1900’ Lookout – June 15, 2012

According to Stuart Ball twelve years ago, the Pu’u Manamana hike was considered one of the most dangerous hikes on the island. Of course, you might have to take that statement with a grain of salt because many more hikes on this island are far more dangerous.

When I first got back into hiking in 2010, the Pu’u Manamana section of the book was a hike I thought I could never do, let alone accomplish. However as I progressed over the last two years, I’ve done a good amount of super hikes, advanced hikes, and difficult hikes.  There was no doubt that I could do this hike. Within the last two years, I’ve had opportunities to go on this hike; however I always had prior commitments I had to take care of.

Merv and I scheduled this hike early in the week and invited the 7D crew. Joining us today was Ikaika and Christian, both are horses. Our goal was to go up Kahekili ridge, past the upper hidden valley falls, connect to Manamana ridge (also known as Pu’u o Mahie ridge), reach turnover, continue on towards the 1900’ lookout, and then head back on Manamana ridge to the Crouching Lion, then onto Kamehameha highway, before going back to our car. We estimated that this hike would take us 7 hours for only 5 miles, and we were right.

We met each other at Swanzy Beach Park at 8:15am, a perfect spot to park your car. After we got ready, we headed towards the Makaua valley trailhead. From the trailhead there was a junction, going right would lead us in a gulch and to hidden falls, going left would take us up a trail so we would gain the crest of Kahekili ridge. Of course, we went left. Gaining the crest is a bitch. It was unrelenting. What made it more difficult was that Ikaika led at a constant pace up the mountain. It’s like he goes up the mountain at the same pace as walking on level land. It was hot and my cardio was crappy. I took many breaks, but eventually we hit the crest and made the traverse towards the upper hidden valley falls. Along the way, there is a lookout with a wonderful view of Kualoa ranch. I could just imagine Spielberg filming Jurassic Park there. If I hiked up Kahekili during that time, it would have been an amazing sight. Near the hour mark, we hit the upper hidden valley falls, the water was stagnant, and we had a conversation about using this water as a water source if we ran out of water. The weird conversations we have. 

After the falls, we continued on towards Manamana ridge. Kahekili ridge eventually intersects Manamana ridge. The trail is cleared, there is a path, however, the uluhe has mutated into some type of bigger brother form of itself. The uluhe is head high and protrudes onto the trail scratching your arms and legs. I had soccer socks which are great for your legs if you can’t afford gaiters. But, if you have money, get the gaiters. Of course before the hike Merv said he wore shorts last time he did Kahekili-Manamana and was fine. So Ikaika, carefully listening to Merv’s instructions, just wore shorts. Ikaika, whose legs are probably used to the scratchy uluhe handled it well, but the gaiters (which he left in the car) would have helped.

We hit the Kahekili-Manamana junction and continued on towards turnover. Along the way, we passed the Cemetery ridge junction. Reaching turnover was another feather in my cap. As mentioned earlier, two years ago, I would have never thought I could reach turnover. On the other hand, it was also somewhat disappointing as I’ve done and seen much more than this and should have done this hike at least one year ago which would have made it more fulfilling and I most likely would have appreciated this moment much more.

Anyways – we continued on towards the 1900 lookout. At turnover we were at 2,027 feet, which meant descending a hundred feet or so. A few years ago getting to the 1900 lookout took two hours until Pete Clines and a crew cleared the path to it. Of course Pete Clines is considered the ultimate hiker on Oahu, he is well respected by everyone in the community for his great ability to attack the most dangerous trails on this island and clear a path for the rest of us. There are some conflicting stories about how long it takes to get to the 1900’ lookout. Some people say it takes 20 minutes, some say about 30 minutes. Not sure how long it was supposed to take, but it took us about 40 minutes. We were going at a good pace led by Ikaika. Believe me; Ikaika can lead at a good pace.

The 1900’ lookout wasn’t marked, so we passed 1900 feet and continued to about 1620 feet. The ridge narrowed considerably and the margin for error also became slim. It was crumbly and the holds became unstable. All of us inspected True Manamana which was about a mile away and only the most extreme hikers have accomplished. I think one day we will attack True Manamana which Ted (who has done it) will most likely lead us. The ridge looks extremely crumbly and dangerous, so we would need to be more prepared than what we had today.

Heading back, I was dehydrated already and only had my ½ liter of bottled water left. I just didn’t feel good and was way behind the others. Of course, I didn’t want to show my weakness and pushed through, even though the others probably wondered why I was taking so long. Returning on the loop, we took Manamana ridge. This is where the hike became fun; I knew Merv knew what he was doing. The exposure was great and the scrambling and rock climbing became interesting. Even Stuart Ball said the ridges of Manamana are legendary. I now know what he meant. The angle of the ridge makes it look spectacular which matches the legendary description. They are supposed to be knife-edge, but it's knife-edge for maybe one small section. The ridge is narrow, but wide by most experienced hiker’s standards. It was fun; I would most definitely do it again.

After about 1 hour, we hit crouching lion. The back story about crouching lion is a Hawaiian mythology story of the demigod named Kauhi who wanted to chase Pele’s Sister Hi’iaka around the Hawaiian Islands. Hi’iaka not enticed by Kauhi, told the demigod to remain in Kahana. Many years later, the rock formation came to be known as crouching lion and an Inn was built as a tourist attraction and is still there till this day.

We took some pictures; the profile really does look like a crouching lion. From the crouching lion we took a trail which was supposed to lead us to Kamehameha highway. However, we seen a side trail on the way and decided to explore it. It took us to townhouses in Makaua Village and onto Kamehameha Highway. We made the ¾ mile walk to Swanzy Beach and 7-11 where I was so thirsty. Christian had free big gulp and slurpee coupons. I filled my cup with Dr. Pepper and drank it in less than one minute, and then I filled it up again with Pepsi. It was so refreshing, just so damn refreshing.  

For the summer hikes, I’m going to need to bring more than 2 ½ liters of water. Last year, I used to bring more than a gallon of water; however, the weight slows me down considerably. Being dehydrated does the same thing. After years in the making, I finally get to add Pu’u Manamana to my list of hikes. My next hike on the radar is Bowman to the Haiku Stairs.