Extreme Hiking Hawaii

21 November 2001 My son Adam and I finally completed our Lanihuli East Tramp today. Sunny and clear to start the day, but very muggy and no breeze. As I've written of the trail several times already, I won't go into detail. We left the Pali Lookout parking lot at 9:00 a.m. and reached the Puka twenty minutes later after a nice scramble. Thanks to the ropes and cables previously laid, we reached the top of the second bypass by 10:00.The fun really starts when you reach the first set of pinnacles. The tough rock climbing come, not at the large pyramid, but at the little rocky knobs in-between. The climbing opportunities on this trail are many. It tested the limits of my meager abilities.We brought one 25 ft. cable and one 35 ft. rope. We used the rope to drop down from one peak to a narrow ledge trail served by an Al Miller telephone cable laid perhaps 10 years ago but still in perfect shape. We followed the Miller Cable to the anvil rock at the washou

Have you ever wondered if that $8.00 coil of rope you bought from the hardware store could save you in a fall? If I'm not a spirit right now, the answer is yes. Since scoping out the Lanihuli trail a few days ago I have been manic, wanting to get up there and see some more. For many reasons: it's beautiful, it's easy to get to, it's deserted, and it's very difficult. I got done early with what I had to do today so I could re-visit the world of the great Professor. I was dropped off around 1:00 and hoofed it up to the puka. Spotted some semi-fresh pig dung on the trail near the parking lot. I took off my pack and laid on my back to study the overhang. Sure looks doable if the rock was good. Started to feel sick from the moving clouds above the mountain and had to take a break. So I stared at the Pali notch area on the other side of the gap and wondered why on earth I ever thought I could climb that thing. Must be a flashback from my urb

From:Stanley Yamada Reply-To: ohe-l@hawaii.edu Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2001 23:54:02 -1000 Finally got up to the Lookout for an exploratory of the Pali Notches on one side and Lanihuli prayer on the other. Couldn't persuade No. 1 son to join me so he just dropped me off near the trailhead around 3:30. I sped up the trail next to a sign warning me not to rappel. OK I won't. At a junction I took a narrow trail left toward the ridge. The trail continues straight up for those not wanting to look over the edge at the highway below. To me, it's way more dangerous the "safe" way as I'll explain later. I kept to the ridge line despite contouring routes which appeared every so often. The rock is amazingly good and the lee side is well protected with lush vegetation for safety. This is a great climb to try if you want the thrill of ridge climbing without the danger. Powerful wind gusts pushing you alee also helps in the confidence department. J

Remind me never to do this climb again. The benefits do not outweigh the burdens. A lot of the problems were self-created. We got off to a late start, didn't fuel up properly beforehand, and underestimated the difficult trail conditions. Normally not a problem with the usual trail. With this trail, they combined to kick my ass. Piliwale is the ridge connecting Maunawili Valley on the Windward side with the summit of Konahuanui (3150 ft.), apex of the Koolau range. There was not much beta available for this climb. Jason Sunada's account of his trip up and down the trail last year was sketchy on details, and I now understand why. This is a long and difficult trip up and the numerous outcroppings and meanderings get confusing fast for anyone intent on trying to memorize a path to the top. We parked at the hairpin turn lot, the bad luck car now stripped of anything of value. Passed three women intent on doing the entire Maunawili trail with one one-lit

We had planned on hiking somewhere today, but hadn't made any specific plans. Upon arising Adam, my son, felt energetic and suggested that we do one of the windward ridges I had been eyeing. We settled on Bear Claw Ridge in Waimanalo. It had been done in recent years without aids and so we would test ourselves as others had before us. In the back of my mind I felt that it would be just an exploratory hike with the real attempt coming later. We packed our supplies with climbing in mind. On the off chance we made it up, I had no intention of trying to go back down. In my haste, I forgot my gaiters, a mistake my legs are now regretting. We drove around back roads Waimanalo looking for a trailhead. Spotted an overgrown road going up from a locked gate. The road beelined for the right side claw, our route of choice. We parked the bad luck car around the corner in front of some industrial place of business and walked from there to the trailhead. It's lo