Moleka to Pu'u Ualaka'a State Wayside Park - May 30, 2011

I just did the Stairway to Heaven yesterday and my body was sore. But with Shell tired from working yesterday evening, I decided that I should take the kids out and give her a break. So another unplanned hike. I didn't know where to go, but I needed to do a short hike, one where my legs wouldn't strain too much. I decided to do the Tantalus-Arboretum Trail.

I started driving to Tantalus a little after 11a. I ended up on Makiki Heights Drive then on Tantalus Drive. And damn it! I couldn't find the trailhead to the Tantalus-Arboretum Trail. So I abandoned the plan and decided to head towards the Moleka Trail again. I think the Moleka Trail is the easiest trail to access on Tantalus. There is a big parking lot that can fit at least 10 cars. The plan now was to go on Moleka, then at the hiker's stop, head onto the Ualaka'a Trail to Pu'u Ualaka'a State Wayside Park. One reason was I haven't done Ualaka'a yet.

A few years ago, I took a picture of the kids at Pu'u Ualaka'a State Wayside Park. This place has the best view of Honolulu on the island. Bar none. You can park at the park, but what fun is that? I find it more rewarding to hike there. 

Moleka Trail is your basic novice trail. It's less than a mile long. We took our new dog this time. The kids started complaining, like always. I've gotten to the point where my role is to plant the seed of the hiking plant in their head. Hopefully later on in life they will appreciate hiking. We hit the hiker's stop in about 30 minutes and took a long break.

We took a left onto the Ualaka'a Trail and headed toward the Pu'u Ualaka'a State Wayside Park. The Ualaka'a Trail is only a 1/2 mile long. We got to the start of the Ualaka'a trail and headed up the hill to the park.

The kids actually tackled that semi-steep hill right behind them. We ended up at Pu'u Ualaka'a State Wayside Park. It was packed with locals and tourists. You can see all of Honolulu, Hawaii Kai, and the Leeward Plain of Oahu. The view is just sick. We took a super long break and everyone was getting tired, even the dog. We headed back down the hill, Jared slid on his ass the whole time. It was funny. On the way back, the dog was tired and we needed to stop to wait for him. Rookie. 

I wanted to eat at the Greek food stand at the Kaheka Don Quijote store. But the kids wanted a Slurpee at 7-11. So I ended up going to the 7-11 at McCully Shopping Center. I bought a salad because I ate healthy all day and wanted to keep the momentum. The kids ate a spam musubi and a suicide slurpee. The drive home was brutal, I was tired as hell. I guess I haven't recovered from yesterday's hike. When I got home, I hit the couch and hung up the Sorry, I am CLOSED sign on my eyes.