Mariner’s Windward
Originally posted by Pete Clines on December 20, 2010
I remember hearing that there might be a doable windward continuation of the popular Mariner’s Ridge hike. On Saturday, the 18, I had time to go take a look. Turns out there are at least two.
Parking in Waimanalo, I used the Tom-Tom trailhead as my starting point, and got underway ~11:15am. After only a short while on this trail, I broke off to the right when I entered the first ironwood area. I began ribboning generously. My goal was to contour for some time at roughly the same elevation until I hit a ridge I assumed would be “the one.” Since I was under a tree canopy and had limited views of the ridges, I would have to rely on pre-planning and blind luck. It worked, and I eventually began gaining elevation on a broad spur ridge that became more defined as I got higher up. After a rock face, I popped up on a fairly narrow ridge with great views all around. Nice to be out of the mosquito-rich woods. Photo below shows the route ahead in red dots. The part at the top of the photo was the craziest part of the day. It was a nearly vertical wall of poor rock and high exposure, and I had to keep zig-zagging as I climbed to find trees or rocks that I could trust and use. A very technical stretch.
This ridge was similar in ways to its neighbor “Bear Claw,” but more dangerous. I would doubt many (any?) have climbed this route before. The photo below shows this section from the side view. (Stay tuned for how I got that angle.) Again, red dots show the route. Bear Claw and Olomana are seen in background.
After finessing my way past that hard climb, I contoured briefly on the steepest of slopes, digging notches with my machete to ensure some footing. Then I scrambled up the slope when the angle lessened just a bit….and was now on the ridgeline at a level spot. The remainder of the climb would be steep but far more sane. The next photo shows the upper stretch. Yellow dots indicate the dangerous part mentioned above. The actual route alternated to just around the corner (behind the ridge) at times. Red dots are the direct climb up the rest of the ridge.
As I climbed, I could see Mariner’s summit above me to my left. Several people could be seen in profile, and the they whooped out to me and I back at them. This confirmed that I was approaching the peak just NE of the Mariner’s trail summit – the one I hoped to be on. Actually, I was on a more menacing fork, as the prominent spur from that peak was on my right as I climbed. I would join the main spur near the top of the photo above. In no time I was atop that peak, and began left towards Mariner’s. Lots of people up there enjoying the day. I sat down for a lunchbreak.
I waited at the summit for a while to see if Duc would arrive - his hike would have him in this area at some point. Never saw him, but I was kept company by three bikini-topped women visiting from Vancouver. Can’t say I missed Duc all that much. J We discussed hikes and beaches that they could explore, and I took a couple photos of them together. In return, they took the above photos & e-mailed them to me.
At 3:30pm I decided I needed to get back down. I had initially considered Tom-Tom, but felt spunky so I opted for the windward continuation in front of me. “Mariner’s Windward EAST?” The women snapped away as I dropped down from the summit, and one quipped that she hoped it wouldn’t be the last photo ever taken of me. This ridge would start off exposed and “fun” but soon took on the character of nearby “Mauna O Ahi Windward” which a group of us descended recently. Heavily overgrown, it scratched me to pieces as I hurried to get down before dark. Much safer than my way up, but less enjoyable. As it turned out, this must have been the ridge I heard about in the past, as I found occassional faded orange ribbons. Even when the ridge broadened and several routes were possible, I would still encounter an old ribbon from time to time. Weird. Trail ESP at work. Below are two photos of my way down… both taken from my way up. Red dots show the way.
When I hit the valley floor I wandered around a bit and soon found my ribbons from earlier in the day. I was able to easily follow them back to the Tom-Tom trailhead without incident. En route I used the remnants of an old, forgotten jeep road. Interesting. I also noticed a couple of those old orange ribbons. Seems I was using a part of someone else’s approach route without knowing it. By 5:30pm I was back at the trailhead and passing the barking, charging dogs (a pit bull, a Doberman, and a black Rottweiler the size of a bear) that always spook me out until I confirm they are chained.
As I entered my car, I took one last photo of the mountains. Red shows the way up (Windward West) and yellow the way down (Windward East). A worthwhile trip including two new (to me) ridges.
Author: Pete Clines <peteclines@YAHOO.COM>
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