Koolau summit trail, Pupukea, Laie

The subject line reveals what we worked on for yesterday's HTMC trail
maintenance outing, which has to rank up there with the longest and
toughest I've been involved with.  Three ways were used to access the
Koolau Summit Trail: the end of Pupukea Rd, the Kahuku Trail, and the Laie
Trail. By day's end, exit routes included Pupukea, Malaekahana, and Laie.

We met a half hour earlier than usual (7:30) at the Laie ballpark and from
there, the majority loaded into a couple trucks for the drive over to
Pupukea.  In the meantime, the remainder would hike to the KST via Laie or
Kahuku trails.  The weather report for the day mentioned the possibility
of thundershowers, so I kept an eye on the sky for any approaching gray
masses. Except for a misty sprinkle a couple of times, nada on the
thundershowers.

By 10, the Laie team (Ed, Thomas, Dusty, Roger, and I) was at the KST and
hacking away (the crew had cleared Laie a couple months ago and it is
still in good shape).  Roger had lugged up a gas-powered hedge trimmer but
it malfunctioned and ended up being just dead weight he had to shoulder
all day.  Our main objective was to clear the .75-mile section between
Laie and Malaekahana, and, if time and energy permitted, as much as we
could toward Pupukea beyond Malaekahana.  Via walkie-talkies, we kept in
contact with the Kahuku (Jay, Bill, and Steve) and Pupukea teams, the
latter which included happy hiking couples Larry & Kris, Mike & Helene,
Jason & Cera along with Pat, Carmen, Georgina, Ken, Carole, June,
Ralph.  Pat (a man possessed, according to eyewitness accounts) and Larry
used a hedge trimmer and chain saw, respectively, while the others used
machetes, sickles, and loppers.  Additionally, Mabel, John, Connie, and
Gordon worked on the lower section of the Malaekahana trail, which made
the afternoon exit easier for those who went out that way.

The first of the Pupukea team reached its start-clearing point (pu'u
1860) at 9:30.  Making their way up to the same pu'u was the three-man
Kahuku Trail team. They arrived around 11.  Prior to leaving the ball park
in the morning, Larry, who along with Kris will coordinate the club hike
on 3/11, indicated that ideally everyone heading south on the KST from
pu'u 1860 should be at the KST/Malaekahana junction by 1:30 to allow for a
timely exit back to the ball park (read: so that they'd be out before
darkness hit).  Well, 1:30 came and went and not a soul from the Pupukea
team had yet to arrive at the top of Malaekahana where I had stationed
myself.  There was periodic walkie-talkie contact, which included Carmen
screeching out about a close encounter with a black pua'a.  When 2:00
rolled around, I, via walkie-talkie, urged members of the Pupukea team to
put away their tools and push through to Malaekahana else they might be
hiking out to the light of the moon.

About 2:20, Bill and Helene were the first of Team Pupukea to reach my
position on the KST about 20 minutes north of Malaekahana.  I suggested
that they use Malaekahana as a descent route since some clearing work was
being done in the upper section (by Dusty, Ed, and Roger) and lower
section (by Mabel and company). About ten minutes later, Jason, Cera,
Georgina, and Carmen met me, and I encouraged them to head down
Malaekahana when they reached it.  Apparently happy to see me, Georgina
told me I was her favorite person in the whole world, at least for that
moment, and that Mabel would likely replace me as favorite by day's
end.  Ahh, how fleeting and fickle is fame.

After thanking Georgina for being the temporary object of her
favorite-ness, I followed her, Jason, Cera, and Carmen back on the muddy 
tramp to the Malaekahana junction and watched as they descended that trail
back toward civilization.  The Malaekahana trail rolls gently away from
the summit and it's possible to scan the progress of hikers a good way. 

While watching Jason and company head down, I waited at the Malaekahana
junction for Thomas, who, in addition to trail work, had to backtrack
toward Laie to retrieve his hiking pole, which he'd dropped along the
way.  Not long after he arrived, Thomas and I began the descent of
Malaekahana. This was around 3:30.  The upper mile of Malaekahana is
beautiful, with a series of rolling hills with panoramic views available
almost all the while.  This upper section parallels the summit, and it's
possible to look mauka and see hikers on the KST.  And in fact we did see
four (Pat, Ken, Jay, and Mike) making their way steadily south on the
summit trail.  At 4:00, they were the last of the Pupukea/Kahuku team to
reach Malaekahana.  Turning around at 3:00, other Pupukea team members
hiked back to Pupukea in just under two hours, taking advantage of the
freshly cleared trail, and then drove back to Laie.

As I hiked down Malaekahana yesterday, I recalled my first trek on it
(with Wing), which included wading through overhead uluhe and avoiding a
deranged rat.  Since then I've hiked the trail about a half dozen other
times.  One thing I can say about it is that hiking down, though not as
tough as hiking up, provides a damn good Manana-like workout.  In the low
saddle segment near a small pool by a large paperbark tree, Tom and I
caught up with Jason, Cera, Georgina, and Carmen.  Jason and I then picked
up the pace down the rest of the trail, with Jason at times demonstrating
his superior ridge-descending ability, with me left far back in his wake. 
Meanwhile, Tom, always the good shepherd, hiked out with the three
wahines. Like its sister ridges Laie and Kahuku, Malae (for short) has a
lengthy guava section and a lower segment through eroded foothills and
along old jeep roads. 

Having avoided an attack by dogs on the dirt road out, Jason and I
arrived back at the Laie ball park at 5:30 and waiting for us there were
Mabel, Ed, Bill, and Helene (Dusty, Roger, Connie, Gordon, and John had
already departed for home).  A few minutes later,  Ralph, having driven
over from Pupukea, pulled up in his truck.  With him were Larry, Kris,
Carole, June, and Steve.  At 6:10, Tom, Cera, Georgina, and Carmen hiked
in.  A half hour later, just as darkness fell, the final four to arrive
were Pat and Ken, who'd hiked out via Malaekahana, and Mike and Jay,
who'd hiked out via Laie.   Mike had placed a "Laie Trail" sign at the
summit junction with the KST to replace a sign that someone had
removed.  Thanks to Mike, there are other signs along the KST at Pu'u
1860, and at the top of Malaekahana.

Mabel had refreshments waiting for us and I was thusly and summarily
replaced as Georgina's favorite. After 9.5 hours of hiking and trail work
I was so famished that I decided to temporarily can my low-carb diet and
devour high-carb desserts Mabel (cheesecake) and Jason (brownies) had
made.  Mmm, mmm, good.   Before we said our good-byes, Ken identified
three planets overhead, and with darkness already having taken hold in
Laie, we made our way home.

Next Sunday (3/4), the maintenance outing will be Papali-Uka.  Meeting
time will be 8 a.m. along the mauka side of Kamehameha Hwy by Hauula
Homestead Road.

--dkt