At first I was thinking...Kalhi Valley. That helped me
in deciding which car I was going to take and what I wanted to take out of my car before I
left home. But the residents in that area were actually very courteous and friendly!
I real kick back attitude! I still wouldn't take a new car up there, but I
feel a bit better about my view of that area.You start the hike with a climb up several
flights of moss covered stairs. Be careful, very slippery when wet! (this is
probably the most dangerous part of the hike). After the stairs you come out near a
watertank and then head upwards, continuing a bit steeply through some ironwoods and
eucalyptus trees. Once you break out on the ridge line, the rest of the hike is a
breeze.
Along the way there are nice views of Kalihi Valley on the left. You can hear the
dozens of roosters crowing from below. Up ahead you can see towards the Likelike
tunnel. Supposedly you can also see Lanihuli up ahead but that day was too clouded
over to even see the base of it. There are some steep dropoff from about mid-way on
up, but nothing really that bad.
I really don't know how far this trail is supposed to go. I'm pretty sure we went
farther than the end according to Stuart Ball's Hiker's Guide because we definately
went more than 2.5 miles. The trial was overgrown for much of the way so we didn't
know where the actual trail ended. We just kept on going until we came across a dead
dog in the middle of the trail. Poor doggy! It must have been someone's pet
because it had a cloth collar on it with a phone number (disconnected). I was
considering taking a shovel up and giving him a decent burial but have not ventured on
that trail since.
Date: June 28, 1998
Time Duration: 4hours (to however far we went)
Difficulty: Green
Danger: Blue
Notes: It was really overgrown at the time we went. Definately need to wear
long pants. But what was funny was that between the time we went up and came back
down, someone had put in cables on the lower sections! Maybe in anticipation of
trail clearing?
