Ehukai Pillboxes – July 8, 2012

There are so many pillboxes on this island. Anywhere there is a hill near the coast line, there is a pillbox. The military wasn’t taking any chances during the war. They set pillboxes everywhere and anywhere on the island, on all the sides of the island.

Today’s hike was up to the Ehukai Pillboxes. This trail was opened about a year ago after the state bought the land. The trail starts at Sunset Elementary and goes up a ridge to a lookout. At the lookout is the pillbox. It is said that there are three pillboxes on the trail, but today we only saw one.

We had a super late start at 11a because the kids woke up so late. It was hot today. The trail is shaded most of the way, but it was so hot that the sun must have penetrated through the trees. The kids were exhausted making their way up the hill. In addition, there are multiple trails leading in different directions. It led us astray, but my hiking instincts kicked in. On the first wrong turn we were heading mauka. Knowing that the lookout was overseeing the ocean, we went back and found the correct trail. After about 45 minutes, we hit the first pillbox.

The view is good. Not as good as Pu’u Ma’eli’eli, but it provided a nice view I haven’t seen before. The view can be compared to the view on the Papali Loop trail . After the pillbox, we tried looking for the other pillbox, but were met at dead ends.

Instead of exploring, we made our way back. It was really fast going back. We must have taken 30 minutes. 

After the hike, we drove up the road to Ted’s Bakery. The wait was long. The food looked good, but tasted average. I bought the Bacon Burger for myself and had the kids share the BBQ Chicken Sandwich. The next hike I have in store for the kids is the Aiea Loop trail. I’ve done the Aiea loop nearly 10 times already, the kids did it once, but I had to carry them. Next time, there will be no carrying.