Hike 1: Kuli'ou'ou Ridge

So one of my brilliant friends told me that I should start blogging my hikes. I decided to join the Outdoor Adventure/Hiking group with the Hickam OSC (Officers' Spouses' Club). I hadn't gone on a hike in many moons, but hey, when in Rome, right?? Hawaii has a lot of trails and a lot of things to do outside, so it's time for me to try something new and stay outside.

The first hike that we went on was back in August and we went to the Kuli'ou'ou Ridge Trail. We met at the O'Club on base and there were 5 of us that went on the hike. We all piled into one car and off we went. Since I wasn't quite familiar with area, I tried to pay attention to where we were going. We drove on H-1 until it ended. We kept on going into the Hawaii Kai area and turned into a neighborhood. That's one of the funny things about the ridge trails--a lot of them start in the backs of neighborhoods. We saw the trailhead and started.

It was a good incline to start off. Long switchbacks going up. The path was pretty well worn, so it was easy to follow. There were a lot of rocks and at times the cliff below was a little intimidating. We reached a clearing about 1/2 way up and took a quick breather. You could see the views of the ocean and how beautiful it was.



Aimee, our guide, assured us that it was even better at the top. We traversed up the trail some more and it was definitely a lot more rugged. No switchbacks, but more climbing over roots and rocks. Right before the we reached the top, there was about a 1/4 mile of steep stairs that went to the top. The stairs were uneven and a little slippery. At times you had to almost jump to try and get to the platform of the step. The trail narrowed down and the wind picked up. Then we reached the top.



We stayed up at the top and took some pictures, had a snack and rehydrated. Then we realized that we needed to go back down the same way we came up. The clouds had moved over the ridge at this time, so it made the trail more slippery. We came up the saying that unless your butt hits the ground, you didn't actually fall. We could hear each other's feet sliding every now and then and would check in to make sure that everyone was okay. We made it down the trail a lot faster than going up. It was a beautiful trail. I don't think I'd take the kids on it, as it gets a little steep at times. I would love to take Mark on this one on a day off that the kids are in school. This hike definitely rekindled my love of hiking and nature. :)