Kawai’iki – February 12, 2012

Seventy-Six hikers came out today to do a hike that is very difficult to access. Kawai’iki is a trail located deep inland and on land owned by the Bishop Estate. To get to the trailhead, you have to drive on dirt roads through 3 gates, then on a military access road to the trailhead. The reward is a 5 mile roundtrip hike through the heart of the Ko’olaus.

My day started off at 7 am. The big problem was that the hike started at 9 am. I got impatient waiting around at my house, so I started driving to the North Shore. At 7:30 am, I was there. Not wanting to wait, I drove to the Banzai Pipeline. The waves were firing; there were at least 50 people in the lineup. I’ve always dreamt of watching waves break at Pipeline. The waves were at least 10 feet high, if not bigger. I observed for a while, watching surfers barrelling stellar waves. After some time, I went back to my car and drove to Haleiwa Beach Park.

At the park was an overload of cars. Getting out of these cars were HTMC hikers, it was somewhat organized chaos. I said my hellos to the people I knew: like Daniel, Bob, Laredo, Gavin, and DJ. After Barb, the hike coordinator gave the plans for the day, eleven of us jumped into DJ’s Silverado to take the 10 mile drive to the trailhead.

Barb and Justin had to unlock gates. We went through a bunch of gates before hitting a winding military access road to the trailhead. We would also have to leave together at the end of the hike, which meant that no one would leave early. After DJ parked his truck we all got out and went towards the trailhead, all 77 of us onto Kawai’iki.

The trail goes down a ridge, then meanders on the graded ridge in and out of gullies. Along the way, I talked with Bob who lives in Waimanalo and owns property near the Bear Claw trailhead. We hiked for about 45 minutes, reaching 2 flumes. We had to contort our bodies and duck under the concrete bars making up the flumes. There was a tunnel. I really wanted to go in, but followed the crowd back onto the trail.

After the flumes, we hiked a little longer before reaching the valley floor and followed the stream, crossing it a number of times. I slipped on the rocks often. In about 30 minutes we hit the first pool. But the goal for the day was the second pool. There weren’t too many mosquitoes, it was a pleasant surprise. Another 10 minutes of hiking, we were there. I seen a few hikers swimming and the rest were eating lunch.

I sat down by Jay F. (President of the HTMC) and talked stories with him. I ate my lunch and enjoyed being with the group. After eating, I became impatient and wanted to go. In preparation for the hike back, I took out my microspikes, put them on, and left with the HTMC rabbits. The rabbits are the really fast hikers of the HTMC, they usually set the pace. Believe me, I consider myself a good hiker, but these rabbits are extremely fast. Eventually passing the rabbits was Laredo. He is not part of the rabbit crew, but is a very fast hiker.

Going back was kind of boring. I got into some deep thoughts, which is one thing I want to do when hiking. We got back to the trailhead and waited for the others to arrive. Barney busted out his cooler and started drinking his usual after-hike alcoholic beverage. In the meantime, I had a chance to talk with Laredo about his adventures in hiking. In my eyes, he is considered HE-man. After about 1 hour of waiting, we all jumped in DJ’s truck and took the road out to Kamehameha Hwy. and onto Haleiwa Beach Park.

Kawai’iki is a coveted hike. Not too many hikers get the opportunity to do this trail. For that I am grateful.