Waimano-Waimalu Middle - March 8,9 2014 

This would be my first grinder of 2014, boy it was a grinder all right! This hike was dedicated to Young Kumu who just arrived from L.A a few days ago. I’ve done this hike twice before, now it was the OAG’s turn. The first time I did this hike, Merv, Mike, and I got disoriented at the Waimalu Summit and had to spend the evening on a rainy, cold, windy, summit. 

Joining the hike today would be E, Proo, The Judge, Burs, and Young Kumu. The route was straight forward, go up Waimano, crossover to Waimalu Middle, and bail the ditch trail. It usually takes 12 hours to do this and with strong hikers, I knew we were going to be all right.

The forecast predicted a 20% chance of rain, with an 80% chance of rain in the evening. We met at the Waimalu Ditch trailhead to stage our cars and Burs’s husband drove us to the Waimano trailhead. The hike up Waimano was beautiful. I haven’t been up Waimano Ridge before, only coming down it which I dislike. This would be my 4th time doing the Waimano trail and honestly, I’d rather not ever do it again, only maybe until Jared and Mary are ready for it, and I'll do it for those who want to do Manana-Waimano. 

We got to the top of Waimano in great time, proving how strong the crew was. Everything was going according to plan. I wanted The Judge to sweep, mainly because he is really good at it, and I guess has some kind of fetish which I won’t go into. The crossover was narrow and may have startled the girls somewhat. Proo, Young Kumu, and Burs handled well as I knew they would. Other than the three difficult saddles (Nuuanu, Moanalua, Kalihi), the crossover sections from Manana to Red Hill have some narrow spots. Wait till OAG does Aiea to Waimalu, which will be the same thing.

The crossover was short, 2 hours or so, but we got socked in pretty bad, making the meadow not worth it. I was disappointed as it takes away the mythical part. I also lose credibility as I always claimed that the Meadow was the #2 best part of the Ko’olaus, #1 being the view at Eleao. It also started to rain really hard. 

At the meadow, we did some mound sliding which I did last time. It was so much fun! After about 30 minutes we took the ridge Merv and I went up last time. It was difficult on our legs because the ground was so soft, using additional muscle. 

We hit the wide summit of Waimalu. Finding the ridge down would be tricky, but I had the track from last time and someone created a great swath to the Middle Ridge. The rain was relentless. Going down Waimalu Middle was uneventful as we were tired already. However, there were some great waterfalls (multi-tiered and full), waterfalls which only few have ever seen. At about 5pm, we hit the Waimalu Ditch, the stream was torrent. The look of concern on our faces became serious. Could we cross it? I think we reached consensus that it wasn’t safe. We tried to solve the problem, but it appeared that we couldn’t solve the stream crossing. The best option was to stay put and wait for the water to subside. With nightfall drawing near, we had to make a choice to stay overnight. At this point, I felt down mainly because I knew what we were getting into, though I tried not to explicitly show it. I felt bad as I knew what the Ko’olaus have to offer, it's a feeling I didn’t want any of the OAG’s to go through. I’ve done this twice and have done many grinders well into the evening in terrible weather. I knew we had enough gear to survive as we had space blankets, food, and water. However, I was concerned about everyone's mental state of mind as it got darker and colder.

I remember doing the Kipapa-Schofield hike with Merv last year. We were running out of daylight and had to stay overnight near the summit of Kipapa. We found a good camp spot and set up camp. It rained for 10 straight hours that night with strong winds. I think that night both Merv and I learned to embrace the Ko’olau wrath as he laid to his side of the camp spot while I laid to my side. We didn’t say one word to each other the entire night and just slept in mud as the rains and winds just pounded us. Not once did we shiver. Sure it was uncomfortable and not the most ideal situation, but it felt normal. I remember telling Merv in the morning, “you do realize that not many people do this and enjoy it”. Then I remember thinking WTF is wrong with us. 

I digress, Proo and Young Kumu made an uluhe shelter, the best shelter I’ve ever seen, probably better than a tarp. I tried my best, but probably didn’t do a great job of trying to tell everyone to insulate themselves. I found that insulation is key. The Not So Great Hiker told me on his overnighters, he doesn’t even use shelter, all he uses is a bivy. I took that advice to heart and used that as my guide. However, today I only had my space blanket, not my bivy. 

The other good thing about our shelter was that it was wind free. The girls did a really great job of picking the campsite! Reception was minimal in the valley. Proo did her techy thing and saved the day. We called and texted our family and friends to let them know we were okay and that we’d be spending the evening on the mountain. I felt really bad that some in the group had to endure overreaction from loved ones. But that is usually the case in this situation. 

I covered my entire body and remembered falling fast asleep. But I heard the others talking and trying to get comfortable. As uncomfortable as an overnighter is, the key is to stay in one place and be satisfied with that position all night. Sure it isn’t comfortable, but it will get you off to sleep quicker. I remember tossing and turning from time to time because one of my limbs was exposed to the elements and I was getting cold. I tried to get insulated again. 

It rained all night as I knew it would because of the 80% chance of rain. The others appeared to struggle falling asleep as I heard their voices all night. Burs, The Judge, and Young Kumu were talking about baseball. I think The Judge’s humor got everyone through the night. Proo moved spots during the evening. I remembered E and Proo telling me to shift my body, possibly because I was slowly sliding down my original spot. Honestly that’s all I remembered until someone woke me up in the morning. 

In the morning, with water level rising even more and constant rain, we had to make the difficult decision to hike it back out. We talked about rescue, but everyone was game to hike it back out. This decision surprised me. First, The Judge’s idea was brilliant. Second, I really didn’t think everyone had the stamina to hike it back out. I mean we just did 14 miles, now we have to do another 14. This concerned me a huge deal as we had to tackle Waimalu Middle going up. We didn’t go at a blistering pace, but we made it up the ridge in about 4+ hours. I was thoroughly impressed with the feat. Now it was time to find the Ko’olau summit ridge. I did, it was very overgrown, but I knew we were on the right track. We probably used too much energy during this time, but it was for the best.

It was now time for the narrow crossover in some crazy windy and rainy weather. This concerned me the most. Because we were all tired, I was hoping that everyone would be safe. What really saved us was that Burs had so much food to fuel everyone. The Judge also had his beefalo jerky, and I think E has some food too.  

With extra energy, we beasted it on the crossover, as if I wasn’t already impressed, beasting the crossover in very bad conditions made me think this group was superhuman. What gets me is that people call rescue when disoriented. Now I do get that, mainly because they are scared. But realizing what we just did, it puts others to shame. 

We were so happy to hit Waimano. It wasn't over yet, but I knew it was a huge step in the right direction. I was concerned about the Waimano stream crossing, but knew there was a rope, so that would help. E, who seems to be the leader when crossing  streams did a masterful job of getting us across. I ended up in the back which I always do on a hike. My gas tank was on empty.

Near the end, I saw out of all people, Janice with her dress and boots sobbing when she saw all OAG’s were safe. We ended the hike with Sensei and DJ meeting us at the Waimano trailhead with refreshments:) DJ took us to our cars at Waimalu and we drove over to Shiro's for the PHM. 

Well, I guess we all came up with conclusions on how we can do this better. But for me, I have to bring my bivy. I know the others were thinking about other gear, but really the bivy will work fine, especially since everyone has gone through this experience. I still feel bad that everyone had to spend the night and endure tough Ko’olau conditions. I felt bad E had to call into work, The Judge missed his hike on Sunday, Young Kumu and Proo had worried parents, Proo missed her test and her toe got infected, and Bur’s husband was so worried. All those things fall on me, which makes me re-think how I should do my grinders with others.  

In hindsight, maybe start Waimalu Ditch and end in Waimano to avoid the stream, that was The Judge’s suggestion. I know E wanted to bring better gear, I think a fire would help out, and we needed waterproof matches. But honestly, these things do happen. I say it again, I didn’t want my OAG family to go through it, but it's kinda too late. I know this experience impacted a lot of the crew, I hope it doesn’t discourage them from hiking. People always laugh when I say certain hikes build character and now I think OAG understands what I mean. There are a lot more character building hikes we can do, one is Peahinaia, that hike might turn into 3 days. I’m really glad everyone got out safe on this one. Someone getting hurt, would just be really bad. 

I can’t wait to do the next grinder. I remember telling E about 1 year ago, it takes a different cat to do grinders and take the risk of staying overnight. I’m grateful to the hikers that surround me to give me confidence on taking them on these hikes. I couldn’t do it without them. Before, it was Merv and I doing these long grinders, now others get to join the madness.