Puu Kawiwi to No Name to Tiki Ridge – March 3, 2012

A great hike with a lot of scrambling, Puu Kawiwi to No Name to Tiki is definitely one of my favorite advanced hikes in West Oahu. This particular hike is nostalgic to several of us as it was the first hike we did together as the “Lost Trailblazers” (Troy Takara, Jennifer Liu, Seth Eason, Jenelyn Castillo, David Chatsuthiphan, Reanne Solomon and myself) over a year ago. The hike on that monumental day was detailed by David on his Unreal Hawaii Website.

The original hike today was supposed to be Pali Notches to Konahuanui, but as it was storming in the Koolaus it was decided by Baron Yamamoto to opt for a drier, Waianae hike… being the well known loop from “Puu Kawiwi to Three Poles/Kaala Trail.”

Also joined by the largest group of people I’ve ever hiked with (Julie Lee, Scott Smith, Colin, Marcus Griego, Wendy Tan, Russel Meza, Randy Glidden, Stephanie Weaver, Ted Calvero, Clayton Childs, Austin Childs, Marga Genova, Mike Loftin, Rhonda Navarro-Hutchinson, Jeremy Kreis, David Concepcion [by air], and fellow LT Jen Castillo), we started at the end of Waianae Valley Road and headed for the fire break.

Following the firebreak road up to the base of Puu kawiwi, we quickly jumped onto the ridgeline.

What makes kawiwi so great (or not so great), are all the awesome scrambles and climbs on the spine of the ridge.

The views aren’t too shabby either.

Where the rock faces appear too high or crumbly to climb, there are often safer contours.

Since the rocks can be loose here, we spread ourselves out along the ridgeline into ~ 3 groups.

In the case any of us dislodge a rock, it’s best that we aren’t bunched up like bowling pins… unless we’re taking pictures, lol.

One of the more challenging climbs is the rock face above, near the summit.

There are relatively solid holds on it, however I do not recommend it unless you have climbing experience, or several spotters and guidance to your holds. One slip and you’re probably not “hiking out.”

Anyhoo… on to celebrating at the summit! Not only was this the biggest group I’ve hiked with, but the biggest group of hikers who’ve toasted Boddingtons at the top of Puu Kawiwi, or any summit in the history of summits for that matter. haha.

After the round of beer and a smorgasbord of calorie-packed snacks, we continued mauka along the Kamaileunu Ridgeline to “No Name” or “Teddy-Bear” as the west-sider’s call it.

This part of the ridgeline is damn amazing, with gorgeous views of both Waianae and Makaha Valleys (old photo).

Continuing further, we encountered an incomplete fenceline. I guess Wendy and the goats are still free to roam between valleys!

Approaching “No Name,” the scrambling gets really fun… or nightmarish, depending on your recreational hiking perspective.

The rock features here are amazing, and I’m sure the climbers at the Volcanic Rock Gym, would have a field day… if only these boulders were more accessible, haha.

Upon reaching the summit of “No-Name,” we were slammed by some torrential rains, which crept up on us from a distance. Some had rain gear, while others rebelled through the wet/windy conditions.

Since the weather turned for the worst, we opted to bail out on the shorter route, down “Tiki Ridge…” The large, tiki-shaped rocks can be seen off in the distance (left). Wendy using webbing to climb down the now-slick and muddy trail (right).

Tiki Ridge is a much more manageable trail, when compared to Kawiwi… though it still has some challenging sections.

Though we heard it mid-hike, we didn’t see it until we were hiking down Tiki Ridge when the clouds started to clear… Kaala Falls, GOING OFF from the summit!!! I’ve never seen this falls running before, as Waianae is a fairly dry region on Oahu. If you aren’t aware, Mount Kaala is the highest point on Oahu and witnessing a waterfall spewing from the summit is quite a rare site.

Following the white ribbons down the ridgeline, we ran into the more conventional “bottle-cap” trail markers in Waianae and Makaha Valleys… and followed them back out to Waianae Valley Road.

Great hike with an amazing(ly large) crew!!!

Mahalo nui loa to Baron for organizing, to Marcus Griego for your safety speech at the beginning of the hike, and to everyone else who made this hike an epic and nostalgic adventure for the Lost Trailblazers!!!

To view more photos of this adventure in a Photo Gallery, 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!

Questions??? Just ask!!!