Had a big week of hiking, completing three outings. Compared to my hiking days of yore, this wouldn't be much of a deal. Nowadays, with a hike happening about once a month, if that, three hikes over the course of four days is out of the ordinary.
Anyway, the last one I did was TomTom this past Sunday, and I was joined by Ed Gilman, Bill Melemai, and Tyler Hawkins. Folks on OHE are probably familiar with Ed and Bill since I've written about adventures with these guys a number of times for the list. Tyler, on the other hand, is a new name for OHE. He's my office colleague at LCC and has hiked with Pat Rorie on church outings.
This was the first time on TomTom for Bill and Tyler. And this was the first time ascending TomTom for Ed and I, we having descended this trail quite a number of times. We were supposed to have started hiking around 2 but were delayed a bit so we didn't get going till after 3.
Not to worry, though, since the trail isn't a long one and our plan was simply to go up and then come back down. The initial section from the street into the forest has become badly overgrown. But we were able to plow through without too much resistance. Once above the forest level, we stopped at several places on the way up. We enjoyed the views of Waimanalo and the ocean, and Bill snapped pics of us with his digi cam. Bill also pointed out on owwee on his head, a result of close encounter with a protruding branch on the climb. Ed also pointed out ridges he Scott, and Wing had climbed/explored. Couldn't find Wing-Wing, though.
About 2/3rds of the way to the top, a light rain began to fall but the precipitation interlude was brief. As we neared the summit, Ed, who led us up almost all the way, yielded the lead spot to me, probably since the hike was my last one in the state of singlehood.
At the summit, we sat down next to the large powerpole and chatted and rested. Bill and Ed took turns snapping pics.
With a foodfest at the HTMC clubhouse to get to (my bachelor party), we departed the summit about 4:45. The earlier rain made for slightly slippery conditions on the way down, but we all descended back to the trailhead without mishap.
The posthike gathering was fun and filled with several hours of hiking tales and included a best-wishes phone call from an inebriated group of HTMers who were at Waianapanapa on Maui. Wing, Fred Boll, Waianae Steve, Scott V., Bill Jarrell, and Bill's brother-in-law Mike joined Ed, Bill, Tyler, and me.
--dkt
Author: Dayle Turner (turner@hawaii.edu)
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