I went on my first trail-clearing hike last weekend. (Hence, the weed wacker you see in the photo above.)

The hike took us into a remote part of Oahu.

At the end, a swimming hole.

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Not only was this my first trail-clearing hike, this was my first time hiking with the Hawaiian Trail and Mountain Club (HTMC). The club has been around for over a hundred years and they organize a hike every weekend.

One of the benefits of hiking with the HTMC is that they can get access to a lot of trails that are typically off-limits or behind locked gates. The Kawai’iki Trail is one such trail. It takes you several miles deep into a valley on the West side of the Koolau mountains. All on restricted land.

On this day the HTMC’s goal was to clear the overgrown parts of the trail and mark it with ribbons for an upcoming hike on February 12.

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No matter what hike I’m on, I always pack a headlamp. You never know what will happen. I’ve been on plenty hikes where we’ve stayed on the trail longer than we anticipated and had to spend some time hiking in the dark. On some occasions we’ve gotten lost and on others we voluntarily decided to stay out longer than we had planned for.

This is a Petzl Zipka Plus 2 Headlamp. I like it because it has a retractable head strap and is super compact. This model provides 50 lumens of light and is plenty bright. 50 lumens, by the way, is the minimum strength you want in a hiking headlamp. I recently upgraded to a 100 lumen Black Diamond Storm Headlamp for nighttime rock climbing sessions. On any hike where you know you’ll be using a headlamp, make sure to pack extra batteries.

When you buy a headlamp, check that it has a red led option. Most do. The red light lets you see in the dark without constricting your pupils. So, when you turn it off, you’re eyes will still be adjusted for seeing in the dark.

Also, remember that when you’re hiking with your headlamp on, never point your light towards a street or neighborhood. People on the ground could mistake your light for a distress signal and call search and rescue. This happened to me once. I hiked down with some friends from the Mokule’ia Crag in the dark and there were cops waiting for us on the street. (Oops!) Headlamps can be visible from miles away.

I use a CamelBak M.U.L.E. Hydration Pack hydration pack. There are many others to choose from but CamelBak has the best reviews because it seems to be the most durable. I tend to like the packs they make for mountain bikers as they are more narrow than a traditional hiking day pack. In general, hikes in Hawaii don’t require too much gear. I found that full size day packs are too bulky for my taste. The M.U.L.E. packs are super compact yet carry 3 liters of water. And if you need more gear, they have expansion storage compartments. Or, you could simply clip your gear on using carabiners. Perfect for a 4 to 8 hour hike.

This might not apply to everyone but, for me, a camera is an essential piece of equipment for hiking in Hawaii. Maybe it’s because I’m Asian. Or, maybe it’s because the views from the top of the ridges in Hawaii are epic. I carry a dSLR but any camera will do. For those of you that like to carry dSLRs, I’ll show you my method of carrying such a heavy camera on the trail.

Everyone I hike with packs differently and has different opinions on what would be considered “essential hiking gear”. If you are interested in what I would recommend, read on…

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The hike starts by climbing the two Pali Notches and then up this … the Chimney.

You’ll follow the Koolau Summit Trail (KST) up to Pu’u Konahuanui. This pu’u (or mountain) has the two highest peaks on the Koolau mountain range. The peaks are known by hikers as K1 and K2.

The views from up here, at just over 3,000 feet up, resemble those from a helicopter.

Past Konahuanui you can follow the KST (the long ridge that can be seen above) for as long as you like. We completed this hike by hiking down into Manoa Valley via the Manoa Middle ridge.

This is an extreme hike. Do not attempt this hike without a guide or a massive amount of KST ridge hiking experience. Our guide for this hike was Baron, an experienced “KST hiker”.

Here’s a little info on the KST:
As you probably know, the mountain range on the East side of Oahu is called the Koolau Range. The mountain range crosses the entire island from Makapu’u (southeast Oahu) to Pupukea (on the North Shore). When you look at the range on a topographic map, you can see a well defined crease or spine that spans the entire range. That crease is the narrow summit ridge of the mountain range and on it sits the Koolau Summit Trail. If you follow the KST, you can connect all the peaks of the Koolaus. But people that hike the KST typically break it up into sections. To hike the entire trail from Makapu’u to Pupukea would take days and solid mountaineering skills.

Baron’s goal as a KST hiker was to hike (in sections) the KST from Makapu’u to the Pali Lookout. Prior to this hike he had just one small section left and, on this day, he completed it.

The rest of us had two goals: climb the Chimney and obtain the summit of the highest point on the Koolaus.

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The Lanikai Pillboxes trail overlooks the Lanikai neighborhood and the “Moks”.

On the trail there’s a small crag that some people climb.(On Reanne’s back is a bouldering crash pad.)

The Lanikai Pillboxes hike (a.k.a, Ka’iwa Ridge Trail) is well known for being one of the easiest hikes on the island and one of the most scenic. That’s a rare combination. You can complete the hike in an hour or less if you wanted to. But once you see the sweeping views of Kailua and Lanikai from the ridge, you may want to spend more time on the trail.

Come at dawn or dusk for the best views.

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