Kaiwa Ridge to Keolu Hills - Thanksgiving Day

November 24, 2011

Sommer, Chas, Anale`a, Olena and I headed up Ka`iwa Ridge to the Lanikai pillboxes for a Thanksgiving morning sunrise hike.

After starting a little later than I would like, we got to the first bunker just as the peaked above the clouds.

Another great start to the day! From the bunkers we headed mauka and past Pu`u Lanikai and on to Keolu Hills.

Ka`iwa Ridge/Keolu Hills is so beautiful in the morning. The trail offers great views of Kailua, Waimanalo and the Ko`olau ridge.

Ana and Olena were such troopers!

We made our way down Keolu Hills ridge.

we checked out the urban warfare site at Bellows.

Someone set up a nice deck on the Keolu Hills ridgeline.

Soon we decided to make our way off the ridge and had Kai come pick us up and take us back to our car back in Lanikai.

Our hike from the Lanikai bunkers.

The rest of the pictures:

`Ihi`ihilauakea Crater (Koko Head) - November 11, 2011

Only had time for a quick solo hike. Had planned on doing another sunrise hike up Koko Crater with Sommer, but it rained all night and all morning. That was cancelled.

Decided to head up Koko Head and check out `Ihi`ihilauakea Crater at the far end of Hanauma Bay. I quickly made my way up Koko Head to the turn off to `Ihi`ihilauakea Crater.

Koko Head offers some great views of Hanauma bay.

There are at least two craters on Koko Head. This is the first one.

Past the first crater is another lower crater with this sign.

Made my way out to the western point of Hanauma bay.

Got a nice view of the "toilet bowl" and down the ka`iwi coast.

Stopped by the Koko Head arch/hole.

Continued along the western ridge of the crater to the trail back up to the top of Koko Head.

The ridge to the top was not too steep.

Looking back towards Koko Crater you realize you've gone a long way.

Checked out the stuff at the top of Koko Head.

Headed back down Koko Head to the car at the Koko Crater parking lot.

Rest of the pictures:

Koko Crater with the Daw's and Duvernay's.

Headed up Koko Crater this Saturday (October 30, 2011). Our friends the Duvernay's and the Daw's wanted to hike Koko Crater with Sommer and I. The Duvernay's had never done Koko Crater before, so I thought a daylight hike would probably be better than a pre-dawn morning hike up the tracks in the dark.

We started at around 6 am and by then the track was a super-highway!

The view from the summit was great as always.

Everyone made it to the top!

We hung out at the top for about an hour and made it down for a picture at the start.

Time lapse from the start of the tracks:

Rest of the pics:

Lanikai Loop - October 22, 2011

This past Saturday (10.22.11) Sommer was away visiting her sister in Utah, so I had a free day for hiking! I had planned on hiking Laie Summit with my brother and my friends, the Daw's. But...it rained hard all day Friday and looked like it wasn't going to stop all weekend - so the Daw's bailed on slugging in the mud and opted to sleep in, instead. Disappointed Kai and I discussed some other options (Kuli`ou`ou West to Pu`u O Kona loop), but decided against anything "fun" because of the stormy weather drenching the island. We finally settled on a sunrise "hike" up Ka`iwa ridge to the Lanikai pillboxes. Something short, not dangerous and something Kai's kids could do. We pushed off from Kai's house in McCully at 5:30 am and got to the trail head at 6:00 am. Within 20 minutes Kai, his eldest daughter Ana, and I, were at the first bunker, just as a new day dawned.

We got to the first bunker just before sunrise. I set up my GoPro to film the sunrise and enjoyed another great sunrise!

Watch the time lapse video of the sunrise above Lanikai:

Despite forecasts of rain all weekend, the sky was clear up and down O`ahu's windward coast. We were blessed with a rare nearly cloudless sunrise. I never see the sunrise directly over the horizon; usually the sunrises above clouds on the horizon. Not so today.

As usual, we were not alone on Ka`iwa ridge. A group had even set up camp right in the middle of a lower part of the trail, 10 minutes from the trail head.

The sunrise was incredibly beautiful!

The Moke's were bathed in the dawn's light.

Soon the sun rose into the clouds and we contemplated what to do next.

We headed up the short ridge to the upper bunker. It was bone dry, not a rain cloud in the sky. From the upper bunker we decided to continue along Ka`iwa ridge. Like Koko Crater, Ka`iwa ridge had recently suffered from a brush fire. The fire came right up to the ridge crest trail.

The Ka`iwa ridge trail is a nice leisurely hike, especially once you reach the bunkers. There isn't much in the way of shade - luckily the sun was still low in the sky.

We came across a deck chair sitting on the top of concrete and rock marker along the ridge.

Kai and I decided to continue on the ridge trail and make a loop of the hike. We spotted a trail heading down a ridge at the back of Lanikai. That would be our destination as we would walk back to my car on the road to complete the loop. The views of Kailua, Waimanalo and the Ko`olau were stunning.

Kai was able to take some rare pics of me on the ridge trail. Here's me and Ana.

Soon we reached the ridge that would take us down to the backside of Lanikai.

From the final ridge you could see the ridge we traversed, Mt. Olomana and the Mokes.

After a brief scramble down the semi-steep ridge, we were deposited on Luika Place.

From there we made out way back to my car walking along A`alapapa Drive, then on to 7-Eleven for some Dr. Pepper and snacks!

Rest of the pictures:

Trailhead:

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Where the ridge loop ends at the back of Lanikai:

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Lanikai Loop GPS track: