Kaluakauila Loop, West Oahu

I haven’t hiked much on any of the west-side ridges lately, maybe because I was mentally scarred for how long and hot “Ohikilolo to Three Corners” was last year, haha. However, Pete was looking for someone to hike with and scout out a new route he hadn’t done before… and for those who don’t know, when Pete has a new hike on his mind, it is not one to miss. In about 6.5 hours, we completed a loop trail around Kaluakauila Gulch and were treated to superb views of Yokohama Beach, Kaena Point, and Makua Valley.

Following an old, overgrown trail route on the 1:24000 topographic quadrangle map, we followed Kaluakauila Gulch for a short while before banking onto a mildly graded ridgeline.

Though we saw a few faded ribbons and stepped on the trail many times, most of the way looked like this… itchy California grass (Brachiaria mutica) in every orifice.

The high grass began to drop shortly before a reaching a false peak below the Kuaokala Trail,

Where we encountered large groves of what looked like Ponderosa pine trees… with several pine cones littering the ground.

Definitely not a common site here on Oahu, or much of Hawaii for that matter.

A shaded, scenic point along the Kuaokala Trail made an excellent place to stop for a lunch break.

Twenty minutes later, we hiked towards a junction to the ridge just south of Kaluakauila Gulch (north of Makua), where a familiar geographic feature was encountered…

Nostalgic from one of the first hikes we did as the “Lost Trailblazers” almost 3 years ago… It kind of brought a tear to my eye. Really, haha…

After having my “emo” moment, we continued further down the ridgeline towards Makua…

Where the spectacular views became apparent in both the south (towards Ohikilolo ridge),

…and northern directions (Yokohama and Kaena Point).

But as we descended further down the ridge, I’d have to say that the unobstructed view of Makua was nothing short of jaw-dropping. The elevation clouds even allowed us to see Mount Kaala off in the distance… and also our friends on Puu Ohikilolo (really, we could see them waving with the aid of Pete’s Monocular, haha).

We started to hike along a fenceline, which is important to keep feral goats out of forest reserves, but can still be pretty aesthetically unpleasant while hiking on ridges.

At what appears to be the end of the ridge, is a steep drop-off that allows one to view the entire coastline in this area. I have a huge panoramic of it, but I think I’ll just let others use their imagination here, haha.

What can’t be seen well from earlier photos, is how the ridge bends sharply to the right (north) and descends gradually. Any other way down would have been much more dangerous. Glad Pete had a good idea of the topography prior to starting the hike, which made the route go along much more smoothly.

Mahalo nui loa Pete for the invite and for continually sharing your knowledge of the mountains with the rest of us. Aloha…

Similar Post(s): Ohikilolo to Three Corners

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