Haha'ione Loopiness

The verdict is still out on whether or not I like this trail.  This past Sunday's adult only excursion was filled with hiking firsts and exhilarating moments.  There were photo opportunities and breathtaking vistas.  There were miles of forest to be explored without another soul in sight.  We were on our feet for over six hours and never once spotted another hiker.

But all the things that made this trail great, were all the things that made it turn bad quickly.  April the Adventurer was my hiking partner for this Sunday Funday trail.  When we first made our plan, the choices on the table were Kamiloiki Ridge or Haha'ione Loop.  Since I have previously done Kamiloiki Ridge, I thought it'd be fun to conquer another new to both of us trail...Hahaione Loop!
 

I usually do research on trails that I have not been on...but this time I carelessly only stuck with a quick skim of Yelp/All Trails and a random blog from years past that briefly mentioned Haha'ione Trail.  I felt confident that between the two of us, we would be fine exploring this Hawaii Kai trail.  Apparently my hiking partner had the same idea as me...so our research (even between the two of us) was less than stellar.  All would have been fine too, if it weren't for a series of several seemingly small obstacles that dominoed into the perfect recipe for overtired hikers which can usually lead to danger and poor decision making.

So here's where I'll write in my disclaimer.  I'm not a hiking guide, expert, or even remotely knowledgeable...I'm just a girl who likes to hike and blog about my weekend adventures.  If you choose to venture into the wilderness, I hope you will bring water, appropriate gear, be well rested, well fed, and have your wits about you in order to make sound decisions when on top of a mountain.

Here, in what I think is chronological order, are the things that went awry on our trek to Pyramid Rock off Haha'ione Trail:

1. April got stung by a bee.
2. I should have packed more water. (I had a 24 oz Hydro Flask with me and another 18 oz one in the car for after.)
3. I underestimated the length of the trail and let the word "LOOP" fool me into a sense of "short hike  syndrome"...therefore not packing a snack or more water.
4. I should have put my hiking spikes on sooner.
5. I assumed the loop trail would be a clear path with clear markings with an obvious route to complete a loop...it was not, causing several back tracking moments making the hike longer in length and causing my legs to get overtired and my water supply to dwindle even more.
6. Hawaii California Grass...the one that is tall, always overgrown, and attacks you with fiberglass like particles making you want to crawl out of your skin.  And if it's California grass, what is it doing here?!
7. Second attack from nature was flying rocks. (The first attack being California Grass in the wrong state.)

** Further explanation:
I was climbing and pulling myself up a hill when the rock in my hand disintegrated.  A mini landslide ensued.  A rock the size of a softball came flying at my head, taking particular aim at my front teeth.  That hurt. On the second attempt at climbing up this particular portion of trail, more rocks decided to attack, and a now larger rock came hurtling down, this time aimed at my left leg.  That also hurt.

8. April's phone died...mine was still operating but with a lower battery life than I'm usually comfortable with. (At a certain point of extra wandering, rock injuries, and tiredness kicking in, my over active imagination jumped to us spending the night on the trail with zero cell service.)
9. Big dark clouds started heading our way...but just as quickly as we saw them, they turned another direction...so it did not rain, and my nerves were able to regain some semblance of normalcy.
10. I forgot my hiking gloves...again. My hands are now sandpaper.  I'm ready to tackle whatever home DIY sanding project you might have!

If you haven't stopped reading due to my lack of intelligent decision making, then you will get to see the rest of my photos from this adventure, and you will see that 1) I survived and 2) I learned from my mistakes and 3) Who could have foreseen that so many little things would pile up and cause us to hike 5.3 miles over the course of 6 plus hours when we intended to hike about 2.5 miles for maybe four hours maximum?!

I see that this particular blog post is not a ringing endorsement for hiking, hiking with me, or my skills/knowledge as a hiker.  But, despite all the little things, we came out smiling, relatively uninjured, proud of how we handled adversity, and proud that we accomplished a goal of hiking a small portion of the KST (Ko'olau Summit Trail).  We like to look on the bright side.

This trail made me a better hiker...I hope.  I will be sure to research more thoroughly in the future.  I will be sure to get a larger Hydro Flask.  I will wear my spikes even when spikes are not necessary.  I will always bring a snack...even if the trail is only fifteen minutes or only a mile long.

After hiking different trails around O'ahu, I have seen numerous gorgeous views.  I have encountered challenges both big and small---from which path to take to where to grab a refreshing beverage post hike.  Hiking, like parenting, like life, has its ups and downs...has its good days and bad days, off days and days that you treasure for a lifetime.  Haha'ione Trail was an off hiking day for me, and I'm telling myself that what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger...or leaves you battered and bruised...but able to laugh at yourself nonetheless.