OHE 3/8/97 — Numero Uno

OHE 3/8/97 — Numero Uno

I’ve established a moderated mailing list (moderator: me [g]) called Oʻahu Hiking Enthusiasts. I’ll be posting write-ups about recent hikes I’ve completed. You’re on this list—not at your own request—but because I thought you’d like to read and perhaps contribute information and questions about jaunts into Oʻahu’s backcountry.

If you want to be removed from the list (which will probably amount to only a handful of emails a month), let me know. Also, if you have any narratives, questions, or news about Oʻahu trails and hikes, send them in and I’ll post them here. New members are welcome, so please pass the word if you know anyone who’d like to join the ʻohana.

Here’s the latest haps:

I helped clear the Waimalu Ditch Trail today with the HTMC maintenance gang. For those who haven’t been there, the trail starts at the top of Onikiniki Street, just before the entrance to a gated community.

The path drops steeply at the start, then contours along the side of the ridge before dropping down to Waimalu Stream. The trail crosses the stream, heads makai to skirt the base of a finger ridge, then continues mauka, contouring along the side of that ridge.

Several stream crossings follow, including a particularly deep and inviting pool at the second crossing.

Eventually, the trail reaches the base of a ridge at the back of the valley. This feature—referred to as the Middle Ridge because of its position—eventually climbs to the Koʻolau Summit spine.

Today, only Wing Ng went as far as the Middle Ridge, hacking open an uluhe-choked trail to a point about 200 vertical feet up. On a previous outing, Wing ascended the Middle Ridge to just below the summit. Stuart Ball, Jason Sunada, and others have topped out at what Wing calls a “mystical spot”—or something to that effect.

The likelihood of reaching that spot has now improved, as the ditch trail is wide open after being cleared of low-hanging branches and tangly hau. Wing reported hiking out from the back of the valley in 1 hour, 45 minutes.

On another note, tonight I received an email from Grant Tokumi about his successful ascent of Olomana’s three peaks. He posted photos from that hike at:

http://student-www.eng.hawaii.edu/tokumi/olo.html

Here’s an excerpt from Grant’s post:

“There are some ropes at the beginning of the second-to-third peak area again. There are ropes on the descending part, but no ropes on the incline to the third peak. We saw some pegs and some hacksawed pegs where there should be ropes (cables). It would have been nice to have them, but we managed alright.

There were ropes on the other side of the third peak going back down. One guy (Daryn—I think he may have emailed you) tried to go down a little but couldn’t see where it went. Maybe someone stole the ropes and put them on the other side?”

For those who don’t know Grant, he and a friend recently did Manamana. A link to photos from that outing should also be available at the URL above.

For those unfamiliar with the Olomana story: this past December, vandals (or whoever) removed all the ropes and cables from the mountain just prior to the HTMC’s annual pre-Christmas hike. Apparently, some kind soul has since affixed new ropes or cables—at least on the long, treacherous descent from Peak 2 to the saddle between Peaks 2 and 3.

By the way, Patrick Rorie—the guy I mentioned in the Haiku Stairs write-up—told me that he and a friend will be climbing ʻOhulehule via Kahana Valley on Saturday. In his book, Stuart Ball describes ʻOhulehule as “the most dangerous hike on the island.” Anyone interested? If so, I can put you in touch with Patrick.

No ʻOhulehule for me this time. I’ll be leading a group of computer newsgroup folks (soc.culture.hawaii) on the Kuaokala Trail out the Makua Valley side on Saturday. Then next Sunday, it’s off to the windward side for Makapuʻu–TomTom with the HTMC clearing crew.

Aloha,
— Dayle