Wiliwilinui Ridge Hike

The second half of a work hard/play hard day (well, there was a great dinner at Chef Mavro restaurant that evening too), we arrived at the trailhead after a morning of working from our hotel room.  Eager to get out our first day after a 13 hour trip from the East coast, we started out from the trailhead at a brisk pace.  One of the reasons the trail is shorter than some in the Ko'olau is that one can drive about a third of the way up Wiliwilinui Ridge to start up due to a neighborhood having been built lower on the slopes in the 1960s-1980s. 

Soon leaving Hawaiian suburbia behind, however, we were soon surrounded by pine trees and a strange smell similar to that of fresh wine grapes.  I soon noticed that the trail was chock full of ripe Kumquats both on the trees and, particularly, lying rotting on the trail itself (hence the smell).   The trail itself starts fairly wide to allow Honolulu Water trucks to access a holding tank that one passes shortly after starting up but then gets smaller and smaller until a clearing where there are great views of Hawaii Kai to the East and Waikiki to the West.

From then on, the trail was a narrow rut with a few large rocks and, in places, stairs and ropes to help with going up and down.  Since it had rained the day before, we had to be fairly careful to not slip off into the brush on either side.  The ropes also made things easier.

Just before the trail end, one passes a large communications tower and shed with Hawaii's noisiest air conditioning system.  And as if that wasn't enough sound, a helicopter arrived overhead and delivered electric company employees on the summit ridge who then used power cutters to trim plants away from a power line nearby.  Despite this, though, the view at the top was great with a panorama of the windward coast including Bellows AFB, Kailua, Kaneohe, and Waimanalo. 

We lingered for a while at the top and then slipped, roped, and walked our way back to the car.  All in all a great afternoon hike and a super outdoor beginning to our trip.

Six mile hike up 1650ft of elevation to the Ko'olau Ridge overlooking eastern Oahu. 

The hike begins on a paved road but then becomes an easy red dirt track.  Along the way, we'll pass ironwoods, formos, and guava.  Once we come upon a grove of Norfolk pines, we'll then descend some into a fern-lined gully. 

After reaching Five Poles Pu'u, we should have a great view of Diamond Head and Koko Head. 

The final section of the hike is the most steep, including some fun sections with ropes and handholds.  At the trail's end, we will have a fine view to the northeast towards Waimanalo.  We'll then turn back and head down.