, Mabel, and Connie crossed the dam and headed back on the valley trail to tend to the left-hand ridge. Meanwhile, a dozen of us headed up the watertank road then continued down to the stream crossing by the bamboo grove to eventually reach the right-hand (north) ridge. Our group encountered a hunter and his dogs by the junction with ...

Yesterday morning (2/17/2001), I hiked up the Kealia Trail to meet friends backpacking their way from the Kaena tracking station to Peacock Flats and/or the Mokuleia campsite. I figured to get a workout out of the deal. I got that plus some unanticipated adventure. I launched from the parking lot by the Dillingham airfield control tower at 9:30, feeling relaxed and energetic after the hour drive from Kaneohe. The switchbacks up the pali were overgrown, perhaps a consequence of the budget/personnel shortcomings of Na Ala Hele. Once I reached the ridgeline, I kept moving up the dirt road, a steady unrelenting, and at times steep climb up to the rim of Makua Valley. With a nice view into the controversial valley, I paused to rest and scan the rim trail for any signs of my friends. Heading away from me to the left appeared to be Pat Rorie. And coming toward me in the distance was June Miyasato. I continued alone along the Mokuleia firebreak road toward Peacock Flats and after fifteen...

Despite their battered, dirt-stained state, my topo maps are among my most treasured possessions. One of my favorite pastimes is to spread a topo on my bedroom floor and trace out with a yellow highlight pen routes I've hiked. In fact, I just finished inking in a route I, along with a bunch of HTMC colleagues, hiked and cleared today. Having done that, my rough calculations indicate we covered 12 miles with an elevation gain of 2600 feet. A decent workout in the mountains it was. In what may be a surprise to some, we weren't hiking a ridge trail to the summit of the Koolaus or Waianaes. Indeed, we never came close to a summit. During the course of the day, we crossed three streams--Manana, Waiawa South, & Waiawa North; we hiked along an old ditch trail (Ahern); we climbed to a high point of 1400 feet and descended to a low of 350; we battled uluhe, ginger, and palm grass; we descended and ascended muddy, slick slopes; we strolled along motorcycle trails; we sauntered ...

If exploring and bashing around off-trail is your kind of thing, consider taking part in a Sierra Club miconia hunt outing one of these months. I did my fifth SC hunt today, netting a nice purple t-shirt from the SC in the process. To set the record straight, I've yet to find a miconia plant. In a way this is a plus because it gives me incentive to continue turning out for hunts. By gee, by golly, by gum, I'll find a damn miconia. Mark my words. We were supposed to start in Maunawili Valley by the Falls trailhead, but a snafu left us on the wrong side of a locked gate, which nixed Plan A which was to truck-pool on a dirt road in the valley to near our designated search quadrant. Plan B had us caravan over to the 'Nalo end of the Maunawili Demo Trail on Waikupanaha Street. There were about twenty of us altogether, including HTMers Charlotte (my idol), Thomas (search master of Maunawili), and Mike (a fairly new member). From Waikupanaha, we climbed up a wide section of ...

Today's TM outing was Waimano Ridge, a 7.5 mile trail that starts in the hills above Pearl City and ends at a Ko'olau summit overlook of Waihe'e Valley. I didn't get a head count but there were between 20 to 30 of us on hand to work. As is usually the case when we bear down on this trail, some folks blitz to the summit and then work from the top-down. Others begin working as soon as intruding brush is encountered, usually about the 2-mile mark. Some hike in a bit further and then begin clearing. Nobody is assigned a particular section; instead, folks do what needs to be done to complete the job the best way. The trail was moderately overgrown but by day's end it was cleared to club standards. Based on a small notebook in a bottle that serves as a summit register, many hikers make it to the summit of Waimano Ridge. And based on the folks signing the register, the majority are island visitors or military personnel. During our outing today, we saw four other h...

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...