» trip report

King’s Chair

Alli — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 01:15:43 +0000

Here's Nathan and Kupono, our guides up to King's Chair!

The boys and I set out to hike a random ridge in Kailua this morning as our usual hiking buddies were at swim lessons. So it was a good morning to venture off on some pig trails to who-knew-where without dragging our friends along. Sam found some great vines to use for rappelling down a 10 ft “cliff” (steep dirt escarpment) “…just like Uncle Tom on El Capitan!” After exploring several very nice pig trails for a while we went back to the truck for snacks and figured we’d just finish our errands. But lo, Mommy spotted some young boys on mountain bikes and knew for sure if anyone knew about other trails we could try they would. So we stopped and sure enough, one of them said “Oh yeah!” and continued to describe the trailhead. Then he just offered to show us, and away we went, without grabbing our water or gear thinking we’d just see where the trailhead was. But like all good hikers, once these boys set foot on the steep lava rock “stairs” which marked the trailhead, their legs just carried them right up with an eager “You wanna go??” How could we refuse? Sam was very happy to follow along these 10 and 11 yr old boys, one of whom will be in 6th grade in Sam’s school! The other guide, Kupono (which means “doing good things”) was so helpful to Ben and me several times on this tricky trail. It was very slippery due to loose, dry dirt and it was essentially 300′ straight up to the rock lookout area. But we were happy to gain the ridgeline in a new place than we’d previously explored and our guides’ expertise was unparalleled. (Due to the tricky terrain, I am not posting the trailhead location because it’s really not suitable for the demographic of my readership nor is the trailhead easily gained without bothering neighbors.)
Upon our return, I realized that I knew Kupono’s mom! How fun to see her and thank her personally for such a great guide. And Nathan’s mom rocked by providing ice pops for EVERYONE! Nathan graciously brought out a huge selection and allowed my boys to choose theirs first. We had a fabulous time exploring a new trail, making new friends and even learning more about jumping a mountain bike (my birthday wish for this year ). Thanks guys! Hope to see you on a trail again soon!

Ka’a'awa Valley hike

Alli — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 02:02:28 +0000

Yay! A day outside!

Today we hiked into the Ka’a'awa Valley, location for many movies and TV shows. The area just across from the ranch was also used as an airstrip during WWII and a huge bunker was built into the side of the mountains. The 15 kids and 12 grown-ups did a 5K hike to the bunker, an authentic recreation of a native Hawaiian village, learned about edible fruits, and checked out the movie locations. We had a great time and only had a few sprinkles despite heavy rain on the other side of the mountain. Thanks for coming everyone - it was a lot of fun to see you and meet some neat new people! I hope you had a great time, too. (More pictures available by clicking on the photo above.)

Pu’u Ohia

Alli — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 02:30:19 +0000

Bamboo is always fun!

We had a nice time hiking with friends up Pu’u Ohia last week. The wind howled but the sun kept peeking out. The kids enjoyed exploring the bamboo forest, and even trying to shimmy up one or two.

Mariner’s Ridge

Alli — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 02:05:09 +0000

Peakbaggers!

This is one of our favorite hikes for a good workout and great payoff. We last did this in Feb 08 when Sam had just turned 3 yrs old and Ben was 6 months gestation (Sam hiked on his own all the way up and back). Now look at them! Just for reference - posterity - Sam barrreled up this 1.5 mile/800′ climb in 1 hour without even a snack stop. He was “starving, mom” by the top but said in retrospect he hadn’t needed a snack (he did however keep drinking a lot of water!).

Manoa Cliff Trail

Alli — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 01:03:59 +0000

We checked out a new trail today - Manoa Cliff Trail in the Honolulu Mauka Trail System (Tantalus/Roundtop area). While it won’t make it to the Alli’s recommended hikes list, it was a beautiful trail. I would say it’s manageable for kids age 4+ who are accustomed to hiking and following direction. About 80% of the trail has a steep grade to one side, with a fairly narrow trail (barely wide enough for mom and one kid abreast). We chanted “hug the hill!” to remind the big kids to be mindful of where the edge was. Everyone enjoyed the hike, especially the geocache at the snack bench .75 mi into the trail.

The cache was interesting…here’s what I logged in the online record:
Three moms and six keiki found the cache and some stash. Unfortunately, we also found some hash. The cache stash smelled like hash.

I got a note back from the geocache owner almost immediately - she was very apologetic and couldn’t believe what people put in geocaches. She was very nice and planned to remedy the problem right away.

Michelle and her two kids joined Team J and Team K. The kids really wanted to be leader, so we had to come up with special positions for all three big kids - Leader/CO, XO and Sweep. Very interesting helping kids to learn negotiation and teamwork. Lovely day out on the trail. ^5 to Team K for their first real hike!!

Bishop Museum friends and family pass

Alli — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:36:19 +0000

This is a great place to get a membership - the volcano is a big hit with the younger crowd, as is the lava show (they make real lava and sometimes they have a volcano “explosion” -Mentos dropped into a 2L soda bottle!). The museum also runs a “Moonlight Mele” series - concerts on the lawn with food vendors available - and during the summer we hit a hula show in the morning. The night sky map can be downloaded from the website - it shows the monthly star patterns and has been a real resource for us identifying planets visible from our house. We have also been watching the full moon rise over the Mokes.

Check it out at www.bishopmuseum.org.

Family & Friends Pass: $65
For two adults, their children/grandchildren under 18, and free admission for 2 additional guests per visit.

Old Pali Rd

Alli — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 00:35:37 +0000

Our new hiking buddies, Liisa and Mikko-Dakota, showed us one of their favorite hikes today - the Old Pali Rd/Likeke Trail. We went as far as the trail under the Pali highway and will come back another day when we have more time to check out the rest of the trail to the falls we visited last week. The views are incredible from the Old Pali Rd. The hike is easy for kids since it’s old pavement. Beware that what goes down must go back up…so do budget time and energy for the return trip. More details to follow once we do the whole trail to the Pali Falls. From the lookout parking lot to the crawl under the highway it was 0.8 miles one way.

Mariner’s Ridge

Alli — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 05:43:26 +0000

We tackled Mariner’s Ridge again yesterday - this time with enough time, food and water to make it to the top! The kids did great on the 1.4 mile one-way hike with 800′ elevation gain. We took breaks on the way up and the way down (about 15 min each) and about 30 minutes for lunch at the top. In all we were on the trail from 9am-1:30pm. The weather was warm and breezy and there was shade about 75% of the way. No bug swarms this time, either Kathy brought Nutella for our graham crackers - a big hit!

Friendship Garden

Alli — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 01:56:04 +0000

January 11, 2008
We hiked with our intrepid hiking buddies again - Kathy, Anneliese and Calleigh This is a great hike for kids and an easy one on all of us. Plenty of shade and fun things to look at (like letters in the roots, moss, etc.). We enjoyed a great view of Kaneohe Bay from the little summit.

Makapu’u Lighthouse

Alli — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 01:54:30 +0000

Jan 17, 2008
We started out at 9:30am and reached the top about an hour and a half later (1.4 miles and 560′ elevation gain). We had lunch in a shady area and headed back down. We were at the trucks by noon. It was a good hike but a bit on the boring side because it is all paved and there is no shade cover. We THINK we saw some whales spouting but we’re not sure! The kids did great and only got tired about 100 yards from the trucks.