Something Old Becomes New: Ka'ena Point Pillboxes

Friday has never been a day that I hiked.  It has always been a day for coffee meet-ups, after school dates with my boys, fireworks in Waikiki, food truck fun, or football games at the high school.  This past Friday I enjoyed my weekly coffee out with friends and a winning play-off game at the high school...but I also hiked.  It was a fun filled Friday.

Ka'ena Point (north shore access) is a great go to hike for me since it is relatively close by, pretty flat, and always provides scenic ocean and mountain views.  I've enjoyed exploring Ka'ena Point from the west and north trail heads, have had fun making it out to the point of O'ahu where west and north meet, seen Monk seals, dolphins off shore, Albatross, and fishermen.  In all my Ka'ena Point exploring, I hadn't yet visited the old WWII military bunkers or pillboxes...until this past Friday.

My hiking partner Mary and I headed out late in the afternoon on Friday, without the kids, and briskly hiked the 2.5 mile old dirt road to the end of the north shore side of Ka'ena Point.  Once we made it to the fence and gate leading to the bird sanctuary, we skirted along side the outside of the fence close to the mountain until we reached a small worn path that headed up the mountain and to the Pillboxes---the destination of the day.

As we made our way up the mountain, we realized we had gained an unofficial follower to our two person group.  A young tourist from Japan was also making his way to the Pillboxes.  He followed in our footsteps and together, the three of us shared an epic view of the point of O'ahu---we could see both the northern and western shores from the top of the Pillboxes.

A slab of concrete may not seem that interesting a thing to hike to, but if you hike as frequently as we do, then anything that is out of the ordinary becomes a suitable reason to throw on your shoes for a hike. And also, we love to visit ALL the Pillboxes.  Each Pillbox hike has something unique to offer.

While this hike is not technically difficult, it can present some challenges, but they are mostly due to the sun and heat.  I'm sure that these same challenges are present even if you hike to the Pillboxes from the west side of Ka'ena Point.  Since we didn't have the kids with us, we didn't have to worry as much about the amount of water we had and we could go at an accelerated pace over the uneven terrain.  Kids could definitely do this hike, but at a slower pace and with tons of water.

Hiking to the Ka'ena Point Pillboxes was a great spur of the moment hike.  It fulfilled my need to get outside.  It fulfilled my time requirements.  It fulfilled my need to explore new ground.  And of course it fulfilled our photo needs and my climbing needs.

If you have the time and the water it takes to get out to the end of O'ahu at Ka'ena Point, I highly recommend going the extra mile (ha, ha, ha) to experience the Ka'ena Point Pillboxes.  Where else can you take in history and scenic nature sights while getting a healthy leg workout at the same time? So happy that this same old hike turned into a new experience for me.

"...I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference..." ~Robert Frost