Oʻahu Hike Report: Schmidt's Peak to Puʻu Kanehoa (Waiʻanae Range)

Published on November 6, 1999 by Dayle K. Turner

An off-the-beaten-path ridge climb in the Waiʻanae Range on Oʻahu, tracking from Schmidt's Peak ("The Fang") to Puʻu Kanehoa via the Honouliuli Preserve and old Del Monte pineapple field access roads.

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Hike Overview & Trailhead Access

Steve Poor, Pat Rorie, and I climbed to the Waiʻanae summit via a ridge not often hiked. We topped out at a peak Steve referred to as Schmidt's Peak, in honor of HTMC (Hawaiian Trail & Mountain Club) legend Dick Schmidt, who is one of the few folks we know who have ever negotiated it.

After visiting the peak (coming close, to be precise), we headed right along the crest until reaching Puʻu Kanehoa, where we ate lunch and then descended a ridge to the Honouliuli Contour Trail. Joining us today were Wing Ng and Greg Kingsley, who climbed up to Puʻu Kaua and returned the same way.

We all met at 8:00 AM at the parking lot of the Hawaiʻi Country Club on Kunia Road. It was a nice day for hiking, with high overcast skies and a cooling nip in the air. Forecasters had warned of scattered showers for Oʻahu today, but not a drop of rain fell in the Waiʻanaes nor in the Koʻolau Range, at least based on what we observed from our ridgetop vantage point.

Navigating the Honouliuli Preserve & Pineapple Fields

One of our concerns was being confronted by security personnel for Del Monte, since we'd be hiking up to the Kaua trailhead via pineapple field roads. Driving to the trailhead was out of the question because of a locked gate, so we hiked it, needing about 45 minutes to get from the cars to the trailhead.

While Steve, Pat, and I waited at the trailhead, a gruff-looking guy pulled up in a pickup truck. We assumed he was Del Monte security coming to turn us away; however, he turned out to be working on a fence to keep out feral pigs in the Honouliuli Preserve. After pulling up, he grabbed a liter bottle of water and a pick from his truck bed and strode off briskly into the woods without questioning us.

Feeling fortunate, we headed into the forest following a well-worn trail, expecting Greg and Wing to catch up later.

Ascending Schmidt's Peak ("The Fang")

The trail contoured for a few minutes, then swung right and up to commence a climb to the Honouliuli Contour Trail and onward to the crest of the Waiʻanaes at Puʻu Kaua. On the way to the junction, we noticed that the fence worker had dug drainage trenches to stave off erosion.

Pat, Steve, and I rested briefly when we reached the contour trail, then decided to check out an alternate ridge route Pat had descended on a past hike. The climb up this ridge was steady but not steep, taking about 30 to 40 minutes to reach the top while periodically whooping out to signal Wing and Greg.

The ridge crests out in a spectacular pinnacle we've previously referred to as "the fang." Steve thought "Schmidt's Peak" was a more apt name, and Pat and I agreed.

Pat took the lead near the top, but paused on a steep, rocky, handhold-deprived segment about 30 meters below the summit. Confronted with an overhanging rock face of crumbly shale and massive drops on both sides, we decided not to risk a fall and backed down to contour on a steep pig/goat trail instead.

Traverse to Puʻu Kanehoa

After attempting to climb a smaller fang, we realized continuing toward Kaua via Schmidt's Peak was too dangerous, so we pivoted our objective to Puʻu Kanehoa.

We took a 15-minute break on the Kanehoa side of the small fang, enjoying cool breezes streaming over the crest and sweeping views into Lualualei Valley, Puʻu o Hulu, and the Pacific Ocean.

The leg to Kanehoa took about 1.5 hours through dense Christmas berry branches along the ridge crest. We negotiated a short narrow dike section just before the final climb to Kanehoa amid strong wind gusts and a benign swarm of cliffside bees.

At the summit of Puʻu Kanehoa, we spent 45 minutes resting, enjoying the panorama, and re-energizing before descending the Kanehoa Trail around 1:15 PM toward its junction with Honouliuli.

Flora & Native Botanical Observations

Along the descent, Steve examined a diverse array of native Hawaiian flora, including:

• Alani
• Kōpiko
• Alaheʻe
• Maile
• Aʻaliʻi
• Pukiawe
• ʻŌhiʻa
• Lama

The Nature Conservancy had been actively clearing, regrading, and ribboning native plants along the contour trail between Kanehoa and Kaua, highlighting an impressive density of lower-elevation native species.

Return via Spur Trail & Memorial

Instead of following the contour trail all the way back, we descended a wide trail on the most prominent spur before Kaua. On this spur sits a memorial marker engraved with a poem written by a 12-year-old boy who passed away in 1991, ending with the line: "Nature is beautiful."

We met up with Wing near the pineapple field roads and returned to the Hawaiʻi Country Club parking lot by 4:15 PM.

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Field Notes & Addendum

Notes contributed by Greg Kingsley:

• Trail Conditions: Excellent visibility throughout the day; Lualualei Valley was significantly greener than in previous months.
• Pesticide Notice Warning: Pineapple field workers posted active pesticide application notices (treated 11-06-99, closed until 11-08-99) along certain access roads—future hikers should remain cautious of agricultural chemical spraying schedules in the area.
• Radio Communications: Standard 2-mile range radios achieved clear line-of-sight transmissions all the way to Aloha Tower from the 3,127-foot peak.