Wiliwilinui Ridge Trail - May 22, 2011  

All the signs told me to not go hiking today. But I've gotten the trail bug within the last three weeks and it's been 6 days since my last hike. Here we go! First, Jared's 5th birthday was yesterday and I was hungover like hell. To add to that, I had to be back before 12pm because of Mary's soccer party. 1) I was tired 2) I had to rush. More news, it was pouring like hell in Hawaii Kai and the clouds were covering the entire Koolau Mountain Range on the east side of Oahu. 

I had an early start because of the party. I got to the Waialae Iki V gated community at 7:15a. The guard gave me a day pass.

The trail starts on asphalt and then turns into a dirt road. It was about 7:35am.

It was rainy, windy, cold, and muddy as hell. After about 2 miles, the dirt road ends and the hiking begins. This is where the steps section takes place. Like all Hawaii Kai hikes, there seems to be a steps section. I started the steps section at 8:10a. It was steep going up. I was careful not to fall and did a pretty good job.

The last push up the mountain was a rope section. It wasn't difficult going up, but I knew I would have trouble going down. I got to the summit at 8:45am. It was a white out, just cloud cover.

I stayed at the summit for about 10 minutes. I couldn't see anything but clouds. When my kids were there, I always promised them that one day they would touch the clouds. Well, I could only tell them about this experience and bring a picture home.

Going back down was difficult. Though I had to be back home in time for Mary's soccer party, I showed the utmost respect for the mountain. Any step meant a slip. I was meticulous in my descent. It took a while going down, but better safe than sorry. It was pouring like hell, I mean sideways rain, like that scene in Forrest Gump when Forrest was describing the different types of rain in Vietnam. This was sideways rain from left to right, and it kept on penetrating and clogging my left ear, it was kind of irritating! The dirt road was slippery and the mud was accumulating on the bottom of my shoes. I had about an inch of mud that was stuck to the bottom of my shoes.

I got home in plenty of time for Mary's soccer party. The party was at Shakey's in Waipahu and I stuffed that pizza and chicken in my mouth like no tomorrow.