Halawa-Aiea Loop

Author: Pete Clines  |  Posted to OHE-L: Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Following the festivities at the Luau on Saturday night (awesome time, by the way) I went to bed with no concrete plans for Sunday. Slept in...woke up feeling guilty...and rushed to Halawa Valley to see if I could catch up with the Club hikers. When I got to the trailhead everyone had taken off... except for Patrick and Laredo. Alright, great company! Patrick was putting on his third coat of SPF 50 which allowed me some time to get ready. :) Knowing I was joining two speedsters, I laced up my sprinting shoes and regretted all the kalua pig and Michelob in my belly.

At ~9:15 we were off, and sure enough, moving at a brisk pace. Pat led the way under the H3 and up the side of Halawa Ridge while Laredo and I pushed hard to keep up. I wondered, "Is Patrick trying to ditch us, or is he really just that fast?"

We were soon at the ridgeline. Encountered and passed a number of hikers along the way, and summitted ~ 11:30. At this point we had met up with August, and discussed doing a crossover to Aiea Ridge and then down that way. Pat couldn't go as he was the hike leader, but the other three of us decided to give it a shot. After a lunch break and some rest time

We headed uphill around 12:00. Looking back, we had a great view of the Moanalua Saddle.

Some of us went down that ridge to the Valley trail from Red Hill summit on the Godek-Jaskulski hike a short while back. Years ago I had climbed from the Valley trail up the saddle ridgeline to the other summit - the back door to Keahiakahoe, so to speak. Great hikes, both of them.

There was enough of a swath to suggest that others continue on from Halawa's terminus from time to time. We soon came upon some old railings and concrete platforms - similar to those on the other side of Haiku Valley. I remembered hearing about the "other Stairway to Heaven" and was excited to finally see it. Dumb luck, though, we soon encountered a Security Guard posted to keep us out.

I pleaded with him to let us pass and he soon relented...even joined us. (For those that don't know, Laredo is one of the guards for the ACTUAL Stairway to Heaven across the valley.)

These stairs were certainly not in as great shape as their more famous counterparts. They were dangerously rusted and heavily overgrown.

. We passed a one-room concrete building, then reached the point where the stairs drop down the west ridge of Haiku Valley. This ridge gets very nasty with sheer rock faces in some sections, and I wonder how far down the stairs had gone in the past.

Continuing along, we edged away from Haiku Valley.

And Laredo and I began up one of the bigger climbs en route to the Aiea summit while August snapped a pic.

We could now see "Ulupaina Uka" for lack of another name.

This is a ridge I descended back in 2003 after starting from the Aiea Ridge terminus. This one (seen in profile in the middle of that picture) starts off as a mess of high uluhe before transitioning into steep rock faces. A lot of roping was needed to make that dangerous descent.

When the swath choked up at times, our progress continued to be fairly swift as we would walk on the windward side of the ridge top where vegetation was lower. Clear skies and killer views surrounded us. By 2:00 we were at the top of Ulupaina Uka

looking down to the Valley of Temples. We were even treated to the sound of a single "gong" from down below. Very Zen.

After a quick break, we were negotiating the final 3 or so humps on the ridge to the Aiea Ridge terminus. The going was a little slower here, but the weather was still cooperating.

At 2:30, we found 3 pink ribbons on a branch and knew we had hit our goal. Total crossover time with breaks and photo taking was 2.5 hrs - better than I might have expected for this mostly unfamiliar route. We sat down on the flat grassy area, enjoyed a snack break, then readied to depart. Almost immediately, cloud cover began to steal away our expansive windward views - our cue that it was time to leave.

Good conversation and humor entertained us as we continued down Aiea Ridge. Time flew by and we were soon viewing the spur ridge that I guessed would connect us back to Halawa Valley.

This ridge begins at the junction of the Aiea Ridge and Aiea Loop trails. I had explored partways down it years ago and remembered seeing the makings of a trail. Fortunately, a trail did exist - even ribbons for the first 3/4 of it - and progress was easy enough.

Then came the hau. We worked our way through the more open sections since a couple old ribbons kept appearing and reassuring us that we were on track. The ribbons soon stopped, though, along with any obvious way through. We were so close to H3 that we decided to keep squeezing through the slightest of openings....often sliding on our backs.

When the "low road" was no longer an option, we made like monkeys and went up.

For quite a while our feet never touched the ground as we climbed and tightrope-walked to what we hoped would be the end of the hau tangle. At times we were over 10 feet up, praying that the branches would hold our weight. (Some didn't)

With perseverance, we finally popped out of the hau, into a grassy area, down a short hill, and onto the H3 access road. Made it! My watch said 5:30, but it was 4:20 according to August, so we took a break before moving on down the road.

We were 10-13 bridges into the access road (can't remember) so the walk out took a while. Laredo and I pushed along while August followed behind at a more mellow pace. I called Patrick (the hike coordinator, remember) to let him know we were all out safe. We soon found the trail under H3 and closed the loop on an exhilirating but tiring hike. By 6:30 Laredo and I were back at the road end, with August arriving not long after.

A rewarding adventure that I had wanted to do for a while. Great fun hiking with Laredo for the first time (second time, officially, if you count him chasing me up the "stairs") and always fun with August. Thanks to August for some of the photos. (His were the better quality ones, of course.) Maybe he'll add some thoughts?

-Pete