Hidden Haiku Stairs via Halawa Ridge

A few days ago I posted on here about my recent trip up the ever so popular Stairway to Heaven.  In doing so I decided that my next post would be about a hike that I did a few months back.  While everyone knows of the Haiku Stairs and it seems as though the whole world has hiked them, not many people talk about and even less have hiked what lies on the ridge adjacent from the Haiku Stairs.  On the north ridge is another set of stairs, in complete disrepair, but still manageable to hike if you are careful.  We call these the hidden Haiku Stairs.

The day started off with me and my wife waking up at 5am and taking the short drive to the halawa ridge trailhead.  We somehow got incredibly lost and could not for the life of us find the street where the trailhead was.  Due to the early start we both forgot to bring our phones so we could not contact anyone to notify them that we would be late.  Since the Halawa ridge trail is 14 miles round trip and the side trip to the hidden stairs makes the trail a total of about 16 miles the group had set a starting time for 6am.  We knew they would not be waiting for us to start and seriously thought about just going back home.  We did eventually arrive at the trailhead and decided to make an effort to catch up to the rest of the group but figuring that we were probably 45 minutes behind them at this point, I did not think that the our chances were very good.

My wife and I ran to a fenceline and followed it through an overgrown and eventually climbed under the H3.  There were a few stream crossings and then we reached a steep part with some ropes to aid in us climbing.  We eventually reached a dirt road and to my surprise we started hearing voices and then finally saw some faces of the people in our group.  Everyone seemed pretty surprised to see us.  We quickly appologized for getting lost and for being late but everything was swiftly forgiven and off we went up Halawa ridge.

Halawa ridge is very similiar to Poamoho ridge, both in looks and in grade.  While fourteen miles is a very long hike, the gradual elevation gain makes it seem much shorter and makes for a very easy hike to the summit.  Since we were all having fun and joking around lots the hike to the Halawa summit was going by very quick.  As we looked off to our left side we could see the H3 below us and the tunnel just ahead of us.  We pushed on to the last part of the trail and the vegetation and jungle feel to it was amazing.  The vegetation does tend to hide some drop-offs so one must be careful to stay on the trail.  At one point, while we were all walking and having a good time, one of our fellow hikers stepped off the trail onto one of the false ledges and did a front flip off the cliff.  Luckily he landed on a little knob just below and was just a little banged up and was able to contour around and back up to us.  A scary moment but we were all just happy that everything turned out ok.  After this little scare we continued for about another hour until we finally reached the Halawa summit.  The views behind us of Honolulu and of Kaneohe directly in front of us were amazing.  The skies were mostly clear, so we all took this opportunity to grab a little lunch and to take some pictures and soak in the views before heading up the contour trail to the hidden stairs.

After grabbing a little food and water a few of us took a left from the Halawa summit and headed up the muddy contour trail towards the hidden Haiku stairs.  The trail was incredibly overgrown and almost non-existent in some spots and the mud made the trek a very slow one.  The trail narrows, and has some big dropoffs in a few spots.  There was a cable running along the ridge at one of the more narrow sections giving us something to hold on to and easing our minds just a little bit.  After negotiating past some of the tougher sections we all arrived at the beginning of the hidden haiku stairs.

I had expected for them to be almost unclimbable, but getting up and down them actually did not seem to cause any of us a problem.  They were actually easier to manage than the actual stairway to heaven, located on the ridge across from us at this point.  Having gloves was a huge help on this day and is a must if you are going to climb these stairs.  They are incredibly rusted and can really tear your hands up and cut you if you are not careful.  At points along the stairs the railings were literally falling off as we touched them, so we learned quickly not to rely to heavily on the railings.  The stairs were in pretty decent shape though.  The group of five of us went down the stairs a very good way and then decided it was best to turn around since we had a long trek ahead of us to get back to where we had started.  Me and another hiker promised to come back someday soon and hike the stairs to the spot where the stairs abruptly end due to a huge cliff. 

We all turned around and once again negotiated the somewhat dangerous contour trail on our way back to the Halawa ridge summit.  The views all along our trek on this day were magnificent.  Once to the Halawa summit we picked the pace up a little bit and started our seven mile journey back to where we had started from at 630am.  This hike was extremely fun and took us most of the day.  In fact we made it just as the sun was setting and were very happy when we finally arrived at our cars.  Worn and tired my wife and I set off for seven-eleven with great anticipation for the slurpee that would soon be in our grasps.  This hike is very long, overgrown and can present one with very tough climbs and narrow sections and a lot of exposure along the way, so I would really only suggest doing this if you are experienced in hiking here on Oahu and if you have done some of the tougher trails already.  With that said, this hike is one you will never forget if you do decide to try it.

Directions:  I will do my best to post a trail description in the next few days as well as driving directions to the trailhead.  Mahalo

Stairway to Heaven (Haiku Stairs) and Haiku falls

This past weekend was Thanksgiving weekend and a friend of mine asked me if I would accompany him to the well known stairway to heaven since he had never been before.  Keeping with the spirit of the thanksgiving holiday I willingly accepted his invitation and notified my wife that we would be leaving our house early the next morning for haiku valley.  While I usually jump at any opportunity to hike that I get when I am free, the stairway to heaven, or the haiku stairs, is one that I do not usually agree to do.  I have a very strong disdain for this trail at this point.  The first couple of times that I climbed the haiku stairs I thought it was the most incredible thing ever, but years later and a plethora of trips up the 3,922 stairs have rendered me almost completely void of any desire to ever do this again.  I guess you could say that the "thrill" of this hike has kind of worn off for me.  I still enjoy it when I do go but I guess I believe it's a little over-hyped.  For me, the amount of gratitude that I recieve from doing stairway is small compared to what I feel when I hike many of the other trails here.  I am not sure of the number of times that I have been up the stairs but I would say it is easily in the double digits and as for the future, I will surely not be trying to make that number grow.

My wife and I were very grateful to have our friend pick us up early on sunday morning and to give us a ride to the trailhead.  We drove towards kaneohe and as we entered haiku village two other friends pulled up behind us and followed us to where we would park.  Upon parking we swiftly exited our cars and gathered our things and hurridly headed to the gate being as quiet as possible not to bother anyone who lives in the neighborhood.  Once at the gate we walked around the right side of it and proceeded down an old road.  The junction to get to the trailhead is a matter of minutes, at the most, at this point and is on the left side and fairly obvious (pass a junction with a cement parking block in front of it, the correct junction is on the left just after this, and about a minute or so after seeing a water tank on the right side).  We took the left and headed into the bamboo forest and were immediately met by a tree blocking the trail and easily made our way around it.  Shortly after this we came came to a clearing and continued ahead, veering slightly to the right and then promptly proceeded back into a wooded area and once again were greeted by a path surrounded on both sides by bamboo (during this stretch you will come to a few openings - if you can't find the trail to find the continuing path just keep looking in front of you for a clearing in the forested areas....If while in the wooded area, you see a trail going right and another going left, take the left fork).  Finally, at the end of the bamboo forest, we ran into a fence with a hole cut into it and easily crawled through it and emerged out on the access road, which by taking a right would lead us directly to the stairs.  We took the right and casually made our way as we could now see the H3 pillars directly in front of us and knew that in a matter of moments the exhausting climb up the 3,922 stairs would commence.  In no time we had reached the tent where the guards hang out during the day, and at this point we took a left and headed for the stairs and started our trip up the "Stairway to Heaven".

One by one we passed around the fence that is meant to keep hikers like us out and began our journey up the stairway to heaven.  From the beginning the climb does not let up.  It climbs and climbs and after about ten minutes becomes nearly vertical.  There are two vertical sections followed by a brief section where it levels off for about one minute and then one last vertical section before reaching a concrete lookout and a resting spot.  A few people in the group took this opportunity to relax and catch a breather while the rest of us continued up the stairs.  In my opinion, the portion of the stairs that I just desribed, is by far the hardest and most tiring and after reaching the first resting point the rest of the climb is not all the bad.  As we made further progress up the stairs the next bunker and stopping point came into sight.  We accelerated our pace and made it to the bunker in a hurry and then briefly grabbed some water before making our final push to the summit.  As we poped our heads out of an old concrete structure, in which we had just been resting in, the haiku stairs summit finally came in to view.  Two more strenuous, vertical climbs and we would reach our destination.  As we arrived at the top of the last of the stairs I could see one of our friends already perched on top of the old ccl building that sits at the terminus of the Haiku stairs.  As we approached he came down and greeted us and then the guys in the group decided to follow me across the KST to see where the moanalua middle ridge trail begins and to take a glance at it.  It was insanely muddy and windy on this day but we had a good time on our short trek across the KST.  We took a few pics and then headed back to the Stairway terminus and began our descent down the stairs.

Due to my incessant taking of pictures, I was in constant catch up mode as we all made our way down the stairs.  The trip down went by very quickly and once at the bottom the group agreed to join me on one last stop before heading back to our cars.  We continued back to the old access road where we had began our journey earlier in the day and followed a faint trail down to a stream where there was a very pretty little waterfall with a small swimming hole to wash off in and play at for a little while.  We all stayed for probably a half hour or so and had a great time before retracing our steps and walking back to our cars.

This was one of my favorite hikes up the stairs yet due to the great company and crew that we had with us on this day.  For a very long time now, I have been saying that I will not be coming back to the stairs every time that I finish a hike there.  I will make this statement again.  If anyone is to see me on the stairs you can bet I will be coming down from the moanalua saddle or tripler ridge or that I will be making my way to the Moanalua middle ridge.  Once these three hikes are completed during the day, I will not be setting foot on the stairs for a very long time.  Of course, I've made these statements before only to be caught on the stairs the next week so we shall see if I hold true to my word.  In the meantime, it's back to doing what I love most, which is, any trail but the stairway to heaven.

Directions: Okay, so I have seen a lot of other posts on the Haiku Stairs facebook page and a few other facebook hiking pages and people give all sorts of different times and information.  At the risk of making some people mad, lets just settle this once and for all.  The guards get there at 4am so arrive at the bottom of the stairs way before this if you wanna hike.  The guards leave at noon on the weekdays and at 4pm on the weekends.  If you get there after 4am in the morning and the guards are there, they will politely tell you to leave.  Promptly do so and be respectful.  Come back another day.  Don't be stupid and attempt to sneak by them.  This would be the dumbest thing you could do.  As for getting to the trailhead (From Waikiki) take H1 West to Likelike Highway towards Kaneohe. Once on the Windward side, take Kahekili Highway towards North Shore. At the third trafic light, take a left on to Kahuhipa St. and follow it to Kuneki street where you will take a slight left (if you go straight the road will dead end).  When Kuneki street ends there will be a gate on the left side which is the access road you need to walk down to start the hike.  Park anywhere in this area or before, making sure you don't park illegally or park in a manner that will irritate the residents.  Be quiet and respectful as walking down the street and towards the trailhead.