Kamanaiki Ridge Trail - May 31, 2011 

Ever got the feeling that you fell short, but thought you succeeded. That happened to me today. 

It was my third day of hiking in a row and I felt good. My body was sore, but my mind was still strong. The passion I felt inside was flowing all through my body. Today was also the first day of summer vacation for me and there was no better way to start the summer than to go on a hike. 

I went through Stuart Ball's book, Hiker's Guide to Oahu and found a trail called Kamanaiki. It's a five mile ridge hike that does not end at the summit, rather it ends on a hill. On that hill you can view the Ko'olau summit. Doesn't sound too appealing, especially after doing the Stairway to Heaven a few days before.  

This was my first hike in Kalihi. I parked on a side street near Kalihi Street and traveled on foot towards the end of a street. I walked up a green astroturfed staircase that appeared to be part of someone's house. The stairs lead past the house and the trail starts.  

The start of the trail is a good workout. It's all uphill for about 20 minutes. The trail is invaded with all types of plants. Once you hit the top of the hill, there appears a rock section. It's not too difficult to climb. Once on top, the ridge starts. Along the way, these sticky things stuck to my pants and were irritating me. That's when the ridge started to narrow.

There are a few scenic points.  On the first scenic point, you can see Kamanaiki Valley to the left and Kalihi Valley to the right.

About 1 1/2 hours into the hike, the trail becomes overgrown with vegetation. It was kind of scary to make my way through the vegetation on the narrow ridge. The trail went up and down. It started pouring like crazy. At one point, I pushed my way through vegetation and felt a sharp pain in my left calf. I thought I was cramping. I tried to shake it off, but it started to hurt more. I was like WTF is going on! I lifted up my shorts and saw a bee stuck on one of those sticky things on my shorts. I squeezed the stinger out and continued on.

When I was a young boy, my mom told me I may be allergic to bee stings. I was scared of bees my whole life. When I was 18 years old, I was stung by a bee and felt no ill effects, so all that worrying for nothing. 

I got to the point where the trail became steep and overloaded with vegetation. I read that towards the end of the hike, a rope was set up to aide a hiker get to the top of the hill. With no rope in sight and a steep section with overgrown vegetation to tackle, I made a decision to turn around. The main factor in the decision was the steepness of the hill with all that vegetation blocking the trail. There was no doubt that I could get up the hill. But going down would of proved hazardous. Not sure if after going up the steep hill would of been the rope section. I started going back feeling dissatisfied. On the way back, I admired the views of both valleys and felt that the best part of the hike was at the first scenic point. I could be right, but not finishing the hike left an emptiness inside.  

Going back was all downhill and I used the trees to slow momentum. Overall the hike was disenchanting, but it was a true intermediate hike. What makes this intermediate, are the semi-steep sections. Although it's not the steepest I've been on, you have to scramble up the hill multiple times which provides a good sweat. Another reason is the narrow ridge with overloaded vegetation. It's not the narrowest I've been on, but the vegetation covers the trail and you must watch your footing.  

I made my way pass Kalihi Street and headed towards my car. I drove for 5 minutes and ended up at Gulick Delicatessen. The food looked good. I bought the spicy chicken plate lunch and it included 3 starches. Talk about carb overload; mac salad, white rice, and chow mein. That will gain you 2 inches on your waist. While the lady was working on fixing my plate lunch, I checked out the other food. I realized that I made the wrong choice as the fish yelled my name. Oh well, I ate the spicy chicken and it sort of disappointed. There were bones to work around which wasn't fun. Should have got the fish.