Brian and I had a morning to go adventuring and our plan was to tackle the Koko head stairs together. However it’s been rainy so we decided it wasn’t the best idea. It occurred to me the night before that I haven’t brought him to the Old Pali Rd. hike and I haven’t done the part I set out to do with KOSC; take it all the way to the Pali Lookout.
The parking doesn’t open until 8 am anyway, so we had a leisurely morning and got breakfast and headed out around 9am. The parking attendant told us he wasn’t accepting CCs…. whoops… thankfully Brian had cash and we managed to scrounge together $5, which he accepted even though it cost $10. Yay!
Anyway, we set out and Brian was in awe, just as I was the first time, although I was way more appreciative this time without having to worry about so many people. We meandered our way up the winding “road”. It is really an abandoned highway being taken over by a jungle and is as cool as you’d expect.
We got to the real pali highway, where you have to duck under it, and then continued on up toward the lookout.
Almost the entire way is paved, which was a significant difference to my last experience going to the other lookout which was very muddy and slippery. This made for a much more enjoyable experience! And much better views!
We found these giant yellow flowers and Brian humored me when a second one fell serendipitously in front of us and I put it in his hat.
It took us an hour and a half, 3.3 miles and 850ft elevation in total. It was awesome! I’m so glad I remembered to introduce this hike to Brian and that we had a very pleasurable experience this time.