Koolau Summit Trail 8-day thru hike by Chase Norton--Chapter 4: The Trip, Day 1 Pupukea to Kawailoa

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Chapter 4:  The Trip

Day 1 (03/25/12) Pupukea-Kawaiiloa -- 8 miles, 7.5 hr

Total Pack Weight: 34.6125lb

It took me 7hrs from 9am-4pm the first time, 8 1/2 hrs the second time, and 7 the third time. Water is located at the falls windward of the camping area, but needs to be filtered because of the crap it is flows through (rusty metal and such). Be prepared for mud up to your knees when going down to the water hole. When it is raining, various small flows could allow collection of water instead of descending to the water hole. The cabin is still there, just try to get there before nightfall for the sunset. Remember the camp at Laie if ever needed.

  • Pupukea-Malaekahana 5-6hrs 
  • Malaekahana-Laie 30-1 hr 
  • Laie-Kawailoa 30min-1hr

Camp at the leeward Kawailoa campground or in cabin.
Bail: Malaekahana, Laie.

I woke up around five in the morning too excited to sleep any longer and began working on the last couple of preparations. Took my last shower, ate my last big breakfast and drank my last latte for the next 8 days. As seems to happen with big events, my ride to the trailhead had troubles and thankfully Rasta was able to drive. He would park at the Laie ball field parking lot for his descent later in the day. I called a taxi to take us to the trailhead.

Everything went smoothly and we arrived at the trailhead around 9:00am ready to begin my second attempt at backpacking the entire summit of the Koolau mountains. The road walking went by quickly as Rasta and I caught up on each other’s lives and discussed plans for that day. Last time, we moved fairly slowly as Rasta did some much needed bushwhacking ahead of me. It had put me in Kawailoa around 5:30pm and him descending Laie trail well into the dark. We decided no bushwhacking this time and to make a point of moving fast. We hit the summit trail sign around 11am where pictures were had and pushed off for the club turnaround. After the turnaround the real hiking begins as the trail becomes significantly more overgrown. Around this section an amazing feeling begins flooding my body when I mentally accept I will be backpacking in solitude for 8-9 days. It was a huge release of every worry and trouble back in my other non-hiking life and something that will keep me coming back.


I was really happy to see us reach the Malaekahana shortcut sign around 2:30 pm because I knew that Laie was only 2 hours away. I really wanted to make it to Kawailoa before sunset. It is just breathtaking up there. We put the hike speed into high gear and got to Laie around 4:15 pm with enough time to relax up in the foxhole and do some last minute chatting. Around 4:40 pm, Rasta wisely decided he needed to start descending and we said our farewells, “See you at Makapuu!” I yelled to him as he disappeared down the trail.

I am very grateful to him for driving and for his company while hiking. It is an amazing boost of morale and energy having a friend on trail to start this journey and I thank him for it. Watching him depart signified the true beginning of my trip as now I sat alone with nothing but the summit. I descended the foxhole and crossed over to Kawailoa in 20 minutes reaching the helipad and cabin by 5pm.

It really is an indescribable place when alone. Dropped all my gear in the cabin, put on my warmer clothes and grabbed my Kindle. The next 2 hours were spent sitting on the helipad overlooking the rolling ridges and convoluted terrain of the northern Koolau mountains and settling it for some reading while the sun moved slowly – then quickly - to set behind the Waianae mountains. Absolute peace.

As darkness began to set in I started dinner which involved heating spam to add to a split pea soup plus chocolate for dessert. I sat for a while in the metal box of a cabin listening to the sounds of the wind howling outside. A nightly chore involves laying out all my gear, packing what I can that night and planning the packing of the rest of the gear for the morning. This chore will become especially important as I moved into the nights without a cabin. Another chore was filling the next day’s drinking water containers from my 96oz Nalgene. I soon learned the importance of doing all preparation for the next day that night as it makes the morning go by stress and worry free. These chores would become routine and soon performed without really any thought as they had to occur. I formed a mental checklist of the tasks needed to be done before I felt that “Ah, lets read from my Kindle” feeling. With my sleep system set up I climbed into bed and turned on my iPhone for my nightly update to my ground crew. Within minutes of finishing the email I was fast asleep with dreams of the next day knee deep in mud.

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