Kalahaku Teeth Reconnaissance – February 18, 2012

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 photos due to my hands frequently being occupied and several bouts of heavy rain…

On a less than optimal weather day, Jeremy, Jenelyn and I; navigated to the west ridge fork of Kalahaku, near a ginger farm in Waihee. The goal of the day was not only to hike as far up the ridgeline as possible, but more so to recon how difficult it would be to traverse the rugged teeth.

Shortly after passing under an old gate at the end of the road, we scrambled up a hill of loose red dirt to get up on the ridgeline.

Once on the ridge we were welcomed with views of from Kaneohe to Chinaman’s Hat, as well as most of Waihee Valley.

Continuing along the overgrown ridge for some time, we finally got to the first of many ridge teeth (left). The second tooth is one of the more gnarly ones (right).

Near 360 panoramic view from top of what may have been the the 4th tooth.

Coming down from the 5th tooth was pretty rough near the top since it was particularly overgrown. I trimmed some of the vegetation back for Jen, who was following me, but it’s still pretty bad.

However, the 6th tooth was the worst… most of the near vertical tooth had small plants and roots to cling to, but several sections were only covered in shallow rooted grasses… not to mention they were dead. Jeremy at the top, just before the last “pronounced” tooth (which I believe is the 7th).

Despite the last tooth looking manageable (at least when compared to it’s predecessor), we were short on time and the weather was getting progressively worse. Instead of going down the way we came up, we opted to take an alternate, perpendicular ridge down…

This would get us down much quicker, however it would be much further away from the car than desired… At least we’d be on pavement, and not clinging to a wet and crumbly, narrow ridgeline going down.

One of the more narrow parts of the ridgeline was just slightly wider than the width of my boot, with some sizable drop-offs on either side. Jeremy and Jenelyn cautiously moving along by either crawling or straddling this dangerous portion of the hike.

There were also some steep drop offs, so rope and microspike crampons were definitely useful going down.

Towards the bottom, the ridgeline became wider and more level… which was a relief on one hand,

But on the other hand, the insane, shoulder/head-high uluhe was a beast from another mother.

After finally making it to the bottom of the ridge, we took a last look at the gnarling teeth of Kalahaku. We made it to the pronounced tooth in the center of the pic… one more tooth, and it should be fairly clear sailing to the Koolau Summit. The next task is to find out where we hike down… since we’re all from Aiea/Pearl City, we were hoping to hike home from the summit since it’s directly on the other side of the Koolaus.

Since we were considerably far from our car (~2 miles by pavement), we sent Jenelyn to stick out her thumb on the side of the road while we hid in the bushes. SUCCESS!!! Nah nah, jus playing… about hiding in the bushes. lol.

As I mentioned in the first line of this post, the Kalahaku Teeth is the most dangerous hike I’ve been on to date. I know there are more dangerous routes adrenaline junkies can come up with, but this one is definitely NOT safe and NOT for people who value their physical well-being. Significant lengths of the rope/webbing and knot tying skills are required. Long pants and sleeves are a must; a rain jacket or poncho is strongly recommended. Heavy rain slowed us down significantly on our trek, so if attempting, expect to take approximately 6 hours to get to same place on the we did. The perpendicular “bailout” ridge is not recommended unless absolutely necessary. Make sure to bring sufficient food and water for a grinding all-day hike. Do not attempt to go to the summit unless you are planning to “potentially” stay overnight in the Koolaus.

More questions, just ask!!!

To view the photo gallery of this adventure, click here. To view this location on a Google Map also known as my “Adventure Map“, Click Here. For more adventures of the Lost Trailblazers, either look at my other blogposts and “Adventures with the Lost Trailblazers” photo gallery. Thanks for visiting and come back again soon!