Mau'umea Ridge Trail (Lanipo Trail)

Aloha!

Hike of the day? Well, not what we expected! Our plans today were to try to find Ka'au Crater and Wai'oma'o Falls on the way. What we got was Mau'umea Ridge Trail a.k.a. Lanipo Trail.

From the reading I have done after we got home, this is one of the most difficult trails on O'ahu. It is not the longest, on perhaps the most dangerous (although it did have a lot of loose footing and parts of the trail were no more than 1 foot wide with up to 2000ft drops on each side), but it is a rollercoaster! Most mountain hikes are up one way, and down the other. Not this little gem! Up, down, up, down... you get the point. At 3.7 miles to the summit (which we didn't make today), it takes a longer than normal time to hike. Average time estimates for this trail are about 2 1/2 hours to cover the 3.7 miles one way. We made 1 1/2 hours. Long enough for today, especially being that we were looking forward to an easier hike today, and had no idea of what to expect when we started out on this trail.

The trip there was not so bad. It was still fairly early, about 9 a.m., and was overcast with a light drizzle. The way back was another story. By this time the rain and clouds had burned off, and the beautiful Hawai'ian sun was shining in ALL of its glory. We took about 3 short breaks on the way there, and about 10 longer breaks on the way back.

Now, don't get me wrong, the views are worth it (and we didn't even make it to the summit). But, this is a hike you need to be ready for. No novice hikers here. This is considered a more difficult trail. But in retrospect, now we think we can handle anything! Well, we will see how we feel tomorrow. Already pretty sore and burned. Oh yeah, don't forget sunscreen. Not much in the way of shade along this mountain ridge.

All in all, worth it. Get back to the country every once in a while. It will put things into perspective.

Until next time, happy trails.



A view of Diamond Head just before the trailhead.


Don't know yet what's ahead, but we're going to find out!



Kimi posing at the first scenic lookout on the trail.

Waikiki Beach from the trail.

Diamond Head from the trail.