EHR Super Loop

The East Honolulu Roller Coaster for me started years ago, before I was ever aware of its name. It was after a North KST backpacking trip from Laie - Waikane. After this trip, none of my day hikes in East Honolulu ever seemed to live up to the grueling nature of backpacking this stretch of the Ko'olau Summit, so I scouted and found routes through the valleys so that bigger closed loops would be possible. Kaluanui (Mariners) - Kuliouou West was as big as it got for a while.

It wasn't until years later—with a good friend, an overgrown trail with bad access, and an angry homeowner—that the inspiration and motivation would come around. It started as a way to access Waialae Nui Ridge trail; a fence had been built by, you guessed it, an angry homeowner. Soon a way was forged down into Waialae Nui Gulch and back to the ridgeline. On the early trips, we had thrown around ideas I would have called jokes—about how far one could go and get back to their car using the closed loop theory if a trail existed.

My friend had said he thought it was possible to day hike from Lanipo - Hahaione and back in a day, to which I laughed! The next 7+ months of odd days off became scouting missions into valleys I had never stepped foot into. Looking for trails that used to exist is hard work! Throughout this project, no compasses or GPS were used to find the trail; we used TOPO from time to time. Most of the time it was the "path of least resistance" that was the best option along with good old intuition.

We had a blueprint from a club super hike that had been done years prior called the East Honolulu Rollercoaster (EHR). We tried to find as much of the original route as possible. I never thought I would try the full route myself, especially after we did a test hike from Lanipo - Hawaii Loa and back. This was a monster of a loop (it didn't help that it was a hot day); it took about 12 hours and was a drainer! Scouting continued and after a while, we were one valley to the completion of the project! With the groundwork laid and the days longer, it was time!

Before I go any further, I would like to thank everyone who lent a hand on this project, from trail scouting, clearing, and marking, to map acquiring, the HTMC TM Crew, and everyone before us that gave us inspiration. Last but not least, my imaginary friend, Chase, who got a short night's sleep in between a 3-day north KST backpacking trip from Waiahole Uka - Waimalu Middle and the EHR Super Loop!

The plan was to meet Duc (who is a lot faster than I) @ 4:30am at the Mau'umae (Lanipo) Trail for a marathon of a day hike from Lanipo - Hahaione Spire through the valleys and over the hills then up and along the KST and back down the Lanipo trail. I awoke @ 3:38am that morning with bad stomach pains that had started the night before. I called Duc, who was bent on going, and told him I had to bail. You can read his report here. When he did it, I was amazed, to say the least. He told me he would never do it again! Our friend Chase was also supposed to come along that day, so I contacted him and inquired if he would like to come along on an attempt. He was in!

On 7/6/11, we got started on Lanipo Trail @ 4:08am loaded down with 1.5 liters of water, 1.1 liters of brown rice and raw veggies, two avocado sandwiches, 6 apple bananas, 2 apples, a bag of almonds, walnuts, and brazil nuts, plus a bag of ginger granola, and all the other heavy random stuff I carry. Under the light of headlamps with cooling trades, we pushed first through a saddle then up and up past an eroded section to the "Ironwoods" trail. We took a quick water break here @ 4:52am.

Following this trail was a lot more difficult in the dark than I had previously expected. We hit the "false bottom" and I took a wrong turn; backtracking revealed the ribbon I had missed. Back on track @ 5:31am, we reached the real gulch floor and the now stagnant pool. This pool, when flowing, is in my opinion the best and only pool on the EHR! We crossed the stream a few times and headed up the "beehive" trail. Just before topping out on Waialae Nui Ridge, we took a quick water break and put our headlamps away. We hit the cleanest BWS tank ever @ 6:08am. Avoiding confrontation with the angry homeowner, we headed mauka @ 6:18am, traveling down the "guava tunnel" and into Kapakahi Valley, bottoming out @ 6:40am.

We used our momentum to power up to the junction with Kalani Ridge at 7:00am. Turning mauka, we followed the nicely groomed trail up to the junction with Wiliwilinui Trail. Halfway up, the weather shifted into moderate showers. I ran out of water here, but rummaging in the bushes, I found my first water stash and dumped the 1.5 liters in. Now 7:43am, we plowed makai to the club junction and into Wailupe Valley. Flying down this trail, we soon took the Wailupe Middle East offramp (exit 18C) just after 8:21am and hit the base of the "Pohaku" trail @ 8:42am. Chase and I spread out for the ascent. One particular cliff face is a short but good rush; I used the ropes to my advantage to conserve energy.

@ 9:13am on the Kului ridgeline, we regrouped and took in the phenomenal views of Wailupe Valley. @ 9:43am, we started our slick descent into Kului Valley. About halfway down, somebody had ripped down our ribbons! Reaching Hawaii Loa Ridge Trail @ 10:05am, we turned makai and headed for the HTMC junction @ 10:10am, quickly escaping down the club route into Pia Valley. @ 10:37am, we hit the Kulepeamoa uptrail and stopped for water stash #2. @ 11:05am, we hit the shady ironwood ridgeline and continued until 11:38am @ the junction with the down trail into Kapua Valley. I had half of my rice and veggies here during a 22-minute lunch break.

Packing up, we were treated to rain showers on the way into Kapua. This was the last valley to be scouted. During the trip, I saw an Elepiao bouncing from branch to branch just 15 feet away. @ 12:47pm, we were on the other side of Kapua in the sun! @ 1:02pm, the junction of Kuliouou West trail was reached, and by 1:27pm, we were walking on the BWS road in Kuliouou Valley—the first road we had seen since 4am. We veered onto the cattle fence HTMC Trail, acquired the ridgeline at 1:54pm, and the race to the Haha'ione spire was on!

To tell you the truth, I must have been on autopilot because I remember very little of this section. We crossed Kaalakei Valley and by 2:32pm, we were in Haha'ione Valley. We soon turned uphill and onto the spire @ 2:59pm at my 3rd water stash. The spire was hot and taxing, especially 11 hours into a day hike! @ 3:29pm, we triumphantly stepped foot on the Spire summit! We took some victory pics and headed for a "second lunch" spot @ 3:45pm at the summit of Haha'ione Middle, hiding from the wind in an ironwood tree.

Just after 4:20pm, we pushed off. On the way to Kuliouou, we passed an older lone male hiker—the first and only person we saw all day! @ 4:46pm, we could clearly see Manana (Rabbit Island). We hit Pu'u O Kona @ 5:01pm and Kuliouou West @ 5:17pm. Making great time, we arrived at Kulepeamoa @ 5:46pm. During a sandwich break, we were pummeled with heavy rain, which upped the misery level! Cold and wet, we continued on. Hawaii Loa @ 6:05pm, Kului Summit, then Wailupe Middle @ 6:29pm. Wiliwilin