Extreme Hiking Hawaii

Nathan's recent post about Iao Needle on Maui (http://hawaiianforest.com/exploring-iao-needle) got my interest up on this famous geological feature. I made a half-assed attempt to climb it a few years ago, but tried to go up from the backside to avoid being the included on all the home videos and photos being taken from down below. (This Needle gets a lot of onlookers during a day.) That attempt failed when I got to a point that became too vertical and I could not proceed. Yesterday I found myself on Maui again with a few hours to kill in the afternoon. The weather in Iao Valley was cloudy (typical) but not rainy so I decided to go for it. By 1:00ish I was on the bridge looking up at my goal for the day. (SEE PHOTO) This point was ~1,000ft on my altimeter. I took the trail down to the stream, crossed at the pool by a mini waterfall, and began up the broad slope to the Needle. This part had some faint trails that crisscrossed each other, but navigating was not ha

Photo by Pat Rooney In a word? Brutal! It took Pat Rooney and I 3 days to reach the north shore from the south shore, a distance of only 8 miles! Unless I can find a couple of young, strapping ram-rods to lead the way, probably my last backpack of the trail. Wailau is a magnificent amphitheater valley on the friendly isle of Molokai. This beautiful, lush valley features wonderful swimming holes and waterfalls, a "wall of tears", many native birds, a spectacular view of massive Olokui (elev. 4602') and "a remote black sand beach framed by vertical sea cliffs."* Pat Rooney and I backpacked the trail from south to north from May 24 thru 26, 2007. - - Thursday, May 24, 2007 After inspecting the iliiliopae heiau, we commenced the gradual climb toward the summit at 9:05 a.m. Upon achieving the summit (elev. 2800') at 12:35 p.m., we dropped our packs and enjoyed our first glimpse into Wailau Valley while resting and hydrating. Pat's tent had fallen

Hike date : April 2003 Certain recollections come to mind when I think of the valley isle of Maui: the tourist town of Lahaina, where there are "brown eyed girls to break your heart"; the long and winding road to Hana, with its wonderful waterfall/swimming hole hikes; lush, isolated Pu'u Kukui, where a group of HTM trailclearers once participated in a service project (Dec. '99); and then there's remarkable Haleakala Crater, the location of my very first neighbor island backpack (May '97), coordinated by Ken Suzuki.After reading about the trip Dayle Turner, Ed Gilman and Mark Short did to Haleakala's summit via a route along Manawainui Gulch in December of last year, I had a strong desire to check it out myself. Moreover, I'm really into elevation gain these days, and after accumulating a total of 7600' via a double traverse of Mount Ka'ala on February 2 of this year, I wanted to exceed this one day total. "10K in one day" ha

The 2010 HTMC calendar is really a thing of beauty, but there is outdated information that I would like to see corrected. On the last page (bottom flap of Club Facts & Trivia) it reads, "Pete Clines has also attempted this climb to True Manamana but fell short of the summit. As far as we know, no one has conquered the summit of True Manamana." I am pleased to report that these statements are no longer accurate, as two HTMC members had lunch there this past Saturday! With an EARLY 6:30am meeting time, Laredo (Rainbowman) Murray, Nathan Yuen, Chris Cheng, and I prepared for a long day of adventure. By 6:50am we were leaving the cars (by Kahana Bay) and were heading for the "Cemetery Route" up the Manamana club hike. Clouds and on-and-off rain throughout the day meant the ground would be muddy and slick for the duration. A little before 9am we reached Turnover at about 2000ft and had a short break. The club route would reverse direction here, a

I found out yesterday that my friend (and hiking buddy) Brian was going to be deployed to Iraq in the next week or so with his Marine division. We decided to get in one last hike, and I thought we should make it a worthwhile one. He's gone with me on Kalena, Olomana, and Manamana, so I proposed one that would top them all. We arrived at the Pali lookout at 11:00, and were glad to see the high cloud cover, but with Konahuanui cloud-free(which it remained all day). I've been up to the notches to the right of the lookout 3-4 times before, but never beyond. Today we got to them in short time, then proceeded to work past them taking the direct up-and-over route. Coming off the second notch required a steep downhill climb followed by a careful jump. (We had missed the more gradual descent option on the windward facing side) Next was a brief level stretch, prior to arriving at the "test your courage" spot. We spotted an old rope hanging at the top of v

This morning, Pat Rorie, Laredo Murray, Pete Caldwell, and I met at the summit of Konahuanui, the high point of the Koolau Range. We did this as a tribute for Don Fox, a friend and fellow hiker who recently lost his life in an auto accident on the mainland. We reached Konahuanui via three different routes: Pat and Laredo by way of Lulumahu Ridge, Pete via Tantalus/Kalawahine/Pauoa Flats, and me from Manoa via Aihualama/Pauoa Flats. In the 2.5 hours spent at the summit, we each drank, courtesy of Pete, a couple of swallows of 151 proof Hana Bay rum, a favorite celebratory inbibement of Don's, and, courtesy of Laredo, set off a rackety pyrotechnics display (on occasion, Don enjoyed firing off a bottle rocket or two from high mountain ridges). All the while, we were in the clouds with no views, but the whiteout didn't phase us nor dampen our spirits. And we probably would have stayed an hour longer if it hadn't started raining. In clouds all the way, we all descended toge

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