Aiea Ridge - January 23, 2011

First off I wanna thank AJ Snelling for accompanying me on this hike because without him I would have not been allowed to go on my own! Aiea Ridge is an 11 mile hike and is rated as an advanced hike. It actually isn't that dangerous the trail is pretty much narrow the whole time but the trail stays true to the ridge crest, and there wasn't any steep climbs, only a few gradual ones. Aiea Ridge tops out above Temple Valley (Byodo-In Temple). We were also blessed with some good weather today, it was partly cloudy with a nice breezed thanks to the trade wind, which gave us the opportunity to see one of the best views on this island!

Me and AJ met up at 7-eleven in Kaneohe because AJ didn't know how to get to the trailhead. We met up and made our way to Keaiwa Heiau State Park at the top of Aiea Heights Drive. We parked our cars at the upper parking lot of the park by the bathroom. We got our things together and made our way to the start of the Aiea Loop Trail  a little after 6:30am. Since it was still a little dark we pulled out our flashlights, Aj's one he brought was small and didn't help at all, so we just used mines to light the way. Walking on the loop trail we started catching up with each other because we haven't hike together since we did Olomana months ago. We passed a powerline tower to the right and after that we came upon a junction, the left junction is the start of the Kalauao Falls hike. We continued  straight on the Aiea Loop trail passed by some hunter with there dogs. We chatted for a little bit and wished each other good luck. After passing the hunters we came upon a landslide section that I guess fell on the loop trail recently. We walked over the landslide and shortly after we reached another junction. The left  junction is the start of the Aiea Ridge trail and the start of our journey, the one that continued straight is the Aiea Loop trail.

We took the left junction and started to make our way up ridge with the of cars on H-3 to our right. The trail eventually started to become overgrown with uluhe fern scratching our legs, but the scratches were manageable. If you ever do this hike anytime soon... wear pants! We continued on the ridge and came upon a gradual descent with a rope. Then the ridge started to level off for a while until we reached a short gradual climb with a rope. And after getting passed the rope section we could see Pu'u Kaiwipo'o up ahead. The climb to Pu'u Kaiwipo'o was also another gradual ascent. At the top of Pu'u Kaiwipo'o (elevation 2,441 feet) we could see the Ko'olau summit in the distance and looking makai was a nice panoramic view stretching from Honolulu all the way to the Waianae Mountain Range. After resting at the peak and taking some pictures we started the last part of our journey to the summit.

There is a low saddle in between Pu'u Kaiwipo'o and the Ko'olau summit and probably was the most dangerous part on the trail because the ridge got narrow, the trail does stay true to the center of the ridge but we definitely had to watch our steps! It was also along the saddle that we seen several different species of Ohia Lehua, as I took pictures of almost every single one we passed. After walking along the saddle we made a gradual climb to a flat grassy area that I think is used as a helipad. At this flat grassy area we got a little glimpse of the Windward views and man was it nice! The view we seen was from Kahalu'u all the way to Kualoa, and also some of the distinct peaks in Kahana in the distance. But this little view we got was nothing compared to what we seen at the summit which was another 10-15 minutes away. At the flat grassy area we turned right towards a powerline tower, we then picked up a trail to the left of the powerline tower and continued passed it.

And before we knew it we made it to the summit a little after 10am with one of the best summit views i have seen so far... Directly beneath was Temple Valley and the Byodo-In Temple is located, also the small peak of Pu'u Ma'eli'eli. To the right was parts of Kaneohe, Kaneohe Bay, Mokapu point, and Lanikai. To the left was the same view we seen back at the helipad. Me and AJ high-fived each other because the view was just amazing! After taking a lot of pictures we to a break and ate our snacks to get some energy for the return trip.

On the way back it started to get a little hotter as the sun started to beam down on us but after a while the clouds offered us some relief and blocked the sun. Once we made it back to the Loop trail we seen people. On the loop trail to get back tour cars we seen plenty of people, the most an any other hike I have ever done. The most unique group me and Aj seen was a group of guys with their RC trucks, I guess they were taking them off-roading. We made it back to our cars at about 1:30pm and headed home. We were truly blessed for another beautiful day in paradise!

Photos:

the H-3

sun rising on the east side

on top Pu'u Kaiwipo'o and looking at the saddle to the helipad

view at the helipad

the trail to get to the actual summit

AJ at the top

one of the best views i have seen!!!

AJ and me chillin at the summit. (Photo by: AJ Snelling)

looking back

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