Almost Paradise

I don’t usually post links to other people’s stuff, but this one is worth clicking on.

These guys climbed up to the Koʻolau ridgeline… and then climbed DOWN the waterfalls at Sacred Falls. Oh lord! There’s a good reason why the valley was closed in 1999 after eight hikers were killed at the base of the falls by falling boulders; it’s just too dangerous to risk allowing people in now that we know that the rock is unstable. These photos are gorgeous and terrifying and utterly insane.

http://www.merman.us/cgi-bin/photos.cgi?s=3&dt=07/2

Roger, Diane, and I hiked the Lanipō Trail yesterday. It’s really my favorite of the East Honolulu Koʻolau ridge trails. Here’s a Google Map showing the beginning and the ending of the trail.

It was a cloudy, breezy day — great hiking weather. I didn’t take as many photos as I usually do, partly because we kept up a pretty constant conversation as we walked, and partly… well, you’ll see.

“So, where exactly are we heading?” Diane asked. I squinted and pointed. “Over there.” About half an hour later, I realized I’d made a mistake — our target wasn’t a couple of peaks to the right of the KHPR transmitter, it was a couple of peaks to the left. Here’s where I should have been pointing. The peak is about 3 miles away in this photo.

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The Mānana Ridge Trail starts at the top of Pacific Palisades. For me, growing up in Pearl City, it was practically in my back yard. As a teenager I tramped its first couple of miles with my friends many times, but never more than that because the trail’s pretty long — about 6 miles one way — and being young and lazy, we never got started early enough to feel comfortable that we’d be able to get to the Koʻolau summit and back again before sundown.

So, when I started hiking again a few years ago, Mānana was on my definitely-gotta-do-one-day list. A few months ago, when I saw it listed on the Hawaiian Trail & Mountain Club schedule — and on my 40th birthday, no less! — I knew that it was a sign. I pinned that schedule to the fridge and circled the date. Summiting Mānana would be my birthday present to myself. So last Sunday I got up early and was up at the trailhead at 8:30am.

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I hiked the Mānana Ridge Trail yesterday with the Hawaiian Trail & Mountain Club. More to come, once I recover.

Last Sunday I hiked the Lanipō Trail, above Kaimukī. It’s been almost two years since my first time on that trail, and more than six months since the last time I did a Koʻolau ridge hike. Oh, my aching thighs. For the next three or four days I winced as I climbed up and down stairs, and when I got into and out of chairs.

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We have had family in town for the past week visiting from out of state, so we’ve been going out and doing stuff. Last Friday we headed to Makapuʻu Lighthouse for a morning hike. Straight up the cliff face to the top of the hill, then back down on the access road, just like Stuart Ball suggests in his book. I’ve done it probably four or five times in as many years. It’s a fun and fairly easy hike.

I hadn’t been up to Makapuʻu for about a year and a half, and things have changed up there! DLNR has enlarged the lookout parking lot, added a separate lot for hikers using the access road, made them both ADA-compliant, etc. Problem is, they’re not quite done.

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KHPR, the main Hawaiʻi Public Radio station, was off the air yesterday morning but was back by dinnertime. Usually I wouldn’t give it much thought, except for Erika Engle’s story about it in the Star-Bulletin.

The KHPR transmitter is up at the top of Wiliwilinui Ridge, and got knocked out of service by recent bad weather, including a lightning strike that melted a switch. Eeek. When the equipment finally conked out Tuesday night there was no way to helicopter up there to do repairs due to the weather. So instead, Jeff Ilardi, one of the HPR staff, hiked up there first thing in the morning to do the job. Now I’ve hiked the Wiliwilinui Trail myself, and it’s a workout even in dry weather. To climb the two-and-a-half miles to the summit with the ground as slippery and soggy as it must be right now? That takes real dedication. Hats off to Jeff.

My cousin Haemi came to Hawai‘i for a visit. She grew up here but moved away, and hasn’t been back for almost 9 years. Haemi is my birth mom’s niece, so growing up I didn’t know her. And as it happened, she moved away a few months before I met my birth mom again, so this was the very first time I got to meet her. It has been very cool being able to meet and get to know her.

She turned 21 while here, so we had a birthday lunch for her.

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Chris, Kirk, Jayson, Chris, and I hiked the Pu‘u Pia trail on Labor Day. (I’ve been lazy and didn’t write it up until tonight.) Pu‘u Pia is a small hill in Mānoa Valley. It’s a short easy trail, just right for a couple of hours of pleasant walking.

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We took Kirby and Rusty out hiking today to Kamananui Valley, at the back of the Moanalua Valley suburb. It was their first exposure to anything wilder than a lawn or a park. They had a blast!

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