This trail takes you through a forest that feels nothing like Hawaii.

You’ll hike along the ridge that overlooks Kuliouou Valley.

After just a few hours of hiking, you’ll be at the summit and treated to awesome views.

Of all the ridge hikes in this area (Aina Hina/Hawaii Kai) I like the view from the Kuliouou summit the best.

The Kuliouou Ridge Trail is still one of my favorite hikes on the island. It’s the trail that first got me interested in hiking in Hawaii. Now days, it’s the trail I recommend to new hikers or to friends visiting from the mainland.

Going at an easy pace the entire hike will take about 4 hours and you’ll cover about 5 miles.

I originally posted about the Kuliouou Ridge Trail almost 3 years ago so I wanted to do an updated post with more photos. Joining me on this hike would be Fernando Pacheco from Being808, a blog about healthy lifestyle in Hawaii. I took photos and he made a video featuring me as the host. (It was my first time hosting a hiking video, please be gentle.)

(I was not paid or compensated in any way to hike with Being808. We just teamed up on this to promote hiking in Hawaii as a way to be healthy and active.)

See more »

We’re in central Oahu here looking at the Koolau summit. Our first objective is that peak in the middle. It’s the Waiau summit and it’s 6 miles away.

At the Waiau summit we turn right and hike along the Koolau crest (sometimes called the Koolau summit trail) to the summit of Waimalu Middle Ridge. It’s that peak you see at the top of the photo.

At the top of Waimalu there’s a wide open meadow.

Finally, we descend Waimalu Middle Ridge down into the valley (back towards central Oahu) and hike to civilization via the Waimalu Ditch Trail. We completed this 10 mile hike in just under 12 hours.

This hike happened back in June. Kaleo Lancaster (Island Trails) coordinated a hike with a bunch of other folks and I ended up tagging along. The plan was to have a bunch of people start at different places and then meet up at the top of Waimalu.

Kaleo put in a lot of research and planning into this one. You can’t just show up to the trailhead and do this one. It’s important to read up on all the trails and make sure you know the way. He and Ryan Chang also stashed some water along the trail a few weeks earlier so we could refill our hydration packs. (Other hikers have refilled using treated stream water.)

This hike is long and grueling. When we were done I was exhausted and my legs were in shambles. Was it worth it? Absolutely.

See more »

My friend Brad Watanabe (owner of Berad Studio) and I teamed up again to produce another video for Hawaiian Skies, the video magazine of Hawaiian Airlines.

Starting today, and for the next four months, it will be shown on Hawaiian Airlines flights to and from the mainland. You can also press play in the video above and watch it online via the Hawaiian Skies YouTube channel.

The video features the three Hawaii hiking bloggers that have had the greatest influence on me. Kaleo Lancaster’s blog Island Trails opened my eyes to what hiking in Hawaii could be. Shortly after discovering Island Trails, I stumbled across Nate Yuen’s blog Hawaiian Forest and Joshua Serrano’s blog 808 Goonies. For some time I used those three blogs as my main resource for discovering new trails.

It was a pleasure to interview those guys and get to know them a little bit better by making this video. I have also, by the way, shamelessly featured myself in the video. And, the trail we are on is the Poamoho Trail.

I hope you enjoy it. Read on to learn a bit more about the making of this piece. It was a pretty long process.

See more »

Hiking safety is a tricky topic because part of the appeal of hiking is to push yourself to do things that you wouldn’t ordinarily do. During a hike you have to do some risky things to get to your destination. Sometimes that involves climbing up a rock face, crossing a waist deep stream, or simply pushing your endurance limit on a very long trail. It’s through these challenging experiences that we discover our physical and mental potential and also learn our limits.

So on hikes, we take risks. That’s kind of the point.

But if you are new to hiking, it’s super important to consider hiking safety. When something goes wrong on a hike, it’s much worse than it would normally be. Even small injuries are a big deal. For example, if you twist your ankle on a basketball court, you can just limp to your car and drive to the emergency room. On a hike, if you bust your ankle, you need to call for a helicopter. Yep, a helicopter. Then you get to read about your injury on the news and see all the comments on the news websites and Facebook where people will make fun of you and blame you for wasting their tax dollars. All that for a sprained ankle. Now imagine the consequences of a more severe injury.

Aside: I witnessed a helicopter rescue at the Makapuu tidepools. They were pros.

Since I have all this hiking info on my blog, I wanted to make sure that people know that hiking safety is a big deal to me. Here are a few things I think are important to keep in mind.

Be mindful of each step.

Hiking, in general, is pretty simple. It involves walking on rugged terrain. Sometimes you walk uphill, sometimes you walk downhill. But, I encourage new hikers to take it more seriously than that. You do not want to be stuck on a trail, miles from civilization, with a twisted ankle.

The trails in Hawaii are bumpy, full of holes, sometimes made up of loose slippery gravel and many times overgrown (which hides holes in the ground). I’ve seen many friends walk on trails like it’s a sidewalk. They’ve got their eyes up or looking at the scenery, not paying attention to the terrain, and tripping all over the place.

When I hike, I’m mindful of almost every step I take. Especially on narrow ridges. For each step I take I try to think about where my foot will land, what angle I should place my foot, if I should put it down with my heel or toe and I also think about where the next few steps will be. I’m always trying to spot holes I might step in or roots that might trip me. It sounds like a lot of work but the process becomes second nature after a while.

When using a rope.

Don’t trust it. The ropes out there are old and weathered. Try not to put 100% of your weight on the rope if you don’t have to. And while climbing up or down a rope, look around for branches and roots to grab onto in case the rope were to snap. Think of the rope as an aide.

Hike in a small group of people you know.

I know this isn’t always possible but, it’s much safer to hike with people who know you and care about you than with strangers. Friends are more likely to watch each other’s back, wait up for each other and be willing to take breaks whenever someone needs a rest. Smaller groups also work better because it’s easier to keep track of people.

Know your limits.

If you get really bad vertigo from heights, certain trails with narrow ridges may not be so good for you. If you are not so good with directions (like myself), you should stick to well known and well defined trails. I know I started this post by writing about how hiking is all about pushing ourselves but we must also be honest with ourselves and know when to pass on a hike that might be beyond our skill level.

If you are scared of heights, hiking is not the best way to face your fear. Rock climbing (where you’re on a rope) or skydiving (where you have a parachute) are much safer options. If you’re very competitive, you probably want to tame that tendency when hiking. It can lead to bad decisions. There are plenty of safer ways to compete with others.

Read the “Hiking Saftey in Hawaii” brochure.

I picked this up from the DLNR a little while back. I couldn’t find it available anywhere online so here it is.

I really dig specialty stores.

They can get brands and selections that major retailers cannot.

We have a specialty store in Hawaii that sells outdoor gear called SoulTrex.

There’s stuff here that you cannot find anywhere else on the island.

I usually come to SoulTrex to buy hiking shoes. But on this day, I came by to talk to Linda (pictured above) and drop off some Hawaii Bouldering tank tops. SoulTrex has agreed to stock them at the store for a limited time. If you live on the Windward side of Oahu, be sure to cruise by.

Linda is the store manager. She probably doesn’t remember this but she sold me two pairs of hiking boots last year. She was super knowledgeable about the brands (one was a pair of Merrells, the other Keens) and was totally stoked to hear that I was buying shoes for a backpacking trip. I remember her being really helpful.

I also remember being appreciative of the fact that SoulTrex even existed. It’s pretty risky to open up a store like this with such a niche customer base. I haven’t met Jacinda (the owner) yet but I definitely appreciate her efforts in bringing this type of store to Hawaii. Without SoulTrex we would have to buy everything online. And that doesn’t work so well when you want to try something on first or need something at the last minute.

After I dropped off the shirts, I was interested in learning more about the products at the store so I asked if Linda could show me around and tell me about the special items they carry. And then I ended up buying a bunch of stuff.

See more »

We hiked through a sea of this.

We pushed through this.

We climbed up this.

At the top, we saw this.

Pu’u Piei is a mountain peak that sits on the north wall of Kahana Valley. There are a few different ways to get to this peak. A couple weeks ago we decided to hike the ridge mauka of Pu’u Piei (“mauka” = towards the mountains).

The hike took us 10 hours and was a full body workout. Even though we spent most of the time up on the ridgeline, we found ourselves contorting our bodies to weave our way through trees and shrubs for almost the entire hike to the summit. We encountered a few steep climbs as well where there was nothing to hold on to but grass and the occasional well placed root.

There’s not much of a trail up there. I mean, there’s something to follow but it’s not much.

DISCLAIMER: This blog post is for entertainment purposes only. Hiking can be extremely dangerous. One slip or trip and you could easily fall down the side of the mountain causing injury or death. Do not attempt what you see in these pictures.

See more »