Pu’u O Kona – December 16, 2011

This is one of Oahu’s great hiking routes. Today Nate and I hiked onto the Kuliouou West ridge to Pu’u O Kona. Then, we traversed the Koolau Summit Trail (KST) to the Kuliouou lookout. Finally, we went down the Kuliouou State trail (which is the East ridge). What a hike!

I started the day by getting the kids ready for school, dropping them off, then heading towards Mililani McDonald’s to meet Nate. Nate dropped his truck off at my mom’s house, hopped in my car, and off we went to Hawaii Kai. There was traffic, but not too much since most schools are out for break, except my kids who are on multi-track.

We parked on Kala'au street and walked up to the trailhead. To do Kuliouou West, you have to pass the state trailhead sign and continue up the road till you reach the Board of Water Supply pumping station. The Kuliouou West trail starts before the pumping station to the right.

The initial hike is all uphill. Doing the Honolulu Marathon the week before wore me down. Although I had some rest, my legs got tight in a hurry as we walked up the ridge.  After gaining the ridge, Kuliouou West started. Rolling hill after rolling hill, false peak after false peak, it was tiring to say the least. Near the top, we hit a near vertical section with a rope. There were solid footholds, but if I did this hike last year, it would have been scary. Nate and I did it with no problem. At about the 2 hour mark, we hit Pu’u O Kona, socked in as hell. We waited for a bit, but it wasn’t clearing. It was also cold as a mutha. I was sweating so bad from the ups and downs. The wind was blowing. We took a short break at the summit then started traversing the KSRT.

Again, like I said before, hiking on the KSRT is stuff of legends. The trail is narrow, a little overgrown, and slippery. To the left is a 2500 foot drop into Waimanalo. The wind was just blowing on the windswept ridge. There is also an eroded section, which people on the net warn hikers to be extra careful. The section is only a foot wide, but when Nate and I got to the section, it looked pretty safe and we didn't have any problems going over it. The picture below is a visual on the eroded section.

After about ½ an hour, we hit the overlook of the Kuliouou state trail. We took a break, then Nate wanted to explore a side trail. However, after 45 minutes we got stuck in an infinite amount of uluhe ferns. We decided to turn back and go onto the state trail. While going down the state trail, my left leg started to hurt, and I couldn’t bend my knee. I limped down the stairs, then I limped down the hills of the state trail, and then I limped on the switchbacks. Damn! What pain. It could be a build up of something in my leg.

After about 4 hours, we finished the hike. A solid hike to say the least. As you check out the pictures, it is apparent that this loop is one of Oahu’s best.