DISCLAIMER: Aloha From 808 is solely created for recreational purposes and NOT intended for use as a guide. Please be responsible and respectful if choosing to visit locations I photograph, as you do so at your own risk and the risk of endangering others. This website and owner will not be liable for injury, medical/legal fees, fines or property damage as a result of viewing. Do not use content on this website without permission (see more).

All photos © 2011-2014 Cory Yap, unless noted.

True Manamana – May 13, 2012




True Manamana (Puu Manamana proper) is an advanced/extreme hike, which continues from the turnover/junction from the popular, shorter Puu Manamana or Kahekili Ridge Trail. Hiking on a cloudless day with the absence of the northeast tradewinds is a mistake I’ll never make on this hike again. We (Troy Takara, Jenelyn Castillo and Jeremy Kreis) started at the steep graveyard trail in Kahana, hiking to True Manamana, and down the Puu Manamana Trail took us ~9 hours round trip.


The graveyard trail starts just off of Trout Farm Rd in Kahana Valley.


For most of the hike up, the trail is steep and without much views.


It’s also muddy and overgrown in many areas. However, at a few points the trees open up, where we could either see Kahana Valley…


…or True Manamana, Puu Ohulehule and the Koolaus.


Once intersecting the ridge trail and the turnover, we continued through the overgrowth towards True Manamana.


The trail was in moderate condition, with some overgrowth and a lot of narrow, loose and crumbly areas… though far better than I’ve heard in recent years.


For most of the ridgeline, the view was spectacular.


Since it was so clear today, we were able to see all the way to Waimanalo from Kahana… which is impressive if you’ve done a lot of hiking in the Koolaus.


Just gorgeous…


But anyhoo, continuing further along the ridge…


Here, instead of going over the top of the ridge like Troy (left), I contoured below to get a view of the “puka” or hole in the rock (right).


We ran into some other “interesting” geographic features/obstacles… but definitely nothing impassable. The large rock shown forces Troy to crouch down and veer to the steep drop-off on his left.


Just before the summit, the trail gets narrow, extremely crumbly,


and steep…


An arduous journey, mostly because of the lack of tradewinds and cloud cover today… But the view back towards the turnover was awesome enough to make me forget about the heat for a few minutes.


And a cool (not cold, lol) boddingtons helped as well…


As it was getting late, we headed back towards the turnover. We removed one of the severely deteriorating ropes along the trail, as it obviously could hold no weight. One of the few instances when “not using the rope” is encouraged. It basically fell apart in my hands.


Though the graveyard trail would have been shorter, we knew the views going down the frequently traveled Puu Manamana Trail would be worth the extra length…


The sky was stained with all types of the pastel colors,


…just before the sun set.

As mentioned earlier, True Manamana is an advanced/extreme trail. It is dangerous and not for inexperienced hikers looking for a thrill. The trail can be hot and grinding, as it was for us on an irregular tradewind-less day. If you are not up for a crazy hike, but still want a work out and amazing views, I highly recommend either doing the conventional Puu Manamana Trail or Puu Kahekili to Puu Manamana Trail… I do not recommend the graveyard trail. It’s boring *yawn*,and steep. Either way, be prepared with sufficient water and appropriate hiking gear. You may want wear long pants as a lot of the uluhe ferns and other brush can scar up your legs, for any combination of the above trails.


The map above loosely denotes where “True” Puu Manamana is, relative to other peaks in the area… the proper peak is at a lower elevation, and more towards the Koolaus than the majority of the Puu Manamana Trail. Note “Puu Manamana” is noted twice.

Questions??? Just ask!!!

To view the photo gallery for 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!


6 Comments for True Manamana – May 13, 2012


Giovanni

Cory! Fantastic write up and amazing pictures. What a great day to hike! You guys rock. Send regards to the rest of the LTBs from me! -G

Reply

    Cory

    Mahalo Gio! Sky was clear but weather was CRAZY hot! Will send word to the crew. Hope you’re doing well bro!

    Reply

Chong

Hey there on saturday (27 Apr) a friend and I did the hike this way, at the end there was two trails one lead straight and the other right down towards the lion as they did. I was just wondering what the trail ahead lead to and what did it consist of I read around and think it leads to true manamana.

Reply

    Cory

    Aloha Chong,

    I was on the same hike in the link you sent, for the Kahekili-Manamana ~loop… Was wearing the camo-hat. There are a lot of trails (entry/exit points) for the manamana trail. Not sure which way you were facing to go “straight” or “down towards the lion.” There is a map at the bottom of my write-up which may help orient you better towards or away from true manamana, if that’s where you are trying to get to. Let me know if you have more questions or how I can better help you…

    Aloha,
    Cory

    Reply

aaron

Cory, your disclaimers and this write does not do the danger of this hike justice. We attempted this hike today, making to lowest point after the 1900′ lookout before we turned back, thinking we were going to die on numerous occasions. The weather was only slightly wet but this made a significant difference in confidence we had in out footing on the sheer crumbly rock faces. Also, do NOT have any alcohol on this hike! Have the toast when you get back to the road!

Reply

    Cory

    Aloha Aaron,

    Much apologies for your disapproval of the content of my site. However I am glad you folks had a good gauge of your crew’s abilities and had the insight to turn back when the terrain was beyond comfortable safety levels. I am quite comfortable hiking on this type of terrain and know what is and is not within my abilities as well. I also feel what I have said about my experience there is accurate… Everyone has their own idea of what is dangerous, and whether or not the information on this site does or does not do any adventure justice is up to the reader. Also please keep in mind my disclaimer states:

    “The content of this website is solely created for recreational purposes and is NOT TO BE USED AS A GUIDE. Please use discretion if you choose to visit places I have photographed, as you do so at your own risk.”

    I do not often provide enough information at these locations because people should thoroughly research or recon such areas before going to these types of hikes blindly… Just because it’s documented on many websites doesn’t mean it is easy or there is enough information about it for someone to successfully complete the hike. Yesterday was also a “Kona Wind” day, where the tradewinds were virtually absent, which I have also noted makes it more challenging…

    “True Manamana is an advanced/extreme trail. It is dangerous and not for inexperienced hikers looking for a thrill. The trail can be hot and grinding, as it was for us on an irregular tradewind-less day.”

    Please stay safe when on such trails and be adequately prepared before venturing to areas like this. Mahalo nui for taking the time to write to me and for visiting my site.

    Aloha,

    Cory

    Reply



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