Coming down the Pali Hwy towards Kailua, we took a left on
Auloa Rd and parked on the side road immediately on the left. From there we
headed towards the triple peaks of Olomana (Olomana, Ahiki and Pakui). We passed a
friendly guard at his post and continued along the road until reaching the sign which
marked the start of the trailBecause it had rained recently, the lower part was
somewhat muddy in many places. We climbed through the lower exotic forest without
any views until we broke out onto the ridge. From there we headed right and began
climbing a bit steeper through an ironwood grove and tons of christmas berry. The
forest thined out a bit and we needed to do a little rock climbing here and there but
there were ropes and pegs whenever it got a little steep. A little further and we
were at the top of Olomana! The views were incredible from here. You could see
from Makapu'u to Kualoa!
After a short rest, we continued down the first peak (Olomana) and back up the second
(Ahiki). We were about to decend the second peak but someone was climbing up the
rope so we sat down and took another breather. The person climbing up was none other
than Patrick "Paka" Rorie! After exchanging pleasantries we headed on down
the long rope section towards the third peak (Pakui).
Going up the third peak was the trickiest part of the hike because you have to actually
do some rock climbing. But it was really fun! I'd much rather do that than
bust up my knees! When we finally got to the top we realized just how hot it was
that day! No winds, just muggy and sticky. I wondered if we could actually
connect to Lanipo from here...
Date: November 11, 1998
Time Duration: 5 hours
Difficulty: Blue
Danger: Blue
Notes: The first part of the hike is a little boring, but once you get to the
part just below the first peak, it gets really fun! It's different than other hikes
because there's a lot of rock climbing mixed in and you have nice views the rest of the
way to the end! The views from the first peak are just as good as those from the
second or third, but you just have to go all the way because you'd just feel...incomplete
if you didn't! The long rope coming down the second peak isn't bad at all.
Even climbing up the third peak wasn't as bad as the stories I had heard. But
if you have a fear of heights, you probably will feel quite a bit uneasy.
I'd recommend doing the hike on a day with moderate winds, maybe about 15-25mph.
It was calm and muggy and it made the hike so hot! Our shirts were drenched
in sweat right from the start! Although the others did, I didn't get too thirsty, so
I'm thinking that it was more the humidity than a difficult hike. But, this is one
hike everyone should do, at least to the first peak!
