Pu`u Pia - January 2, 2012

Another short hike this week. Sommer was out watching movies with her friend Rachelle and I only had a few hours to hike. I headed deep into Manoa Valley and up the short hike to Pu`u Pia.

The trail starts on Alani Lane, just off Alani Drive in Manoa.

The trail is short, it takes less than an our to top out. Usually the trail is very muddy (seeing as how it's at the back of Manoa valley) but the trail was relatively dry today.

As the trail nears the summit it turns from a muddy track into a pleasant grassy stroll.

The summit offers beautiful views of the Ko`olau ridge at the back of Manoa Valley.

Along the way a interesting koa tree rises just off the trail.

The view out of Manoa Valley was shrouded in vog and the glare of the setting sun.

After a few minutes on the summit I headed quickly down the trail, spending just an hour-and-a-half from start to finish.

Rest of the pictures:

Last Sunrise of the Year! Koko Crater - December 31, 2011

Last year I ended 2010 with a hike up Koko Crater.  This morning Sommer and I dragged ourselves up Kohelepelepe (Koko Crater or Pu`u Mai) to welcome the last sunrise of 2011. We pushed off from the parking lot under the cover of darkness. Surprisingly, the trail was quite busy considering it was still pitch black! Last week there was only a handful of people on the tracks before sunrise, today there were dozens.

For some reason going up the tracks was much more difficult than usual. Last week it only took 45 minutes to summit. Today it took over an hour! By the time we neared the summit we no longer needed our flashlights and could finish the tracks under the pre-dawn morning light.

There was at least two dozen people at Pu`u Mai, I counted at least four camera filming the sunrise as well. Sommer and I climbed to the top of the metal grating at the summit, but the morning dew made the grating extremely slippery. We had to slide down to get off for fear of falling in front of the other hikers assembled at the top. There was one couple watching their laptop on a landing at the summit.

After a short wait, the sun peaked above the clouds on the horizon.

The sun slowly lit the Ka`iwi Coast.

Soon we made our way down to the tracks. Before heading down I took Sommer into the bunker under Pu`u Mai.

It was absolutely pitch black in the bunker with no light leaking in from the tall ventilation shaft.

Sommer did not like being in the complete darkness and confined space, so we only spent a few moments in bunker before heading back.

We quickly made our way down the tracks. What a great way to start the weekend and end another year!

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Mariner's Ridge - December 26, 2011

Update:  The pricks at Kamehameha Schools have since closed off this hike from the public.  A fence has been erected at the trailhead and residents have been instructed to call the cops on trespassers.

Sommer offered to go hiking with me the day after Christmas!  I had to quickly jump on the offer before she came to her senses.  We decided on Mariner's Ridge, a hike we haven't done since the summer of 2007.

We started off from the trail head just as the sun was rising above the horizon to start another day.

Despite being overcast and windy, the trail remained dry during our trip to the summit.

About 3/4 of the way to the top Sommer and I took a short pit stop at a rest/camping area that had been set up in a clearing just off the trail. The area looks to be dedicated to the Navy SEALs (I'm assuming it's not dedicated to seals the animals). There were several plaques, American flags and two benches in the clearing.

Sommer snacked on some Granny B's pink cookies that her sister sent her for Christmas!

Within minutes we topped off at the Mariner's Ridge terminus over looking Waimanalo and Kailua.

I set up my tripod and DSLR to take some video.

I was able to make this time-lapse of the view from the summit.

After a brief time on the Ko`olau crest we turned and returned the we came, enjoying the short hike back to civilization.

Rest of the pictures here:

Christmas Eve Koko Crater Sunrise

Dragged myself up the Koko Crater railway for a beautiful sunrise this Christmas Eve! With the sun rising at 7:05 am I pushed off from the parking lot at the bottom of Koko Crater at 5:30 am. Last time I hiked up Koko Crater for a sunrise I was all alone on the mountain. Not so this morning. There were a couple brave people already making their way down the tracks while I was heading up...both without flashlights or any other means to light the steep steps below! When I reached the top of Kohelepelepe (Pu`u Mai) there was already a small crowd of early morning gathers waiting for the sunrise. There was also a couple guys smoking cigarettes and welcoming the day with a couple Bud Lights!

I set up shop and started filming the horizon and waited for the sun to rise over Molokai.

The horizon was cloudy, as usual, and a few minutes after the scheduled sunrise, rays of brilliance started piercing the gray.

The clouds made for a spectacular sunrise!

Another sunrise time-lapse:

Before heading down the tracks I checked out the oft overlooked massive bunker under Pu`u Mai. At the top of the tracks there is a small door and entry way down a long tunnel to a very large and tall two room bunker sitting under the summit.

It is pitch black in the bunker. If you don't have a flashlight DO NOT attempt to explore. The ground is covered in discarded planks of wood and corrugated metal. You will harm yourself if you attempt to enter the bunker without a source of light.

As I approached the entry to the bunker, some guy asked where I was going. I asked if he'd ever been inside the bunker. He hadn't. I told him lets go. he didn't have a flashlight so we used my headlamp to light the way.

I didn't take any pictures of inside the bunker, it was too dark, but this is what the entrance looks like from the access tunnel.

Inside the largest of the bunker rooms there is a ladder that climbs at least 40-50 feet up a narrowing shaft to this structure at the summit.

The ladder looks original and a fall from the higher levels of the ladder would most likely be fatal. After a few moments inside the bunker we made our way topside and I made my way down the tracks.

It seemed like the misty morning kept many hikers away. The tracks were a lot less crowded than usual for a Saturday morning.

Rest of the pictures here:

p.s. - Happy Birthday, Pohai!

Diamond Head - December 17, 2011

Having not hiked in a couple of weeks I was getting antsy to get out this past Saturday. Sommer and I were having a Christmas party with some friends and I had to be up early to prepare a turducken for the party. I decided to head up Diamond Head and check out the new bypass trail the State recently opened.

Diamond Head doesn't open until 6 am. I got there at around 5:45 am, and there was a line of cars and tour buses waiting at the tunnel for the gates to open.

There was a mass of people walking into the crater as well, with easily 100-200 people crowded around the entry kiosk, waiting to pay to get into the park. I have never seen Diamond Head as crowded as I did that morning! Hiking under the darkness of the pre-dawn morning (the sun doesn't rise until 7 am) the crowd was suffocating! There was a solid line of people stretching nearly the entire length of the trail, from top to bottom! It was frustrating because there was simply no room to move past the crowds of early morning adventurers. Finally some fitness lady was forcing her way past the throng, and I simply followed in her wake and made my way past the cruising tourists.

The new bypass trail avoids the LONG stairs and the claustrophobic spiral stairway sections inside the bunker complex. It makes for a very pleasant walk up some stairs along the inside of the crater wall. I really like the new path, it's much more enjoyable and scenic than drudging through the bunker complex.

Diamond Head offers the best views of Waikiki, which are even better in dark.

I swear the trail was the most crowded I've ever seen.

Soon the sun started to approach the horizon and things lightened up.

The new bypass also has a lower lookout on the south/koko head side of the crater rim.

Pictures of the bypass from the parking lot.

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