Mount Olympus (Awaawaloa) Hike

On my birthday Ticklebug presented me some hiking shoes and told me after a breakfast date we would be going on a surprise hike together.  That surprise ended up being Oahu's Mount Olympus, a hike being ranked hard on All Trails with an elevation reaching over 2400 feet. 

To get to Mount Olympus one has to complete either the Kolowalu Trail (which is ranked hard by All Trails) or the Wa'ahila Ridge Trail (ranked moderate).  For some reason Ticklebug decided we would take the hard trail. He claims it's because Kolowalu is shorter, meaning less hiking time (I didn't know he was on a time crunch for other birthday activities) but what I really think is he just wanted to torture me.  To top it off after doing some more reading I learned that the views of Kolowalu (which weren't many) aren't even as pretty as Wa'ahila.  I didn't take any pictures of the Kolowalu portion of the hike for two reasons, the first was there wasn't too much to see besides rocks, trees, and dirt and the second because I was too busy huffing and puffing because it's one steep bastard!

The end of the Kolowalu trail meets with the end of the Wa'ahila trail, marking the official start of the Mount Olympus portion of the hike. 

At first I was excited because Kolowalu was supposed to be the more difficult portion, however I saw how much farther we had to go and my excitement faded just a tiny bit. 

While the second half did have some challenges to include rope climbing, scrambling (think using hands and feet to climb) it had some absolutely beautiful views. 

 

The only downside is that the higher we got the more cloud coverage we faced at certain points.

Since the trail isn't marked it's was hard to determine where the actual summit of Mount Olympus was.  Ticklebug had researched before the hike so he knew we were looking for an open area witch lots of flora.  I'll admit that sometimes I was thinking, "this is far enough, I don't need the actual summit" but I'm glad I pushed through. 

While the view from the summit is cloudy it is pretty cool to see the different sides of the island from one point. 

Since the trail is point to point we had to hike all the way back to the Jeep.  You would think it wouldn't be too bad because it's all downhill but going down presents it's own challenges.  I forgot to switch up which leg to guide with going down and my knee gave out.  Ticklebug faced his own set of challenges because he kept tripping and fell down a few times.  I felt bad for the poor suckers I saw on the last leg of the Kokowalu trail asking how much farther to Mount Olympus.  I was like, "Ooohhh, don't ask, you wont like the answer." 

I was so sore for days following the hike and ended up taking a month long hiking hiatus.  While it was exhausting I'll admit that completing the hike was absolutely rewarding.  I don't know if I'll ever take on another beast like that.  Ticklebug has plans to take another one on, but I'm not sure yet.  I'll admit that it was an awesome bonding experience for us as a couple.  It was just us pushing each other (actually him pushing me lol) and getting to just talk and experience something amazing together.  

Waimano Valley

On top of this being the first year of SAHM life I've had in around seven years, it's also one of the first summers I actually have my kids.  Back on the mainland the ladies would typically spend half the summer with my parents than then the other half with Ticklebug's family.  It was an arrangement that was loved by everyone.  Ticklebug and I had time together and the grandparents had grandbaby time.  Since tickets to fly back to the East Coast can be around $1,000 a pop it was obviously not in this year's plan.

I don't know if the girls are enjoying being home with me for the summer because I just can't chill out.  I can't stand the idea of the tv being on all the time or either of them constantly being on an electronic device.  Every week I'm talking with Wifey and Mimi about something we can do with the kids to get them out.  You would think that the beach is always an option because it's Hawaii, but with so many ladies it's hard to coordinate due to "shark week" or as Bug calls it "Satan's Waterfall."  I've pretty much settled on the idea that I'll be doing short hikes every week.  This week we ventured to Waimano Valley.

My All Trails app told me that the hike would only be 2.2 miles and is considered kiddo friendly.  To make things even better, Waimano Valley is relatively close to base which is great because there is no fighting Hawaii traffic.  For the most part the hike was easy and enjoyable.  It's a loop trail where hikers can start either at the higher or lower level and then finish on the other.  We opted to start at the lower.  There were a few instances where the hiking became steep and we were all breathing hard but nothing to the point where kids complained.  I think the only person who was mildly annoyed was Wifey and that's because she doesn't like the outdoors at all.

My favorite part about the hike was the stream that's at the lower trail.

We took a short break there to take some pictures and have the kids toss a few rocks in.  The only negative aspect was that there were TONS of mosquitoes because there is standing water in some areas.  Wifey had originally opted not to spray herself down with my cancer causing chemicals but changed her mind when they started treating her like an all you can eat buffet.

The kid's favorite part of the hike was getting to walk through the two little caves.  I attempted to walk with them but said, "NOPE!" when I saw how small and dark it was.  I scare easily.

All in all I think it was a good trip.  When I asked my kids about it this is what they had to say

Monster: "It's a death trail."  (She fell twice.  Once due to running and the other due to tripping on roots.)

Bug: "It was fun!"

Random Stats:

Number of hikers: 3 adults and 3 kids

Miles hiked according to my iWatch: 2.53 miles

Time to complete the hike: 1 hour 31 minutes

Additional hikers seen: 2

Total number of falls: 3

Total of mosquito bites:  So far, none have made an appearance.  Thank you, cancer causing chemicals!

Spring Break 2017 - Puu O Hulu Kai Hike

After Monday's beach day I was texting with the mestie (male best friend), Jexi, about how we should do something since he's on leave.  After an hour of indecisiveness it was settled that we would take on the Puu O Hulu Kai hike in Waianae.

Puu O Hulu Kai hike is also known as the Pink Pill Box hike because one of the pill boxes was/is painted pink for breast cancer awareness. 

via

If you look online you'll see that there are mixed feelings about the pink pill box.  Some love that it represents strength and hope for those battling breast cancer along with honoring those lost to the disease.  On the other hand, some say that it is disgraceful to paint over the historical bunkers.  My personal opinion is that every pill box I've seen in Hawaii has been graffiti-ed and unless there are plans to remove all graffiti from every bunker then keep it pink.

I'm glad that Jexi looked up the details on where to go because I would have gotten lost.  It's off the main road and the beginning of the trail isn't marked.  It's also not as popular as the other trails so we didn't see a line of hikers walking towards it to guide us.  However, a kind local that was jogging by told us to keep to the left of the trail.  Going right would result in a much longer and steeper route.

So, every time I go on a hike I use the All Trails app.  It helps to ensure that we are staying on the trail and other hikers can give pointers.  All Trails said it was an easy hike.  I want to call shenanigans!  It was a steep hike!  I'm sure that the only reason it's ranked as easy is because the whole trip is less than 2 miles.  Had it been longer it I'm positive it would have been ranked moderate. 

Because the hike was so steep and a tad challenging Monster was being, well a Monster.  She's not much for hiking anyway but the difficulty and the heat made it even more unappealing to her.  The tall grass may have also contributed to her feeling lousy because of asthma.  Even with all her drama the hike was still beautiful and interesting.

When we reached the pillboxes at the top I was a bit confused because there was no pink pillbox.  Upon closer look we could see that the black pill box was previously pink.  You could tell because whoever had done the painting had FAIL taped off so that it showed up in bright pink.

Jexi on top of the previously pink pill box.

 I said earlier that all the pill boxes have graffiti on them.  I wasn't kidding.

This beauty caused Jexi to enter the pillbox and laugh while continuously saying over and over "Hashtag Big Dick Bandit."  As if that weren't enough Jexi's 11 year old son walked up to the penis above Big Dick Bandit and asked, "Why did someone draw hair on balls?  I don't have hair on my balls!"  That made me laugh.  It made me laugh soooooooo hard!

Despite the black pill box and the graffiti on all the others the views were still absolutely beautiful. 

I completely intend to take on this hike again, hopefully soon while the pink paint is still fresh and dicks haven't been graffiti-ed on it.