BabyLove: Koko Head Crater hike

Koko Head Crater trail all the way to the top

Koko Head Crater at 642ft (196m) is the last active volcano that occured in O'Ahu 10,000 years ago. Its tuff ring is the tallest in Hawaii measuring 1,207ft (367m) in height. I stumbled upon this great hiking trails website last week so I decided to try this one today. I had seen it from the Kalanianaole Highway on my way to the east coast a couple weeks ago. Another website had mentioned that this was a very difficult trail to climb as it was basically climbing steps all the way up to the top with no shade or level paths. I had a bit of trouble finding the park head even with my Garmin GPS. Haven't been having much exercise the last couple days so I was eager to burn some calories and break a sweat. It was already 11:30am so I got my water bottle and quickly started up the stairs.

The first 100 feet was fine but after that, the 20 degree angle got steeper. The steps of this old railway track that led up to the world war two bunkers that were lookouts to the south of O'Ahu. As the afternoon sun seared my shoulders, I regretted not putting on any sunscreen. Not even halfway up, I began to understand why they called this the "stairmaster from hell". My legs soon started shaking like jello. The wide distance between the railways logs wasn't forgiving to people with short legs like myself! I had the hardest time breathing and had to stop for a series of long time outs to catch my breath. About halfway up, the scariest part unveiled. The tracks went over a part about 25 feet long like a bridge over the ground about 25 meters below. There was a detour to the side for the faint of heart. I decided I was brave enough to take the main route. Turned out it wasn't as hard as I expected but coming down was definitely a little harder since the downward angle of the tracks almost felt like gravity was pulling me down between the cracks. The trick was not to think about it. Once you stopped to think, you just feel like falling in. The websites weren't kidding about this being an extremely difficult climb for the very fit. The trail just kept getting steeper and steeper towards the end that I had to stop to catch my breath every 30 steps or so!

the 'Bridge'

the main route of the bridge and the alternate route off to the side

After an hour and a half of sweating from head to toe, I finally reached the top. Don't remember a time I was more grateful for my bottle of water. Thankfully it only ran out the last 25 feet of the trail. The view of Makapu'U was breathtaking. It was such a clear day, I could see the islands of Molokai and Maui on the horizon. I sat on top of the old World War 2 bunkers overlooking the southern edge of the island for a long long time.