In my never-ending quest to trek all the hiking trails in Hawaii, I am always looking for family-friendly trails. There are a handful of hiking trails that are appropriate for kids of all ages. We thought Mariner's Ridge was one of them...
The reviews on the interwebs say it takes people about an hour to get to the top of this trail, and 45 mins to come back. So we planned on spending 3 hours on the trail, thinking that shirley would be more than enough time for us. After 2 hours of climbing and trodding, we were only about 2/3 of the way there. I guess toddlers hike at about 1/3 speed of regular adults.
Had we continued on this trail, it would have taken us at least 5 hours. On this day, we decided to turn back but vowed to return again another day.
When I found time to attempt the hike again, I decided to being my trusty sidekick, Staley.
Bonus points if anyone knows why I named my dog Staley.
I wasn't quite sure how she would fare because it has been a long time since I have taken her on a long excursion. Her brother has a bum leg and he doesn't always get along with other doggies. So Staley doesn't get a whole lot of one-on-one time with me out in the open.
This trail starts out like many hikes here on Oahu- with an ominous "No Trespassing" sign. This only serves to ward off some ignorant tourists. So under the chain and onward we go.
Since this trail starts out high on a hill, it isn't long before we get to some really nice views of Diamond Head, Hanauma Bay, and houses that cost more money than I will make in my entire life.
Over the ridge and through the forest, this trail has several switchbacks and some easy rocks to scale. Staley handled everything with ease, and only nearly fell off the mountain a few times.
At the end of the trail is a fantastic landing area that has some sweeping views of eastern Oahu. It was a bit cloudy and rainy on the day I went, but I can imagine how spectacular the view would have been.
All in all it is a fairly easy hike with great views. It is easy enough for a toddler to scale, but we needed to plan for much more time.
Here are some pictures where I was playing with my macro lens.
And here are some more random pictures of the hike. Thanks for reading!
