Kaipapau Bunkers and Pineapple Drinks

Third time is the charm...for a blog write up on this uphill hike in Hau'ula.  The first time I did this hike was in August when I organized a group of moms from a hiking group I belong to on Facebook, to meet one Tuesday morning after school drop off.  Several of us met up (some of us meeting for the very first time) and made our way up the paved path that led to a water tower (where we began to take a wrong turn, but quickly corrected ourselves), and into the woods, up to some heavily eroded red dirt hills, through mud, more forrest, and finally up to the ridge line.

The first time around, the path was unknown and it was unclear how far we had to go.  I was working in a limited time frame (school pick-up and the trail is far from home) the first time up, so I hiked at a quick pace to be sure to get to the end of the trail where three old World War II Bunkers are located.  The first time I hiked to the first bunker,  it reminded me of the second bunker at the Lanikai Pillbox hike because it is a double decker bunker, two bunkers in one.  The lower bunker boasts a very cool graffiti wall.  The upper bunker is where it appears a runaway or homeless person has made a temporary bedroom---sleeping bag and all.

After a five minute walk past the first set of bunkers, through a prickly, thorny path (wear long socks or pants to avoid multiple small abrasions on your legs) I arrived at the next bunker.  On my first trip up here, I thought this was the end.  I was so completely consumed with making it back down the trail, to my car, and back in time to pickup my youngest boy from school, I didn't even bother looking over the edge and past a set of rocks to what I discovered on my second and third time on this trail---another bunker, lower down.

Thank goodness I like to repeat hikes.  I would miss out on so much if I only did a hike once.  The second time I ventured on this trail, I brought my hiking partner, her daughter, and my youngest son Zach (I think it was a holiday from school).  We had better weather, and therefore better conditions for this trail the second time around.  We still encountered the prickly patch on the ridge heading towards the bunkers, but no mud, no rain, and no slip and sliding.  The trail is about 1.5 miles up to the bunkers and 1.5 miles back down.  Depending where you park in the neighborhood, you will walk an additional .25 to .5 miles.  

The kids were able to hike this trail with minimal problems, unfortunately not minimal complaints.  This trail has a gradual but continual uphill climb that can make you winded but nothing most kids can't handle.  The views as you climb are mostly covered and forest but there are a couple of vantage points that let you look out at the ocean, which is always enjoyable.

The first time I hiked here, there was a lovely painted rock display at one of the lookouts about halfway up.  Sadly, upon our return for both the second and third times on the trail, the painted rocks were no longer there.  Good thing I snapped a photo!

My third time up to Kaipapau Bunkers was this past weekend with my husband and two sons.  We were excited for a hike (okay, mostly me), a dip in the ocean in neighboring town Laie, and a possible food pit stop some where along the north shore.  As I mentioned in another recent blog post, the weather has been less than great in recent weeks.  This past weekend we experienced flood watches, flood warnings, thunder and lightning...in other words, lots of rain.  Saturday morning however, there was a reprieve in Pacific Northwest like conditions...so of course that's when we made our way to the town of Hau'ula and the Kaipapau Bunkers.

I don't think my boys loved this trail as much as I seem to...there were complaints of knees, head, and hips hurting (apparently everyone is falling apart).  There were some mumbles about the mud and a couple of "here seems like a good place to turn around" (we were NOT at the end).  Somehow I convinced everyone to trek on.  We eventually made it (at a rather slow pace) to all three bunkers.  We took a few photos, enjoyed the view, and then began to feel a couple of drops of rain, it was time to head back down the mountain.

We tried not to waste any time on the way back down as the clouds rolling in were looking more and more ominous.  When we made it out of the forest and to the water tower and paved road at the beginning of the trail, we knew we were home free.  We were out of water and thirsty, so I suggested we indulge in ginger lemonade and a fun pineapple drink from North Shore Tacos, two minutes from where we parked for the hike.  I found out about these amazing thirst quenchers after my second time on this trail and the kids needed to use the bathroom...North Shore Tacos was the closest place, so we hit the restrooms and grabbed fun drinks.  But back to this third time on the trail...no sooner had we made our after hike thirst quenching plan, stomped excess mud/dirt off our shoes...the rain set in.

So glad we escaped the down pour.  We made it to our festive drink destination, took our beverages to go, and headed away from the rain.  We weren't able to make it to the beach in Laie after all, but we did make it to the bunker hike and pineapple pitstop, so it was a successful Saturday.