Olympus to Hawaii Loa – September 30, 2012

We set off to Makapu’u, but realized that it was not meant to be on this day. Preparation was good, but time was the ultimate killer of this hiking excursion.

Merv has always criticized me for not finishing the Ko'olau Summit section known as K1 to Makapu’u. Really, I didn’t care about this section all too much. Apparently it is a big thing in the Oahu hiking community. It is actually one of the merit badges that a good hiker on Oahu must obtain to be considered…??? Not sure about that one, but doing K1 to Makapu’u is a great accomplishment. I’ve just never put too much thought into it, mainly because the initial goals I set for myself was to 1) chase waterfalls 2) finish Stuart Ball’s book. But while hiking with Merv, it comes down to summit crossings. He has done 96% of the Ko’olau Summit already and a good amount of the Waianae Summit.

Since I’ve been hiking with Merv over the past year, I’ve been joining him on some great crossovers at the top the Ko’olau Summit. I have a few gaps in the section known as K1 to Makapu’u. Here are the gaps I have: 1) Ka’au to Lanipo 2) Hawaii Loa to Kulepeamoa 3) TomTom to Kamehame. Today, I was supposed to fill in those gaps and get to Makapu'u from Mount Olympus.

The plan for this hike was to join The Whatevah’s hiking group led by Aida and Steve (fellow 7D members). The staging of the cars was orchestrated by Aida & Steve, they did a great job. Steve graciously picked me up at the Makapu’u lookout. The group staged one car at Kuliouou and Kulepeamoa. We picked up Merv at his house, then drove to the Pu’u Pia trailhead. Merv’s plan was for us to hike with the group till Olympus, from there we would separate ourselves and set off on the Ko’olau Summit. Since this hike is so long, we broke it down into manageable sections setting critical benchmarks with estimated times (This is one strategy I always found helpful): a) Summit Olympus (2 hours) b) Olympus to Wiliwilinui (2.5 hours) c) Wiliwilinui to Kuliouou (2.5 hours) d) Kuliouou to Makapu'u (5.5 hours). The total hiking time was estimated to be 12.5-14 hours. We totally underestimated the time factor.

The late 7:30 am start would be a major factor in our poor decision making. Getting to Olympus was grueling. There was no wind. I went through almost 1 liter of water. Merv and I led. We waited for the group at each clearing. However, we soon realize that time was of the essence. So we decided to bail on the group near the top of Olympus. From there it took us 3 hours to Wiliwilinui which we thought would only take us 2 hours. This put us behind the eight ball as the time was 1pm. The rains came and went and the skies were overcast, but that did not help the humidity which was in full effect today. I started to ration my water. From Wiliwilinui, it took us nearly 2 hours to cross over to Hawaii Loa, which was not a good sign. This meant that if we continued on, we would hit Kuliouou after 4pm. I think we just got tired and didn't want to go any further. 

Merv made the critical decision for us to go down Hawaii Loa a little after 2pm. What made the decision easier was that the Whatevah’s group was going to bail at Lanipo. We would both be bailing at the same time. What made the decision even more favorable was a side trail from Hawaii Loa to Pia Valley. Pia Valley is the start of the Kulepeamoa trail and where one car from the Whatevah’s group was parked.

We went down Hawaii Loa and found the junction heading down Pia Valley. I was so tired already, my pace slowed considerably.  We finally exited Pia Valley at about 5pm. As we waited on a rock wall right by the concrete road, Merv and I talked about better preparations we should have made. One was to start earlier. Two, was to have more water. Three, was to go in the summer time, so we would have more daylight. Merv and I talked more hiking stories as we sat near two guys who were drinking beer and smoking a joint. Twenty minutes later, Steve picked us up. He drove us to Makapu’u where I grabbed my car. We ate at Zippy’s in Kahala. The food was so good, but I was still hungry. Aida offered to buy Bubbies ice cream for all of us. "Shoots!", we all said. Bubbies ice cream is some good shit.

We didn’t accomplish our goal today; nevertheless, it was a good day of hiking. We will have to revisit this route at another time. I couldn’t believe how mentally taxing it was. Not as in difficulty messing with your mind, but monotonous with all the ups and downs. When it comes down to it, maybe getting to Makapu'u was meant for another time. In hindsight, Merv's decision to go down Hawaii Loa was a good one. I would have preferred bailing at Kuliouou or Mariner's, but it really doesn't matter. Also coming up from Makapu'u may be an option as well. We could get the easier sections done first and finish up with the harder sections on the back end. It may be easier to start before sunrise, so we could save daylight.