Olomana Peaks Trail (Three peaks)

 

     Olomana Peaks is a 6 mile roundtrip hike at 1600ft elevation. Olomana is the craggy, commanding mountain windward of Nu'uanu Pali. The steep, narrow climb to its three peaks demands concentration, sure feet and little fear of heights. From its summit is a panorama unsurpassed on Oahu. Level of difficulty is intermediate/expert... and they aren't joking when they say that.

    

 

^The tallest peak you see here is the first peak of Olomana, the one we climbed. Steep doesn't even begin to describe the rise to the top...

 

^^Park below the golf course, and walk to the trailhead to enter the Olomana Peaks trail.

 

     Let me reiterate: This trail is rated expert for a reason.   It started with a little mud, and lots of roots which gave you great footholds.

 

 

A huge Banyan tree greeted us at the beginning of the trail... I'm not sure I'd ever get used to seeing these exotic trees.

 

The hike quickly turns into dense jungle....

 

     The trail ascends very quickly, giving you amazing views of the island. As we headed up the mountain, we got winded very quickly. The hike wasn't anything like what I've climbed before (and I've done some difficult mountains.) Instead of hiking a gentle slope, this was scrambling and climbing sheer rock faces, sometimes with the aid of ropes.


      As the trail ascended, the terrain changed into an amazing pine forest (like nothing I've ever seen before.) The sound of the wind whipping through the pines was incredible.

 

 We continued up the mountain until we came to a series of ropes to climb up.  This is when it got scary.  The 20-30mph winds combined with the narrow trail was enough to make anyone nervous.

 

 

Logan and I switched packs, he put Kenna on his back and I carried the pack. (I trust his muscles a lot more than my own!)

 

     At the very top, I let the boys continue the last few feet up to the summit. I was exhausted, my muscles were shaky, and I wasn't about to take a chance on my second day in Hawaii... Here is where I stopped: 

 

 

Logan snapped a pic of the view from the very top:

 

^^ That's the second and third peak you see in the photo... the second peak is a doable hike, (less altitude, but more difficult than the first, and the third is extremely difficult. Hike at your own risk.)

 

 Olomana is an amazing view, hike it at your own risk, and only do what you're comfortable with. People have died and been seriously injured on this trail, so take that into consideration when deciding if you're up for this trail.

 



     The trip down the mountain was significantly easier... belaying down the ropes was scary but doable...

 

We reached the bottom feeling accomplished and headed out for a bite to eat. (Which was Musubi, spam on a bed of rice wrapped in seaweed. Apparently it's a local delicacy... It surprised me! I could've done without the seaweed, but the spam wasn't awful. The meal cost $9 total for the three of us.)

 

     My next post will be about the Mokapu'u tide pools. (Be sure to give plenty of time for this next hike if you decide to do it, you'll want to spend some time hanging out at the pools at the bottom!)