Saturday, April 23, 2011


For Good Friday me and Mike Duvernay hiked up Moanalua Valley on the Kulana`ahane Trail.   It's a realtively easy trail, a solid mix of dirt road, stream crossings, and a short ridge to gain a nice Ko`olau summit between the Haiku and Moanalua Valleys.  The Trail is 4.5 miles from the park at the back of Moanalua Valley to the the Ko`olau Ridge.  We started at 7:30 am and ended at 3:00 pm.  Taking a lot of pictures slowed us down.

For the first half of the hike you walk along an old dirt road, built by the Damon Estate.

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A couple of miles on the road will lead to the start of the Kulana`ahane Trail, as it veers away from the dirt road across a stream bed and up the valley.

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There is a Moanalua Valley Stream monitoring station just a few yards into the trail section.

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The trail after the dirt road is a mix of stream crossing, leisure grassy trail, and rooted path with plenty of overhanging branches.

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Along the way you pass and crossover some beautiful stream sections.

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There are some rodent traps along the way, including this rusted out rat trap secured to a tree.

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The trail leads to a short, semi-steep section that scrambles up a side ridge to a saddle on the Ko`olau Ridge.

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The climb is quickly rewarded with great views of Moanalua Valley.

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Before you know it, you're at the top, straddling the Ko`olau ridge between Moanalua and Haiku Valley.

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And for Sommer, some pictures of plants and flowers on the way up.

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More pics here:  Flickr
You can see the pictures on a google maps overlay here.

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