Olomana Hike

On Saturday I went on a hike up Olomana in the Koolauswith my brother, aunt, and her friend Mark. The hike was tough and very different than the Manawili Falls hike; not as much mud, steeper pitch and different foliage. There were actually trees that were similar to pine trees out there. They had the bristles and everything. I thought that was odd in the middle of Hawai'i. The hike was most challenging when we had to scale up these rocks that were at an 80º pitch. Thankfully there were ropes there to help us up. The hike to the top took a little over an hour and the views were breathtaking (see pictures). Olomana has three peaks, but Josh and I only climbed two. It took Josh and I another ten minutes to get to the second peak, but didn't want to go for the third one because we were really wiped out. It was a little scary at the top. There were some points where the path was only three feet wide and then straight drop-offs on either side. I actually experienced a little vertigo at the top. The pictures I posted don't really do justice to how high we really were; we were at an elevation of about 1,600 feet. That is the highest I've ever been.

The trip down took around an hour as well. Josh and I stopped a few times to take pictures and Josh wanted to climb a tree - where he had the energy for that...I don't know. We were all pretty hungry so we grabbed a bite to eat and headed for the beach for a few hours. Josh and I played frisbee pretty much the entire time - seems to be our #1 pass time out here.

For dinner we all went out to eat at this cool place called The Shack. We met my aunt's friend Mike there who was a really cool guy. Somehow he started talking about Micronesia without knowing that Josh and I were Micronesian (he isn't Micronesian). It turns out that his grandparents lived and worked on Pohnpei for years. Apparently his family was pretty prominent out there. He put it best: "small world". Anyways, he gave me some contacts out there. Hopefully I can set something up because nothing else has ironed itself out yet (maybe I should be a little more proactive?).

Today Josh, Jackie, her friends Ward and Allan, and I went kayaking in Kailua. Kailua is an awesome town - I would love to live there. The beach is beautiful (aren't they all?) and the town seems to have a lot going on - shopping, restaurants, etc. I could see myself living there some time in the the far, far future - not anytime soon, don't worry Mom ;).


We headed home kind of early to recover. With the painting and hiking and kayaking, we are all a bit spent. No complaints though...I talked to my Dad today and apparently there is a frost warning in effect for tonight in Traverse City, MI (my home)...yikes. I'm thankful to be here.


I guess that's about it for now. I should have a somewhat reflective post coming up soon. This was sort of an updated. Enjoy the pictures and, as always, mahalo for reading. Be safe. Justin

(Pics: 1:Olomana peak I climbed; 2: View of Maunawili Valley from hike; 3: Josh climbing down a steep part of trail; 4: Me about to scale the rocks; 5: Me hiking; 6: View of 1st peak from 2nd peak; 7: View from highest point of peak; 8: Me looking out from highest point of peak; 9: Me in the trees at bottom of trail; 10: Twin islands; 11: Beach in Kailua)