Wailupe Loop Trail – July 7, 2012

Wailupe Valley is pretty foreign to most people, aside from residents of Hawaii Kai and dedicated hikers. After doing a biological survey of stream life in the lower and middle reaches of the valley for work, I’ve been wanting to explore further back into Wailupe, as well as look for any ridge trails that terminate at the Koolau Summit. I’ve heard the HTMC and a few other hiking enthusiasts have done a loop trail, which goes up the middle ridge in Wailupe traverses north on the Koolau Summit Trail (KST), then descends via the Wiliwilinui trail and jumps back to the valley floor via a steep descent route off of the ridge. After doing much research and some reconnaissance, a large group of us (Baron Yamamoto, Jeremy Kreis, Katie Ersbak, Jenny Ersbak, Kaiser Nonales, Seth Eason, Josh Serrano, Gary Kitahira, Francis Jimenez and Lara were successful in finding and completing the loop trail.

The day started early, at the end of Hao Street and back of the residential area in Wailupe Valley.

The trail into Wailupe Valley is wide and well kept, especially for one that is not a state regulated trail.

Most of the trail is well-shaded throughout in the valley.

About 20 minutes in, we turned off (right) from the main trail at a distinct downhill junction in the valley,

…which lead to a couple of dry streambed crossings.

From here the trail forked again, where we ended up taking the fork in the uphill, mauka-direction.

The ridge we set foot on (which I believe is the middle ridge) quickly gained in elevation and ridiculously steep in several places,

…but at least the humid, closed canopy quickly opened up to an open sky and tradewind breezes.

Though we did pass through a few loose groves of strawberry guava.

After several sections of lung-busting uphill sections, the crew took a break for a group picture… Top (L to R): Jeremy (IG@bob_the_moo_cow), Katie (IG@kersbak), Kaiser(IG@iikaiserii), Seth, Josh(IG@jobu14), Gary(IG@808optics). Bottom (L to R): Jenny (IG@Ersbatch), Baron (IG@808indy), Lara and Francis.

The wide, well-kept trail began to narrow as we approached the native forest higher in the watershed,

…with Koa, Ohia, and Uluhe now being the dominant trailside vegetation. Look how intensely Kaiser is analyzing the striations of the Koa bark. haha.

The last stretch of the middle ridge in Wailupe is another lung buster, being ridiculously steep and somewhat overgrown with Uluhe ferns.

But what lies minutes ahead is the grassy summit of Wailupe Loop trail,

…and epic views of Windward Oahu, including Kaneohe, Kailua, and Waimanalo.

After a few snacks, we packed up and started traversing the Koolau Summit Trail (KST) in the northern direction towards the Wiliwilinui Trail terminus (top of Kamiloiki Ridge).

Unlike several of the previous weekend prior, the clouds today were much higher than the summit of the East Koolau Mountains,

…and provided excellent views while crossing over.

Unlike Josh, Jeremy and Baron, I haven’t been to this stretch of the east KST before, but I was glad that the trail between the two termini was in fairly good condition.

Francis highlighting one of the more narrow sections on our journey,

…just before reaching the summit of the Wiliwilinui Ridge Trail.

We didn’t stay long, since the summit here was muddy… Wailupe’s summit was way more loiter-friendly. Look at how discontent everyone was upon leaving. ;P

The Wiliwilinui Trail is well-established, as it is a State-maintained trail (see here).

Most of the steeper portions of the trail are terraced with wide-set stairs, which make the descent much safer than sliding on your butt through the mud. I don’t summit most of these trails often, but I hear the upper exposed portions of them can get pretty muddy in this area.

Further down the ridgeline, we encountered the “actual” trailhead, indicated by a sign and a boot-brushing apparatus… reminding everyone how important it is to clean your boots before, during, and after hiking in Hawaii’s native forests and watersheds.

As I mentioned earlier, we meant to loop our route back into Wailupe Valley, to the main valley trail. Using a GPS route one of my friends gave me, we found the steep connector trail from the Kamilioiki, back down into the valley. Note, though this trail is flagged and fairly well kept on the way down, there are other marked/unkept/nasty trails that could get you into a lot of trouble. Anyone trying to find this one should be cautious and do their research before attempting.

Back at the junction with the valley trail, I was surprised that I’ve seen this fork several years prior, but never bothered to explore it to it’s summit at Wiliwilinui.

Oh well, but we all did it now, so let’s not dwell in the past… haha.

The trip back out to the trailhead was quick, with the total loop taking us a leisure 5.5 hours to complete… However, the stats of the guy who gave me the GPS track trail-ran the route in 55 minutes. WHO does that?!! Keep doing great things K…-XIV!

We were all super hungry, and what better way to satisfy a bunch of famished hikers with some poke bowls from Paina Cafe!!! 🙂

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!

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