Kulepeamoa to Kamiloiki via the Koolau Summit Trail

Since we haven’t traversed much of the East Koolau Summit above Hawaii Kai, the Lost Trailblazers set off to ascend Kulepeamoa Ridge (Niu Valley) and hike to the Kamiloiki Ridge terminus (near Kuapa Fishpond) to complete a good stretch of the KST.

The route is of moderate length, likely taking a full day… but transects several familiar ridge trails, e.g. Kuliouou and Mariner’s Ridge termini, in case of an unfortunate bail-out is necessary.

At 830am, we started our trek on Anolani Street and followed the Board of Water Supply Access road to the Kulepeamoa Trailhead.

Within 10 to 15 minutes, we took the steep, right fork up towards Kulepeamoa Ridge instead of hiking further back into the valley (which can be a return route if hiking north, to the Hawaii Loa terminus). The route definitely got our quads warmed up and blood pumping by the time we reached the top of the ridge.

Parts of the ascent were enclosed by strawberry guava and other non-native trees, but as we got further up, spectacular views of the Hawaii Kai shoreline were virtually unobstructed.

The only geographical obstacle we encountered along the ridge was this steep, crumbly portion just before intersecting the Koolau Summit Trail (KST). There are some old ropes and cables which may help, but are probably not necessary with some good tread or spiked footwear.

The trail was somewhat overgrown near the top, but was not too discouraging since the KST was just minutes away.

Sometimes the summit trail in this area is socked in, but we had excellent weather today.

The northern Koolaus didn’t appear so lucky, off in the distance.

The crew scrambles up a loose section just before Puu O Kona (terminus for “West” Kuliouou), which was to be the first of our two lunch breaks.

Pushing further we passed the well-known undercut section, between Puu O Kona and the terminus for “Bear Claw.”

Fast forwarding a little (because I have way too many picture for this hike), we intersected the “East” Kuliouou terminus, or conventional ridge trail that everyone has hiked in Hawaii Kai.

Continuing in descent, we headed towards Haihaione terminus,

…which was near the area shown in the above pics. I also didn’t realize how long, hot and boring it would be until we got to Mariner’s, and kept thinking we were closer than we actually were.

Luckily, a few of the crew with us had done this section before and reminded me that we still had a bit to go before getting there. The long exposed portion before summiting made the heat extra intense,

…making the canopy shade just past the Mariner’s terminus well welcomed.

Before we knew it, we were descending down from the Tom-Tom terminus,

…and back up to the Kamiloiki terminus, just above the Kaupo Cliffs.

Here, we had our second lunch break, pretty much cleaning out or lunchboxes and hydration sleeves,

…since we knew it would only be 45 minutes or so before we reached our staged cars at the bottom of Kamiloiki Ridge, (near Pahua Heiau on Makahuena Pl.).

<9 hrs later and a good hike completed, we were off to eat some awful Mexican food at "Just Tacos" in Koko Marina shopping center. Probably the worst Mexican food I've ever had... and I'm anything but picky after a long hike. Probably why they went out of business shortly after we did this hike. Make sure to check your yelp reviews people... 1.5/5.0 stars from 28 reviews should have been a clear sign to abort the mission. lol. Bumbai we learn. :P
The above described route is likely an intermediate one, but may be lengthy for some. Clicking on the above map will link you to Yoshi’s “Every Trail” route, which you can have as an iPhone app if you decide to hike Kulepeamoa to Kamiloiki. Make sure to pack enough food/water for the trip, and if uncertain of your progress, verify time breakdowns for the termini mentioned in the map near the top of the page. There are a ton of bailouts listed there if too fatigued or in the case of an emergency. There are also a couple other windward trails that intersect this route, but they are probably not wise bailouts, so I didn’t list them on the map.

Aloha and mahalo nui for visiting and come back again soon!

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