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 looke...