This past 4th of July Pete Clines had a great idea: we could watch both fireworks shows (Kailua + Hawaii Kai) from the comfort and seclusion of the Ko'olau Summit. A great idea indeed! Plans were made to meet up at the Kamiloiki trail sometime in the afternoon. Once at the summit we would then head across the KST towards Makapu'u for a short distance and hang out for the rest of the night and fireworks shows on the broad summit of Kamehame ridge, among the many abandoned buildings.
Since the 4th fell on a Wednesday, I had the day off. W/ all that time between the morning and the hike I decided to take a different route to Kamehame ridge .... I got an early (for me) start at 7:45am at the top of Maunalani Circle. Loaded down w/ a heavy pack including 4 litres of water, a machete + handsaw, 6 apple bananas, 2 avocado sandwiches, 4 apples, 2 headlamps, 2 space blankets, rain jacket + pants, xtra shirt, 2 cameras 1DSLR and 1 point and shoot, 2 lenses, my tripod + ballhead, 8 memory cards, 3 spare batteries, lense cleaning stuffs, a 35' length of 1/2" rope, maybe more. my pack felt heavy, maybe 35 or 40 lbs.
Morning weather was anything but stellar, heavily overcast + passing showers w/ moderate trades. Knowing that the weather is a rapidly changing thing in Hawaii, I kept my pace up. I hit KaInawa'aunui just after 10am; I don't recall taking a break here as everything was wet and cold + no views. I passed the Lanipo Benchmark at 10:25am and didn't pause. The surrounding clouds began to lift as I made my way to Waialae Nui revealing overcast skies all the way past Makapu'u. I called Pete to let him know my plans and see if the fireworks hike was still a go. "Maybe" was all I needed to keep going.
I slid my way down a steep section, then relaxed as I made my way through a somewhat overgrown HECO section and topped out at Wiliwilinui at 11:15am. Enduring another round of clouds and showers, I paused to take a few photos of the obnoxious signs that DLNR had posted. Seeing that "no trail existed" (as per the sign), I figured I would just have to keep going. Passing Wailupe Middle terminus at 11:32am, I plowed towards what was once untrail (it wasn't that bad ... but not as good as it is today! Mahalo, Duc). I reached the terminus of Kului Ridge around 11:50am, and Hawaii Loa terminus at 12 noon.
Much to my surprise, 2 middle-aged women were huddled across the KST entrance. I said Hi; they asked where I had come from. I said Lanipo, which had been their first choice of trails that day, but the weather had changed their minds. Still socked in and starting to shiver, I bid them farewell. Looking confused, they asked where I was headed... and I said Kamehame ridge of course! As I left, I swear I saw them shaking their heads. Within 15 mins, I was once again alone at the terminus of Kulepeamoa ridge.
Break time! I ate lunch and enjoyed the Sun! Views in every direction aside from Hawaii Loa. After a 40 min break, I headed down the KST towards Kuliouou West. Being a lone hiker, I was slightly worried I may get turned around at the split of the KST and the KindaST, but w/ the clouds gone and sun prevailing, these worries were just that. Kuliouou West was reached at 1:30pm. At 1:53pm I was looking down Bear Claw on top of Pu'u O Kona and the weather was gorgeous!
I reached the Kuliouou State trail just after 2pm and talked w/ an older gentleman for a few minutes, basically the same conversation as before.
Bidding him farewell, I made my way towards Mauna O Ahi Windward, Mauna O Ahi Leeward, Hahaione Middle, the Spire (pyramid) and finally too Kaluanui ( Mariners ) at 3:23pm .... I took another break 10 mins past Kaluanui terminus, using the hot sun to dry off my shirt ( kind of ) I called Pete to let him know I would do my best too catch up w/ the rest of the group. They were on route up Kamiloiki. I left my break spot at 3:45pm and headed for TomTom, making it there just after 4:30pm.
By 5:00 pm I was at the Kamiloiki terminus saying hi to Pete, Pat Rooney, Miyo, Grace, Chris, Joe, Victoria, and Kevin. After subsequent breaks, we made our way over to Kamehame ridge. While en route Pete eye'd a rock formation on the windward side of the island so we went over to take a look at it. After a couple of pics of Pete hanging off of it we commenced our upward journey to Kamehame. Once there we marveled at the amazing light beems shooting over the Ko'olau's and through the clouds. we made it too the small Pu'u just before Kamehame and scouted for the best view.... after much negotiation or not we decided on this Pu'u.
I dug through my bag pulling out warm and dry clothing which I proceeded to put on ( in the bushes ) then set up my tripod and camera gear for the show ! enjoying each others presence we ate and some drank ( a little ; ) ) The illegal fireworks had started long before as some kind of pre show experience ... as it got dark we watched the main show ( sometime before or after the start of the show ) Laredo came up the Kamehame road and meet us at the Pu'u.
Pete describes the experience as a fireworks "tennis match" as Hawaii Kai goes then Kailua then Hawaii Kai ..... you get the picture .... none were disappointed w/ the outcome. Seeing as the night was beautiful and we stayed put and enjoyed the Pu'u for a while longer catching a part of the Ala Moana Show ( off the clouds). Soon the excitment had worn off, so we called a fellow club member for some jokes (this turned out to be a bad idea !) just as he was delivering the punchline over the speakerphone .... I hear "the ridge is on fire" ... and thought to myself that isn't a good joke. Turning towards Makapu'u, there was a bright reddish, pink cloud over Kamehame ridge (our easy escape route). We had soon enough packed up our gear and headed for the road. Making our way down the road we could tell the winds were blowing said fire our way ...we kept going until being halted by the HFD w/ 2 engines. they told us that the fire had jumped the road and it was a no go ... we asked when would it be ok to come down and they said tomorrow ( seeing as I had work the next morning, that was not a acceptable answer ) they soon left us w/ the shitty advice to huddle away from the brush and wait it out. seeing as we are not stupid and the fire was bearing down on our position, we regrouped .. there were 9 of us ... we checked our water supplies and made the decision to head back towards Kamiloiki were half the cars were ... w/ out any problems we crossed over and were soon heading back down Kamiloiki ridge at 10:30pm ? under a cloud of invasive plant smoke (not the good kind ). the group had somewhat split up at this point.
I paused to take some shots of the fire as half or more continued down the ridge. somewhere around this time we noticed the fire trucks driving back and forth on the ridge. They must have wondered where the sorry asses they left behind disappeared to! Seeing as they didn't ask for or give us contact info we made no effort to tell them our decision. We moved onward towards Hawaii Kai and Kamilonui Valley .... nearing the bottom they must have seen our headlamp procession and put 2 and 2 together. Sending a helicopter our way, it buzzed back and forth the ridge we were on, blinding us w/ its spotlight again and again (the news reports this a little differently). I fell at least once because I couldn't see the shadows coming off the rocks + the noise of a low flying helo can be quite disorienting ! (I know ... I know they were trying to help ....but it didn't at all). As Pete, Laredo and I brought up the rear of the group we missed our junction while again being blinded and after a minute found the correct path. We were within eyeshot of the Heiau when I heard "I found the others" and there were two fire rescue personal standing there that we didn't call. After our subsequent "rescue" we were ushered to some awaiting police cars where they took our names and info. At this point it was 1:30pm and I took the last sip of water I had on me. Relieved to be back on paved roads and away from the smoke, we coordinated our rides and took off for home ... living through yet another Pete adventure!
Below is the excerpt from the "news" it's just another reminder not to believe everything you read in the paper !
"At one point the fire endangered more than 10 campers who were spending the night at the Hawaii Army National Guard's old Nike missile site. Seelig said the hikers decided to leave the area using a trail on the Hawaii Kai side of the ridge and the fire department's helicopter used its searchlight to mark the trail."
-August
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