Bear Claw Ridge -- Stan Yamada (2001)
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...