8/29/98 - As you drive around Kahana Bay coming from Kaneohe,
this peak is the second from the ocean on the mountain on the far side of the bay.
You can park at the Kahana Bay State Park, although the area does seem a bit sketchy to
leave your car. Head left along Kam Hwy towards the boat dock. The trail
starts across the road. Once you're in the guinea grass, the trail to Pu'u Piei was
very hard to follow and that resulted us climbing to Kilo instead! ...the very first
time that I actually needed those directions!The trail leads you through lots of dry
grass and dirt areas. There were areas where the erosion was very bad and without
much plant covering I kept slipping back down the mountain! Anyway, after working
our way up for about a half mile we finally obtained the ridge. From there is was
pretty easy going with a steady climb. Near the top there are several sections where
you need to climb up rock faces of about 8 feet.
Once we got to the top we had incredible views of Kahana Bay, Pu'u Manamana across the
Bay, Pu'u Ohulehule inside the valley and...of course, our original destination, Pu'u
Piei, about a half mile along the ridge! The crest actually looks doable...but it
looks like a lot of work because there was no trail and there's some pretty hairy
sections.
Date: August, 1998
Time Duration: 3hours
Difficulty: Green
Danger: Blue
Notes: You need to be in not bad shape because the climb is a bit inclined, but
the thing I felt most difficult about this hike was that it was so damn hot! It's
was very dry and the footing was pretty bad at places. There are a couple places
with somewhat steep drop offs and the rocks are sometimes loose, especially where you're
climbing so just need to be cautious. It took us a little longer because we didn't
know where we were going and didn't know how to get back! One thing to remember is
to keep an eye on the ridge you want (the second one in), although the views from the top
of this ridge were very eye-pleasing still!
