Kipapa to Schofield-Waikane – June 14,15 2013

First of all, the initial plan was to get to Papali-Uka, but that didn’t happen. It is apparent that this route was for the grinders. Knowing what we know now, starting from Manana and getting to Papali would have been a three day thing or a two full day excursion. What we experienced was two 10+ hour hiking days and it was a hard 10+ hours for both days. 

The plan today was to start on Manana, drop into the valley towards Iliahi ridge, then drop into the valley towards Waiawa, and drop into the valley again towards Kipapa. From Kipapa, we would make the long hike up to the Ko’olau Summit, then to Waiahole Uka, crossover to Waikane, and then all the way to the Poamoho Cabin where we would set up camp. In the morning, we would make the long traverse to Papali Uka. The plan seemed ambitious, it was. But with ambition comes character building and gaining experience which makes us into better hikers.

To be a good hiker, you have to push the envelope. Of course we want to be safe and I’m sure everyone tries to, but what is that fine line? You can be considered one of the best hikers out there and still fall. You can be the most prepared hiker and the mountain elements can still consume you. The fine line is a mixture of the following:

• Knowing your abilities 

• Being prepared (physically, provisionally, mentally) 

• Making good decisions

• Being motivated and committe

• Gained experiences

• Know who your hiking with

There’s more I’m sure, but the 6 mentioned above are the main priorities I think make people good hikers.

I won’t go into details on my preparation for this hike, let’s just say my back pack was 35 lbs., 20 of the lbs. was water.

Merv and I have been planning this for a few months now. We got some information from some really good hikers in the community, did some scouting with some really great people, and developed gps tracks, so we were pretty much set.

I met Merv at Pearl City Shopping Center at about 5:00 am. From there I drove us to the Manana trailhead. It was windy and started to rain. As mentioned before in a previous post, I don’t like the rain, but it cuts down on my consumption of water, which I really like. The fear of most hikers is that they’ll run out of water.

The hike on Manana was short lived as we veered left down into the valley and up to Iliahi ridge. I mistakenly told us to go left at a junction, we did for a bit, and were way off track. We lost about 10 minutes, it was a minor mistake, it also piqued my curiosity, but we weren’t here for exploration. We got onto Iliahi ridge for a short time, but veered onto another ridge for a while before dropping into Waiawa Valley. After meandering in the valley for a while, we got to a ridge and once again dropped down into the valley hitting a stream. The trail appeared to end, so Merv bushwhacked a bit and found a bike trail leading up the mountain. This was great, we thought we had to bushwhack up to Kipapa Ridge. Now we knew we didn’t have to. When we hit the crest of a ridge, we thought it was the Kipapa trail, but it wasn’t. It was Kipapa Ridge. We hiked further until we found a beautiful contour trail, similar to Aiea Loop. This was the historic Kipapa trail.

I took a legendary picture of Marvin, one that would surely make it to the HTMC archives one day. According to Stuart Ball’s book, Native Path to Volunteer Trails, the Kipapa Trail was built in 1935 by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). The primary reason why the trail was built was so that hunters could access the area and kill the pigs that destroyed native plants. There are other reasons that I won’t go into. I think by now most people know that Forester Charles Judd was head of the CCC. There is a trail in Nuuanu named after him. But I always questioned why Judd wanted to build these trails all the way to the Ko’olau Summit? If you think about it, you could just build a fence around the preserve for protection against pigs, but why build trails where pigs can access it and destroy all the native plants? I think Judd had another agenda. The question is debatable.

The first third of the Kipapa Trail is beautiful as it contours around the mountain, but then the uluhe commands the trail making it difficult to push through. One good thing was the swath. We didn’t lose the trail for the most part. As mentioned in the Waialae Nui post, the uluhe sucks the life out of you. It’s a slow and exhausting process, which both Merv and I are accustomed to (example Hau’ula Loa). Further up the trail and past the half-way point, we encountered the Kipapa cabin. The door was locked. For what reason is beyond me. I was so tired by then, that I sat down, while Merv tried to get inside. The cabin to my knowledge is used by the Division of Forestry and Wildlife workers who take care of the trail and native plants. After the cabin was more grinding. We started to contour the mountain. At this point, we knew we were way behind schedule and had to adjust our plans. Our new plan now was to summit and set up camp. The next day we would crossover to Waikane and bail down Schofield-Waikane. We both agreed that this hike was rough.

It was about 1pm when we started contouring up and around many false peaks. The trail was still overgrown making progress very slow. Right before the summit at about 4pm, Merv found a spot to camp. It was a great spot as it was in an area which shielded most of the wind and rain. I had a tarp and bungee cords. We tried to set a fire, but it rained most of the day making the vegetation wet, so a fire was a no go. The tarp I had was huge so we knew we would have a lot of shelter. We used the bungee cords and attached the tarp to the neighboring trees or branches. I had to change out of my wet clothes into my dry ones. It is very important to stay dry during a night on the Ko’olaus. Not doing so is torture. Your body will be unable to regulate its core temperature, and you’ll be shivering all night long. Merv must have fallen asleep at 6pm. I probably went to sleep at 8pm. My sleep was uncomfortable because the space blanket I brought was too small, exposing parts of my body to the elements. I was tossing and turning, but must have figured it out sometime during the night because I felt warm. Merv covered his entire body and face with his space blanket, he seemed to be okay. The rains came with ferocity during the early part of the morning. It was nonstop wind and rain. The tarp held up for the most part, but I think Merv’s location was the reason for the tarp holding up. As I woke up, I was sore because of the uncomfortable sleeping positions, however I was warm which was way better than the Aiea-Waimano overnighter. Nightmares of that overnighter came to me throughout the night. That overnighter takes the cake on a person's will to survive. With wet clothes on, rain and wind constantly at the top of the Ko’olau Mountain, it’s a place I do not wish anyone to be in, especially with the limited supplies of materials we had on that day.

We woke up at about 6am, got ready, and started our trek towards the summit. It was totally socked in, raining sporadically. We continued to contour up the mountain for about 30 minutes before summiting a windy Kipapa. Finally, completing what Stuart Ball calls, “the longest, wildest hike on Oahu”. We enjoyed the summit for a short time. I was so disoriented, but Merv knew where to go. He can call himself the expert on the Northern portion of the KST (Pupukea-Kipapa) now, since he’s done it multiple times already.

We went down “the hill” to the sugi pines. There Merv continued up to Waiahole while I changed out of my dry shorts and put my wet pants back on anticipating the major overgrowth on the crossover to Waikane. Merv thought it would take 3 hours because of the overgrowth of the trail. It was a rough section. However, someone cleared portions of it, which aided us, but it didn’t matter, we were so tired. If you think about it, up until this point in the hike, we had to endure going up and down multiple valleys, handle the long and overgrown Kipapa trail, camp in very bad conditions, and summit Kipapa in socked in and windy conditions. Now we had to endure more overgrowth and bushwhacking from Waiahole to Waikane. I’m not complaining, but it’s no easy task.

What made it worse was my pounding headache. I didn’t have coffee in the morning, and every time I’ve done that, a headache follows. Merv and I took turns pushing through the trail. Our pace was slow. I must have fallen 10+ times. The footing is unstable, the KST on this portion is somewhat narrow, and plants cover the trail. We stayed mostly on the leeward side, but the trail does contour windward once in a while. In about 45 minutes, we hit a meadow. It is called “windy meadow” because of its funnel. It’s similar to the Waimalu Meadow, just smaller in size.

After another 2 hours of pushing through, the clouds happen to open up. We took a long break admiring Waiahole, Waikane, and Kahana Valley. Again, this view is so awe inspiring, it becomes almost dream-like. It almost appears unfair that we hikers get to experience this and other people do not.

We hiked further towards the Waikane-KST junction. That was short lived as we proceeded to Schofield-Waikane. Tired and all, I tried to push through and get to the junction as fast as I could. It took us only 23 minutes this time. As we always do, the final leg is to go at your own pace. This is the unwritten rule for hiking on Oahu, but experienced hikers, just like HTMC hikers, like to finish up at their own pace (although not recommended as you can get lost). The reason is beyond me, but I like it. It gives me time to reflect at my own pace. 

Schofield-Waikane is 7 miles, and it feels like it, plus the trail hasn’t been cleared in a while and a good portion was overgrown. With my body sore, I contoured up and down the mountain a dozen times before ending up on the road and taking the side trail to the Wahiawa Hills trailhead where my wife was there to pick us up. We went to E’s house to talk story as he handed me some goodies. E always gives goodies, something that we all should practice and create a habit of to show appreciation for others. After E’s house, we went to Don Yang’s. I ate my food so fast that I almost threw up.

This must have been one of my top 5 hardest grinders I’ve ever done. The feat is greater than Aiea-Waimano, but the experience is a notch below it. Aiea-Waimano, we were socked in, inexperienced, and disoriented, but what it did was provide strength within and an experience we could carry with us. In comparison, for this hike, we were more prepared, more mentally tough, and much better hikers making it doable in some really bad conditions.