Pu'u Pi'ei is the highest peak on the mountain on the north
side of Kahana Bay. You can park either at Kahana Park or at Kahana Beach Park,
probably even at the boat ramp, which although probably safer might get you in trouble.
Directly across the boat ramp is the trailhead, right next to a drainage ditch.
There's a well defined path that does a couple switch backs up the mountain a bit.The
thing to remember is to not stray from the path just yet! Continue to follow the
most pronounced trail contouring the mountain. You will pass an ancient fish shrine
on your right. Continue on the trail following the railings until you cross a stream
bed. At this point, take the right path, straight ahead. After a short
distance you'll hit the ridge and from there you can't go astray!
The beginning of the ridge is quite steep and also in the hot sun. But pretty
soon you hit the hala trees and from there you're in the shade all the way to the top of
the ridge! The climb is pretty steep all the way and gets even steeper until the
final long climb to the summit ridge. From there you turn left and take a couple ups
and downs to the peak. At the top I went as far inland as I could, clearing
christmas berry until it got just too overgrown. What you need to clear this trail
is a light saber!
Date: October, 1998
Time Duration: 3hours
Difficulty: Blue
Danger: Blue
Notes: You need to be in good shape for this hike because there are some pretty
steep climbs! There are rope sections at the top and if it rains, you definately
will need them unless you intend to slide back down. This hike is more of a
challenge because the views are mostly obsured by the hala trees on the way up and by the
christmas berry along the summit.
The other thing I noticed was there are TONS of ants! You can't really stop to
rest on the way up because you'll be swarmed! They are literally everywhere!
