The Pu’u Manamana trail, located within the Ahupua’a ‘O Kahana State Park, is undoubtedly the most beautiful and dangerous hike on Oahu.

With absolutely fantastic views of the Kahana Valley, Makai, Ka’a'awa Valley and Punalu’u Valley I highly recommend it to any experienced hiker…who doesn’t suffer from fits of vertigo. I don’t so here we go!

Allen and I got a late start on Pu’u Manamana and didn’t make it to the trail head until about 1215. He overslept….much like he does for work because he’s late all the time (obligatory dime drop).

Generally speaking you definitely want to start this trail in the morning. It’s only a 4-mile loop but I can guarantee you it will take you longer to traverse than you’d expect.

As soon as I stepped foot on the trail I tightened up my backpack straps and pulled my visor down a little bit….this one was gonna be rough. The trail starts steep and doesn’t let up until you hit the summit more than 2100 feet straight up.

This trail is NO JOKE TOUGH. Besides the incredibly narrow passage along this legendary ridge, with imminent death (or maiming) on either side of you; you also have to be wary of bare roots, loose rocks/dirt, wind gusts and frequent rain showers.

After about 1500 feet up we got dumped on by more than just a little rain and remained soaked for the rest of the hike. Climbing this fantastic ridge in the rain was not that difficult but going down the slippery 2000 ft drop for about a mile back to civilization proved to be incredibly exhausting and dangerous.

Despite the difficulty of this razor thin trail it is one of the best marked trails I’ve hiked around Oahu. With all the pink markers that adorn this trail getting lost is a non issue because I can guarantee you they’ll find you at the bottom of the mountain if you step off of the path =)

Best of luck to you if you decide to take up this challenging Oahu hike. Don’t do it alone, tread lightly, turn around if you don’t feel safe and above all God bless you.

Technorati Tags: Pu’u Manamana, Ahupua’a ‘O Kahana State Park, Oahu hike, Kahana Valley, Makai, Ka’a’awa Valley, Punalu’u Valley

Well, Allen, Kaden and I decided to tackle the Hahaione Trail in Hawaii Kai today. Finding the trail head was a breeze but we lost the trail before we really even got started. Evidently, as we were later told, we were supposed to cross a dried out stream bed and then work our way up the switchbacks on the side of the mountain. Whoops missed that one!

However, being the trailblazers we are we decided to blaze our own path straight up to the summit. Yeah, that didn’t fly. At about 400 feet up, hanging from saplings and trying not to start a fatal rock slide we bowed out to the mountain. I know God has a sense of humor and he must have been rolling looking down on us.

Still looking to break a good sweat we headed out to the Mauumae Ridge (Lanipo) Trail. We made pretty good time by practically running the trail and hit the Lanipo summit (3.7 miles) in about 1.5 hours. Along the way we got caught in more than a few downpours which was a pleasant relief from the heat but made the trail just a little slick in spots. Leaving the top down on the JEEP (once again) made the ride home even more enjoyable.

Anyhow, if you’re looking for a great workout and wicked good views of the coast, Kaau Crater, Bellows AFB, Lanikai, and Kailua it’s for you. Check out the Mauumae Ridge (Lanipo) Trail yourself or hit me up on MySpace and we’ll roll out there en masse. =)

For directions to the trail head visit http://www.backyardoahu.com, it’s one of the better Oahu hiking sites you’ll come across.

God bless!

Technorati Tags: Hahaione Trail, Hawaii Kai, Mauumae Ridge, Lanipo Summit, Kaau Crater, Bellows AFB, Lanikai, Kailua, Oahu hiking