I’ve been wanting to knock out this hike but haven’t been procrastinating because on AllTrails it’s only a half mile loop… in fact when I proposed it to Jess I said maybe we can do a couple loops of it.
Well, turns out this is another sleeper hike and there’s a whole extension to it with a pretty great climb! There also isn’t a lot of parking, but we found a couple spots. This is the entrance, and some of the plants have identification plaque along the way.
After about 200 ft of climbing (you drive up a pretty big hill to get there) there’s a really great view and a bench to sit (this is looking out toward MCBH).
This is looking out toward Kailua and my beloved Mokes, plus Waimanalo to the right.
Then, the path continues up and up… like scrambling up… (this next section pictured had ropes to help) and you get pretty much the same views but also a view back toward the H3. It actually wasn’t that bad of a section, it was pretty grippy, but I wouldn’t do it after much rain and sat on my butt a couple spots to get down.
You can barely see the H3 coming around the bend. I’d like to revisit in the morning when the sun is on those mountains, but this shot with the rays is pretty neat. Needless to say, it took about an hour with stoppage to enjoy, and we didn’t even go all the way (we stopped at the top, but it looks like it goes down the other side and dead ends). I think it was 500ft elevation all things considered. Not bad for a Friday afternoon jaunt.
