Poamoho-Schofield via California Avenue

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View of windward Oahu from terminus of Poamoho trail
 
Kaleo Lancaster and friends recently completed an extreme hike from Poamoho to Schofield, which included that wonderful crossing along the Koolau Summit Trail between the Poamoho and Schofield termini.

Kaleo's account begins as follows:
Hiked from Poamoho Ridge to Wahiawa Heights last weekend. It was cold, rainy, muddy, and wild. In terms of beauty, not many hikes can touch this one. The route traverses some of the most remote and undeveloped terrain on the island of Oahu, with an incredible two mile walk along the Ko'olau summit trail. Exactly how awesome was it? Unforgettably awesome: in fact, the route is so awesome, that we all agreed to do it every year for as long as we're still alive and able to hike. Yeah, it's that beautiful.
Read more from Kaleo ....

To lengthen the hike and to avoid the need for vehicle shuttle, it is possible to make this into a big loop which starts and ends at the end of California Avenue in Wahiawa (this is the trailhead for Schofield and Wahiawa Hills).

To do this loop, follow the Wahiawa Hills trail to the Bamboo Grove along the jeep road Map Point F (see map from Stuart Ball's book below). At that point, leave the Wahiawa Hills trail to follow the switchback trail in the bamboo down to Poamoho Stream. Once at the stream, cross it to pick up a spur ridge almost immediately and follow the spur (this is a hunters' trail) which will lead to the dirt road that leads to the Poamoho Trailhead.


A half hour hike along the road will bring one to the start of Poamoho. From there, happy hiking to the summit, right turn at the summit to follow the KST (a wonderful two-hour stretch where one will pass the top-off of Pauao Ridge Trail from Kahana Valley--recently re-opened by Clines, Ong, and Smith).

Once the the terminus of Schofield Trail is reached, it is a right turn and then the rollercoaster trail back to the trailhead followed by an hour's walk on the dirt road back to California Avenue.

Comments

  1. XJAugust 25, 2011 at 11:00 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. XJAugust 25, 2011 at 11:01 AM

    Even more extreme is the Malaekahana to Schofield solo day hike by Jeremy Kreis last week.

    ReplyDelete

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