Manoa Exploration: Kolowalu Trail

Summer break is officially here for our family.  My oldest just completed three years of Middle School and had his "Aloha Ceremony" earlier this week.  My youngest just completed two years of pre-school and received his "Certificate of Graduation".  My two boys are in a summer of transition!  Next month they will be in the final days of freedom before heading off to High School and Kindergarten.  So we are enjoying the here and now before homework, school schedules, and extra curricular activities swallow up our time.  Our first hike of summer---Kolowalu Trail, is in the back of Manoa Valley.  The trail head starts down a private access road (more like a driveway) at Alani and Woodlawn Drive.  Those who are familiar with the Manoa trail Pu'u Pia, will know the area and that Kolowalu branches off to the right of the trail that leads you up to the summit of Pu'u Pia.  Since I have done Pu'u Pia twice---once with a Firefighter escort out and once all on my own, we decided to explore a new to us trail---Kolowalu.

After completing this trail, I decided that Kolowalu must mean "uphill" in Hawaiian.  I have no hard proof, but that is all that this trail was.  Uphill.  One, very long, continual climb through mud (uphill), over roots (uphill), with some rocks to break up the mud and roots...still uphill!  I had read online that this trail was short (yay) and uphill (not yay).  But, I can't just be a hiker who does easy (to me) trails.  I have to push myself (and my kids) to do harder things.  And that's what we accomplished yesterday---three miles of uphill beast mode hiking---with a lot of breaks.

The hike that I could most compare Kolowalu to would be Koko Crater Stairs or as I affectionately call it: The Devils Trail.

here's the link to that blog post: http://lifeoflarisa.blogspot.com/2009/09/devils-trail.html?m=0 

Kolowalu was the "natural" Koko Crater Stairs.  There were no actual stairs, but you couldn't convince my knees of that!  Kolowalu is a trail that is great for your glutes but murder on your knees.  Like everything in life, it's a give and take.  About halfway up this murderous trail, I thought "Maybe I'm more out of shape than I thought I was...maybe I'm just a wimp." But then I noticed that the kids were running out of steam too...so I felt a little better that it wasn't just me!

If you are looking to explore a trail with limited folks on it, this is the trail for you.  If you are looking for a trail that will kick you into shape with a wonderful cardio workout, this is the trail for you.  If you are looking for city/ocean views, this is the trail for you.  But, if you would rather a more leisurely hike, this is NOT the trail for you.  I think I know why I haven't heard too much about this trail...no one wants to do it!  After all our exertion, we didn't even complete the entire thing---apparently it continues on to another trail in the Wa'ahila Ridge State Recreation Area.  We did hike the entirety of the uphill portion however, so we did explore/conquer the most physically challenging aspect of this trail.

I'm proud of the kids for completing this literal uphill battle with me and my hiking partner.  We made good memories, truly earned our after hike treat, and were anything but lazy on the first official day of summer vacation.

I probably won't be doing this trail again soon (I need a physical and mental break), but I do feel I'm that much closer to being prepared to take on the challenge of Koko Crater Stairs again...if I can survive Kolowalu, I'm sure I can survive the infamous stairs again.  It's been eight years since I hiked Koko Crater Stairs...probably about the same amount of time until I return to Kolowalu Trail.  Which coincidentally is the same amount of time between my kids...apparently I need eight years to recover from difficult situations.  LOL~

Happy Summer Hiking!