Piliwale Ridge to Konahuanui

Piliwale Ridge to Konahuanui

Posted to OHE on 31 July 2010 by August Smith <sippin_a_cup@YAHOO.COM>

Wednesday the 21st of July. Me and a couple of my closest hiking friends (myself and I) were thinking of a new challenge. I had previously scouted the lower part of Piliwale Ridge the week before; it didn’t seem so bad. I had stopped just short of the “worst” place ascending out of the notch, at an octopus tree growing out of the cliff face.

The weather on Wednesday morning was not so good. The Pali and surrounding cliffs had gotten their fair share of moderately heavy morning showers, and it was already 8:30 a.m. by the time I got going, heading up the Board of Water Supply road under a light rain. Feeling discouraged by the heavily overcast conditions and slippery wet ground, I spent a good deal of time improving the path to the notch, reaching the notch at 10:15 a.m.

Since it was already so late and the clouds were still dark, I had just about thrown in the towel on summiting. I told myself I just want to see how bad it is above the previous turnaround point.

Going down was easy enough. I slid down the worst section, then took a higher route (than last time) to contour around until I reached the up-climb tree. After a little negotiating, I had found for the most part suitable footing. Although slippery and crumbly, I only lost one foothold on the way up.

Once at the top, I was looking down at the notch. Just past this was a cable, which I gave a tug on, thinking it must be the cable which had been pulled down in ’08. It seemed solid (thank you to whoever reinstalled this). Without the cable, upward progress would have been possible, but handholds were few and far between.

At this point I was just starting to get a dose of Piliwale exposure. The ridge had narrowed considerably and the soil was loose—not as wet as I had expected. I figured I had made it this far, might as well keep going. I had about 70 feet of rope and figured I could just loop my rope going back down the bad parts. With that problem solved, onward and upward it was.

I soon started to encounter stray honey bees here and there—three total. Continuing on cautiously, no hive ever materialized. Neither did a swath or any type of trail. It started off with shin- to knee-high uluhe and intertwined trees: ʻōhiʻa, kōpiko, plus some ʻieʻie for good measure. The going was very slow.

Every 20–30 minutes I would come across another steep section with not much to hold on to. Each one was a challenge as much physically as mentally, and it was one more reason that I would end up making the decision to keep moving forward.

One particular section had a Christmas berry tree growing right in front of the rock face. I tried the Maunawili side, but it was nearly vertical and exposed. I looked on the Pali side, which had footholds; it was also really exposed and the rock looked awful. So up the tree it was (this was not a big tree). Partway up, the tree started to lean back and out. I quickly came back down, pulled out my hand saw, and cut it down.

As I made my final pass on it, I ducked while it flew up and over my head and continued down the ridge. I was glad to be alone here and glad to be alive. The stump provided an excellent foothold.

A couple more memorable spots: one foot was in Maunawili and the other on the Pali side, both on a tuft of moss barely held on by a small ʻuki (sedge) plant. I am not sure which came first or after—the second cable section (which is still intact and anchored to a healthy tree), and an eroded spot that met up with another ridge on the right that one could contour to and then up.

The middle section proved to be an exhilarating ride between its exposure, steepness, narrowness, and overgrowth. Every minute was exciting!

Somewhere along this section at 1:20 p.m. I found a 12" × 12" space and deemed it “the lunch spot.” Good thing too—I don’t think I ran into another suitable spot for hours. After an avocado sandwich and a banana, plus some brain food, I was ready to roll.

Fighting head- and beyond head-high uluhe, I was socked in from here on out. Realizing how late it was getting, I did my best to up my pace. Plowing as fast as I could through the overgrowth from here to the summit, I didn’t hit another major obstacle, although it was my biggest concern. A night out on Piliwale would most likely be cold and wet.

One of the coolest things about this hike is you get to see all the different levels of plant life on the Koʻolau cliffs, from the base elevation to the middle section and onward to the cloud forest. At least for me, these are not common experiences.

Up in the now-dominant cloud forest, things were slippery but much more mellow (aside from the vegetation) as the ridge broadened out. It was around 3:00 p.m. Feeling extremely tired, I knew I must be closing in on Konahuanui.

Just then the clouds lifted and I could see that the summit was far away, and I was worried I might have to spend the night out. So I continued on at a steady pace, not having given up yet. On the way there I must have hit three false summits with lāpala trees just below them, just like the real summit.

On the third false summit I got a glimpse of the Koʻolau summit ridge just off to my right and realized once again this is not it! Pressing on, I was soon at the junction of the two ridges and just below the actual summit. I found my lāpala tangle that I had been to years before and then saw the three stacked pink ribbons signaling the lunch spot. I was ecstatic!

At 4:10 p.m. I summited Konahuanui. Fully relieved, I knew the trail from here on out well. I sat down to rest, eat, and satta. 4:30 p.m. came fast. While packing up my hand saw, I cut my thumb decently. After some water to clean it out, I made a bandage from medical tape and lens-cleaning tissues.

Now 4:40 p.m. and on my way to K2, I stopped when I got reception to let Pete know I was on my way down safely. Thanks to the trail-clearing crew, I made it to K2 in 20 minutes in style!

I ran into a camper at the junction of the ridge and Castle trails (not very friendly—they let out a grunt when I passed). I remember thinking to myself there are some civilized pigs up here. An hour from the summit, I was enjoying the shade and sunset from the ironwood grove just above the Nuʻuanu Lookout.

I made plans to meet my ride at 7:45 p.m. in Mānoa. At 6:45 p.m. I departed my favorite spot and made a beeline for the trail, hit the overlook, then Pauoa Flats and Aihualama Trail. I got to Mānoa Falls at 7:25 p.m. as light was fleeting.

I saw a couple enjoying the pool. I waved but got no response (the day of unfriendly hikers). I don’t think they had lamps. I waited a bit and took off so they could follow me. They couldn’t keep the pace and made no effort to ask for help, so I left them in the dark (hey, I got a ride to catch). I made it out just after 7:50 p.m. just as my ride pulled up.

I contemplated going back in to help them but figured that ungrateful peeps don’t deserve help, and they could always get the helicopter in the morning ;)

By 8:30 p.m. I was back at the whip and grateful to be alive! Thus ended a long 12-hour day on the trail.