HTMC TM: Pu'u Kalena

 HTMC TM: Pu'u Kalena

A bunch of us from the club traveled up to Kolekole Pass this morning to hike and do some maintenance work on the 2.5-mile trail to Pu'u Kalena. The summit of Kalena is 3,504 feet, the #2 peak on Oahu after Ka'ala.

Roll call: Mabel Kekina, Jay Feldman, Ken Suzuki, Carole K. Moon, Gordon Muschek, Lynn Agena, Grant Oka (just back from his honeymoon), Georgina Oka, Jason Sunada, Steve Becker, Dave Sanford, Dusty Klein, Brenda and Dick Cowan, Nathan Yuen, Roger Breton, Thea Ferentinos, Art Isbell, Ed Gilman, Pat Rorie, Tom Yoza, Dayle Turner.

At present, Schofield is on alert status, which means armed sentries at every open gate. Since we had permission and a permit, we were allowed on base to drive up to the Pass. We were on the trail at 8:30, with the initial weather situation (gloomy and cloudy) less than ideal. During last year's TM of Kalena, we were poured on during the return leg, creating slick conditions that are a particular concern when tiptoeing across the trail's notorious dikes and descending its steep, eroded slopes. However, today's weather improved greatly by day's end. So much so, in fact, that we all were sun baked and drenched from the warm, sunny state of things.

Kalena is a beauty of a route: it serves up a heck of a workout, with plenty of stiff climbing going and coming; it provides an adrenaline infusion in spots, especially when hiking the dikes; it offers pretty views of both the central plain and the Waianae side; and it isn't a big chore to clear. It also doesn't take that long to complete, with today's speed hikers (Roger, Thea, and Nathan) back at the Pass and heading home by 1:00 pm.

Stuart describes the present route to Kalena in detail in his revised Hikers Guide to Oahu, so there's no need for me to lay out the route here. Stuart also tells us the Hawaiian to English translation of Kalena is "the lazy one" which smacks of irony since lazy folks aren't likely to do the Kalena out and back successfully.

Some highlights and misc stuff:

• Pat and Ed continued past Kalena to do some exploratory hiking. Not sure if their goal was Ka'ala or Hobbs Ridge. Pat will probably post something to OHE this week.
• Speaking of Hobbs Ridge, it's easily visible on the final ascent to Kalena, and to coin a phrase I've heard John Hall utter very often, "It's not so bad" (at least it doesn't look like it).
• Also readily recognizable was Steve R's "Bolo Head," which sits atop a spur that radiates down from Ka'ala.
• From the summit of Kalena, radio contact was made with Justin Ohara, who was doing today's Aiea Ridge club hike (the straight-line distance from Kalena to Aiea ridge being ~18 miles). Justin reported about 25 participants for the outing.
• Several dozen thundering howitzer explosions from the Schofield firing range served as an audio backdrop during the hike (not the best thing to be happening when moving across the dikes). Some of us were concerned about a firing miscalculation and a stray round blowing up the ridge from under us (misfires have been known to happen).
• The "forest fire" on the slopes of Ka'ala that I reported in yesterday's Kapalama Loop write-up was still visible today below us as we climbed to Kalena. The "fire" turned out to be from a smoke round fired by the military. Apparently, the artillery personnel use the smoke to determine the wind speed and direction when pinpointing a target.
• Ken Suzuki reported some nice flora finds during an all-day excursion into slot ravines on the right side of Makaha Valley on Saturday. He also mentioned a face-to-face with a couple of large horned goats and a close call when trying to cross a waterfall chute. Yikes.
• Tom Yoza reported a turnout of about two dozen for yesterday's Sierra Club miconia hunt in Manoa. Found were a couple of large specimens (20+ feet?) and a bunch of smaller ones. The war against these pests will continue next month. Charlotte or Tom or someone will likely post an announcement beforehand.
• Next Sunday's (9/16) TM outing will be Waiau Ridge. I or Jay or Pat or someone will post the meeting place and time for those doing the bottom-up clearing of the ridge. Like we've done the past couple of years, a group will hike up the Waimano Ridge trail, do the short (15-minute) summit crossover to Waiau, then clear that trail from the top down. The meeting time for that will be 7:30 a.m. at the Waimano trailhead.

Go HTMC!

--dkt