Waikane to Wahiawa – December 17, 2012

It is possible to go from the windward side to the leeward side in one day, not only one day, but shoot, 8 hours. I’m not talking about Mariner’s to Tom Tom or Kamiloiki to Tom Tom, but a real windward to leeward hike.

Today was a mini grinder. The goal was to go from Waikane Valley to Ka’aumakua, back track, then take the Ko’olau Summit trail to Schofield-Waikane, ending up in Wahiawa. We projected that this hike would take 8-9 hours and we were right!

I met E at his house at 8am. From there; we picked up Merv in Manoa, and then drove to Waikane Valley Road. I parked on Kamehameha Hwy, we got ready, and then we were off. Waikane Valley Road is sketchy to say the least, sketchy as in there may be wild dogs charging you at any time.

We walked on Waikane Valley Road in the rain. The jeep road appeared and the rain came in and out. The walk on the jeep road was uneventful, but the scenery was lush. We encountered what I assumed was Waikane stream and some spectacular small waterfalls. I took pictures and tried to make the silky effect. I think it turned out okay. There are multiple trails leading in various directions, luckily E and Merv tracked up, so we didn’t get lost.

The climb up the Waikane trail was gradual, but long. It also started to rain down with great winds. However the graded trail blocked much of the wind from hitting us, it was still cold. In about 4 hours we topped out at the windy and rainy Ko’olau Junction. It was too damn cold to take a break. Also we decided not to pursue Ka’aumakua as the summit was socked in as hell.

Without hesitation, we charged the Ko’olau Summit Trail to Schofield-Waikane. The wind was blistering at about 50 mph. The island was under a wind advisory watch today. The rain was falling so hard that it hurt. In about 35 minutes we reached Schofield-Waikane, a sight for sore eyes, sort of.

The rains and winds were relentless and rarely let up. Schofield-Waikane is one of the longest trails on this island, and I think it is the third longest trail in the Na Ala Hele network of trails (Demo #1, Waimano #2).

We were impatient at Schofield-Waikane and charged that thing like we had an urgent appointment. Usually, Schofield-Waikane takes about 4 hours to do, but today we did it in a little over 3 hours. E’s mother was waiting at the trailhead to pick us up. I was near shivering by this point, but still had a lot of adrenaline. We changed and ate dinner down the street at Don Yang’s where the food was excellent. Erik made the long ass drive back to Waikane in the dark to my car.