Olomana Hike - first peak

The view of the third peak

Aloha and welcome to my first blog post.  I intend to dedicate this corner of the web to my personal hiking experiences in Hawaii and post some nice pictures to share with the world.

I am not an expert hiker.  The hikes I do on this blog are mostly simple and don't involve much death defiance.   I do not hike for the thrills.  I do it for the exercise, the photo opportunities, and, sometimes, the solitude.  I do get much inspiration at websites like Yelp or Unreal Hawaii, but many of the hikers I read about are much more comfortable and skilled than I am.

I recently hiked a trail known as Olomana (or the three peaks).  On the trail, I had several people stop me and ask if I had a blog or anything when they saw me with my professional-ish camera gear.  I guess I must look like i know what I'm doing, but I really have no clue.  Regardless, that was the inspiration for this blog.

The Olomana trail will be my inaugural post, not because I think it's the best or most unique hike on the island.  Simply, it is my most recent hike and the one I can remember the best.

The Olomana trail has three peaks.  Many people like to hike all three simply for the thrill of climbing.  However, after reading several Yelp reviews (and my life insurance policy) I decided one peak was good enough for me.

The bridge where you have to park

So now onto my journey.  This particular hike starts on private property.  Luckily, the owners of the golf course are really cool about letting people access the hike.  The guard gave me a friendly smile and pointed me in the right direction.  He told me that I "can't miss the trailhead."  Whenever someone tells me I "can't miss" something, I think to myself "challenge accepted."



A view on the way to the trailhead

So after a short walk along a paved road, I came to the trailhead.

So the trail sets off through the forest, as many hikes around here do.  You quickly come across a creepy building with some colorful artwork drawn by local artists.

As you continue onward and upward, your surroundings change several times.  You go from the deciduous forest at the beginning, to bare red dirt (very common in Hawaii) to coniferous trees (not that common here), back to deciduous trees and finally to some large boulders.  Here are some of the scenes:

This is a bird my dad tried unsuccessfully to photograph while he was here.

Here is your coniferous section

Pine needles were abundant on this section

This red dirt is much more vibrant than I was able to capture on the camera.  My shirt and pants, however, captured the color brilliantly.

The first two thirds of the hike is fairly straightforward with a steady incline.  Then come the climbing sections that will have you wondering where the elevator is.

Yeah, you need to climb this to get to the top

The difficult sections have ropes to help you out, so it's not really that bad.  Trust in the ropes, and they will set you free.

I personally verified these ropes can hold 220 lbs of love, plus gear.

Once I scrambled to the top, I was treated to some of the best views I have seen on the island.  It truly is a fantastic place to stop, rest, and eat some lunch.  Here are some scenes:

Here are peaks 2 (left) and 3 (right).  The reviews say #2 isn't bad, but #3 is the hardest to reach.  

This was just me trying out my 300mm zoom lens.  Pretty nifty

While at the top, I met this nice other couple.  The guy was middle-aged and said he had been here since the early 80's.  He was an entrepreneur and was "working" from the top of the mountain.  Must be rough.  I sat up there for about an hour just enjoying the view and chatting with strangers.  It was very serene.

Perhaps the best part about this hike was the solitude.  I only encountered a handful of people on the way up, including the aforementioned couple at the summit.  On the way down, I passed droves of people coming onto the hike, so I guess it's best to get here early.



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