February 2012

[Part 1 - Reconnaissance] [Part 2 - Summiting and Descent] The following documentation describes an unsafe activity and extremely dangerous, NO ONE should attempt to repeat this unless willing to accept consequences such as serious injury and/or death, etc. One of the most dangerous hikes I've been on thus far, the Kalahaku Teeth in Kahaluu are not to be underestimated. The 7 or 8 teeth are heavily overgrown, extremely narrow and steeply graded. Definitely not a hike I'd recommend for anyone who values their physical well-being. Bare with my photo-documentation as I wasn't able to snap many...

With a questionable forecast in the Koolaus of Central Oahu, Jenelyn and I opted to bail out of doing the Kalihi Saddle (one of the more extreme hikes on Oahu) with some other hiking buddies... instead, we joined up with Baron Yamamoto, Joshua Serrano (808 Goonies) and Marvin Chandra (Exploration Hawaii) to do an advanced ridge hike between Kahana and Punaluu called, "Puu Piei Makai." We started the loop trail at ~8am from the parking area across the street of Kahana Beach Park, and heading up on Kahana Valley Road. Taking the Kapaeleele Trail junction, ...we headed up towards the Puu Piei...

To tell you the truth, I haven't had much experience bouldering outdoors... probably not even double digits yet, haha. However, whenever there is a chance to learn from the professionals (e.g., Matt lutey, Matt Rimroth, Nick Testa, and Phil Langford, etc.), I quickly seize the opportunity. A fairly new site called "Angel's boulder," has been getting some recent attention from local boulderer enthusiasts, particularly those who frequent the Volcanic Rock Gym in Waipio. It's located near Kaena Point, just after the end of Dillingham Highway... with the swath up to the site beginning a couple...

The Lost Trailblazer known as "Reannimal" was back in town temporarily from her recent employment translocation, and in request of a short and fun hike... Since she hadn't been hiking for awhile, we decided on Kaupo Cliffs #3 to the Tomtom Trail for this particular sunny-weather Sunday. The loop-trail starts and finishes in Waimanalo (near the end of Manawaiola Street)... and takes approximately 4-5 hours, depending on how fast you hike and/or how many breaks you take. Heading east to Kaupo Cliffs (and not south to tomtom), the trail itself may not be well-defined but is loosely marked with...

I haven't heard of Bolohead Ridge until just recently reading Island Trails, and along with the name, was the phrase... "Bolo is lolo." For those of you who aren't familiar with these local pidgin terms; "Bolo-head" is typically a person who is "bald-headed," and "lolo" is usually descriptive of a person who is "crazy." It was obvious that I had to investigate the name's origin, as it was bothered me why Kaleo would say something so perplexing about a ridge. Starting early at the end of Waianae Valley Road, we (Baron Yamamoto, Laura Carothers, Clayton Childs and I) headed towards Mount Kaala. ...

One of my all-time favorite nocturnal ocean activities is torching... If you can't tell from the first photo in Kahala (courtesy of W. Roldan), torching consists of wading in shallow waters on coastal reefs at night (usually during low tide) to harvest all types of marine-life. During the day, this is commonly called, "reef walking," though it is more common by locals to refer to this as "torching" at night. The captures are usually for consumption purposes, but sometimes can be used as bait for fishing (e.g. Octopus or "Tako," above). Methods of capture usually consist of a 3-prong spear...