Aiea Ridge to Red Hill Ridge – December 28, 2011

This hike was super long, over 16 miles long. It will take you all day to do this hike - from sunrise to sunset.

The goal today was to hike up Aiea Ridge to its summit, turn right and make the long transverse along the KST to the Josh S. dubbed, Stairway to Hell. After that we would continue on traversing the KST to the Halawa ridge terminus before more traversing to the Red Hill summit. Then from Red Hill ridge, we would go down for about 2 miles then turn left on a side ridge known as the Godek-Jaskulski return trek loop until we hit Kamananui Valley Road. Sounds like a long hike, it was.

I drove to Moanalua Community Park to meet Merv and Nate. From there we staged one car at Moanalua and drove to the Aiea Loop Trail. As we entered the gate, Nate thought it would be a good idea to park outside of the gate because park caretakers close the gate at around 7p. In hindsight, that was the best idea. However, I felt that we would lose 30 minutes if I parked outside of the gate, so I made the decision to drive up the road and park near the trailhead. Bad move.

We started walking on the Aiea Loop trail at 7:30 am. It took us about 35 minutes to get to the Aiea Ridge trailhead. The Aiea Ridge trail is easy going, much easier than Manana. The problem was the infinite amount of mud. In about 3 hours, we hit the Aiea ridge summit, it was socked in.

From the summit we went right and made the long ass traverse to the Stairway to Hell. It took 2 hours of slow walking on the KST to get to the Stairway. My left leg started to hurt again and I fell behind the others. My left leg has been hurting ever since I tweaked it a month ago. Maybe my body is telling me it's time for a break. Since you're traversing on the narrow KST for 2 hours, you can lack focus. Believe me; not paying attention to your surroundings at this point could cause a bad fall. If you fall on the left side of the ridge, then you are dead.

At 10:40 am we hit the Stairway to Hell, dubbed by Josh S. of the 808 Goonies. He made up the name because the Stairway to Heaven is in such pristine condition that when you come to these rusty old stairs it looks like shit, hence the name Stairway to Hell. We decided to take a side trip and go down the Stairway to Hell. The stairs are in horrible looking condition. It is overgrown and many parts are breaking off. However, the steps are manageable and sturdy enough to go down. Even some of the railings are solid, especially the railing on the vertical section. We only went down for ten minutes and turned around. The stairs go down the mountain a long way following a ridge, not sure if it goes down towards the base of the mountain.

After the Stairway to Hell, we traversed for what seemed like 1 hour to the terminus of Halawa ridge. After a short break, we continued to the Red Hill terminus. This section was so overloaded with vegetation, it was ridiculous. Some parts of the KST are narrow; however, when vegetation blocks the trail, it becomes even more difficult. Of course to add to the fact, the winds were howling constantly which added another element to the hike. Usually I don’t mind the wind gusting, but since we were up on the KST for so long (about 3 ½ hours already), my mind wasn’t right. The wind factor got to me mentally; I feared being blown off the ridge, coupled with the fact that my left leg was in constant pain and I was walking like someone who only had one leg, magnified the fear factor. As we neared the Red Hill terminus, I got my mind straightened out, ignored the pain and wind factor and finished strong towards the Red Hill terminus. Of course, I didn’t tell this to Marvin and Nate. When doing these types of hikes, the crew doesn’t need to hear that whining shit, so I kept my thoughts to myself. At the Red Hill summit we were at the 8 hour mark and it was 3:30 pm. We took a 5 minute break and headed down Red Hill ridge.

Red Hill was overgrown with uluhe ferns. Add to that, the ridge was narrow, and was masked by all the uluhe ferns. There were many false steps. For nearly 2 hours we willed our way on Red Hill ridge. My pace slowed considerably. I was limping like crazy. We eventually hit the Godek-Jaskulski junction. With daylight dwindling down we had to get to Kamananui Valley Road before the sun went down. Walking on a flat road at night is much better than walking on a ridge. The side ridge leading down to Kamananui Valley Road was amazingly narrow at the beginning of the descent. It got to the point where the ridge narrowed to a foot wide, with at least 1500 foot drops on both sides. That was nuts! Eventually, the path widened and going down became fast and quick. We hit Kamananui Valley Road at 6 pm.

We were so relieved that we hit the road before the sun went down. We continued walking on the road. During this time, the sun went down and it was pitch dark. To pass the time we talked stories. Just then, Nate with his flashlight saw a Pueo (Hawaiian White Owl). It flew to a tree. Marvin and I fumbled for our cameras and tried to take a picture, but to no avail. The Pueo flew away before we were able to snap pictures.

At about 7 pm we got to Moanalua Community Park and to Nate’s truck. We all had cuts and blisters. We were all wet and soaked in mud. I took off my shoes and realized that I left my slippers in my car, so I was barefoot. We hopped in Nate’s truck and he drove us to Aiea. As we arrived we saw that the gate was locked, so Nate drove me to Aiea McDonald's. I said bye to Nate and Merv, thanked them and called my wife to pick me up at Aiea McDonald’s. As I walked into the restaurant, I looked at my muddy clothes and bare feet. I ignored the attention and ordered a number 12. That food was so bad, but so good.

When I got home, I drank a beer and went to sleep. The next day, my wife and I drove to the Aiea Loop trail parking lot and were pleased to see that our car was still there and not broken into.

This was the longest hike I’ve done so far. Although long hikes are somewhat our niche, it was still physically and mentally demanding. I couldn’t imagine getting lost doing one of these. I know now that I must be more provisionally prepared, packing extra food, water, a head lamp, and a blanket just in case we have to stay overnight.