Lulumahu Ridge via Konahuanui?

Lulumahu Ridge via Konahuanui?

Posted to OHE on 17 January 2002 by Jay Feldman

Wednesday morning, I arrived at our rendezvous point on Tantalus Drive and was taken aback to find only Wing Ng waiting for me there. For this to happen is about as common as finding a blooming Lobelia on the trail. To the best of my recollection he is always the last to arrive or leave the scene of any hike. Needless to say, I took this as an omen, promising excellent hiking weather and a positive result for the day's hiking adventure. Our objective was to see if we could find a way across Lulumahu Valley from Konahuanui Ridge onto Lulumahu Ridge.

After a few minutes Ed and Peter showed up and we headed out. Given we had all slept through a cold and blustery night, we sincerely hoped for better weather for the day. As it turned out, we kept the cool windy weather and got rid of the rain, an excellent combination for hiking. I hardly worked up a sweat and used barely a liter of water for the entire day. Coming in on the Kalawahine trail, we noted a ton of white ribbons, with a sign indicating that a 100 mile race was soon to be run through (and through) the trail system and further requesting that the ribbons be left in place. We didn't want to screw up anyone who was crazy enough to run a century race, so we left the ribbons untouched. Arriving at the Nuuanu Overlook, we took pleasure from the view and ducked out of the wind which surely was gusting in the high 20 to 30mph range.

Doing a pretty quick ascent of Konahuanui to the side trail leading into the valley, we found some ribbons leading down (probably left by Thomas from our last clearing) and descended in search of the pool and waterfall. We crossed a dry gulch and then contoured to the stream and pool Brandon had described in his pre-hike email to me. We found one we liked but I was never sure if it was the one he described or another one further upstream.

The one we found was perfectly lovely and about 12 feet in diameter and 4 feet at its deepest point; it was crystal clear and resided below an un-climbable rock wall waterfall. Dropping down from the pool, we could see a steep and gnarly channel cut through the rocks headed toward what appeared to be another pool (perhaps Brandon's). We wanted to explore it but it was in the wrong direction and rather than lose our primary goal, we put it off until next time.

Climbing back out of the pool's basin, we contoured up the side of the ridge we had come in on until we got to the top of the waterfall, and continued even further mauka until we reached another waterfall (not much water was flowing) with its very prominent set of flat rocks (usually wet) that can be seen from Konahuanui trail.

This is where El Wingo apparently tried to take wing but "self arrested." Did I mention all the wet rocks were slippery? Luckily, we had no problems and following the streambed further into the valley, we worked our way up to a point that sat almost directly under the saddle that follows the very obvious double hump of Lulumahu Ridge.

It was noon, so we clambered up the steep bank on the opposite side for a better look at our climbing objective, which was a much steeper slope than the one we sat on, and about as high as a ten story building. A building designed to keep cat burglars out. Sitting on some uluhe, we ate, yacked, and actually talked to Wing on the radio. He was doing the Wing Thing, (lopping, hopping, and plopping, not to mention clearing, ribboning, and exploring) and making good time behind us. After a very short shower and loss of the sun, we started to get chilled and so packed up and headed back into the streambed where we searched for an advantage to help us get up that ridge. I believe we found one worth exploring, and while Ed and Peter were game to do it, I persuaded them to save it for another day when we were fresher and I had more time. Reluctantly, they agreed.