Bear Claw Right Fork – January 28, 2012

An unbelievable day of hiking! We climbed up Bear Claw’s Right Fork to the Ko'olau Summit, took a right on the Ko'olau Summit Trail (KST), passing Pu’u O Kona and Niu Valley Summit, before descending down Niu Valley Ridge to our cars. Total trek for this hike, 7 hours.   

This hike is in the extreme category for one reason, it's frickin’ dangerous! I called on Ted to help me conquer this trail. Ted has done this hike a few times and is one of the most experienced hikers when it comes to difficult hikes on the island of Oahu. He knows how to handle the most challenging situations. I also invited Nate, for I felt that he was ready to handle an extreme hike. Others joining us on the hike today were Steve, Kyle, and LeMomi. For Steve, this was his 6th time doing Bear Claw. His experience, coupled with Ted's, would greatly benefit us today.

Bear Claw can also be described as Pu'u O Kona Windward. By that I mean you gain the summit of the Pu'u O Kona from the Windward side. If you have some idea of hiking to the Ko’olaus from the windward side one thing comes to mind – nearly impossible. The peaks analyzed from the windward side are literally cliffs. Straight vertical climbing. There are only a few manageable routes from the windward side the average hiker can do and Bear Claw isn’t one of them. Bear Claw is in Waimanalo and offers two ways to climb it 1) is the left fork which is dangerous in its own way 2) is the right fork which is a notch more difficult than the left fork, but as Ted puts it, more exciting.

We all met at Niu Valley Shopping Center at 6:45 am, staged our cars at the Niu Valley trailhead also known as Kulepeamoa. Steve then drove all of us to the Bear Claw trailhead which is in Waimanalo and literally on some farm land. On the way there, you can see Bear Claw and all its intimidation looming to the left. We parked near some farm houses, got ready, and made our way up a paved road.

One major problem we encountered was that the paved road would lead us to the left fork; we needed to get to the right fork. We wanted to do this without trespassing over farmlands, so we hiked above the farmlands and went in and out of gulches for about 45 minutes until we hit the right fork. After some scrambling, we encountered the first major climbing section. It was hard. Ted was able to guide me up without any incident. A few more difficult climbs up exposed rock sections proved to be mentally taxing. But by now, my mind was right and I was gaining confidence with every climb. However, there was one section where I stepped on a loose rock and it dislodged and fell below. I yelled out, “rock”, but Lemomi saw it too late. The baseball-sized rock landed flush on Lemomi’s thigh. I felt so bad and apologized. She said that she was fine, but no way was she okay. I found out later that she had a massive bruise on her right thigh. Boy, guilt sets in on my part. That rock fell at least 20 feet and gained momentum before colliding with Lemomi's leg. She is one tough cookie though and shook it off like it was nothing. She is crazy I tell you, I would have whined like a baby.

We eventually encountered this smooth rock section that must have been at least 15 feet high. There was a strap to hold on to, but the angle of the rock faced towards the Makapu'u side of the cliff. We went up one at a time; Ted demonstrated the hand and footholds as he made his way to the safe area. When it got to my turn, I had little problems and got up without incident, so did the rest of the crew. This section wasn’t too bad, but if you fell, that would be the end. The exposure is unbelievable.

We climbed up the mountain and got to a rest stop to where the left fork converged with the right fork. We took a 20 minute break under ironwood trees and took a nice group picture. We also signed the geocache that was hanging on the tree in a container.

After the break, we continued making the difficult ascent to the summit. We encountered a rock section which seemed a little difficult because there were only a few hands and footholds. All you needed to do was pull yourself up, like a pull up. One thing about this section, it really tested our stamina as we were already 1 ½ hours into the hike and our bodies were already breaking down. At this point, I knew without a doubt how good the hikers I was in company with, there was no doubt that we had a solid crew.

We had to traverse a narrow rocky dike with major drops to both sides. We were near 2000 ft of elevation already, if not more. My focus level was at its maximum because although this section was safe compared to the other sections, I didn’t want my mind to wander. The picture  below shows how narrow this section was.

The last climb was the most dangerous. There were no foot or handholds and the climb was steep. It was a 50 foot climb up to the summit. Although I don’t think any of us had problems, we had to take it slow and methodical. I held on to any pieces of grass or dirt I could find. At a little over the 3 hour mark, we topped out near the Kuliouou summit.

We took a long break at the summit and proceeded right to Pu’u O Kona. The traverse along the KST was beautiful. We took a short break at Pu’u O Kona before furthering our hike to the Niu Valley Summit. With the most difficult parts behind us, getting to Niu Valley was a piece of cake.

I ended up talking with Ted about future hikes and how mentally and physically challenging Bear Claw was. The first person to do Bear Claw must have been insane. Literally insane! Someone who has no fear and has great physical ability.

We walked down Niu Valley Ridge encountering this super steep section. There was a 50 foot cable going down. It was way easier than what we just did, but the dirt was so loose. Debris flew in the air, getting into my eyes. I couldn’t see for a moment, but kept cool. This was minor compared to what we just went through.

About 2 more hours of hiking in Niu Valley and we finally finished our hike. What a long and enjoyable hike it was. I remember telling Nate that we needed to do this hike before he left. Nate is going to boot camp next week. I wish him all the best.