52 New: #7 New Hiking Trail, Lualualei Lookout

I'm at about one "New Thing" a week since 2021 started.  This week's "New Thing" consisted of a new to me hiking trail called Lualualei Lookout.  According to the health app on my phone, this hike was 6.1 miles.  The All Trails App has a difference of opinion, coming in at 4.2 miles.  I guess we could split the difference and say it was about five miles of hiking completed this past Sunday.  No matter the mileage, it was a leg burner for sure, all parties can agree to that.       

My trusty hiking companions for this new trail were April, Jennah, and Marina.  The trail was new to all of us, so it was an exciting adventure.  Lualualei is located in Wai'anae on the island of O'ahu.  Wai'anae is a pretty good drive from our respective homes, almost an hour in the car, but well worth the scenic drive.  The start of the trail is a known high theft area, so we decided to employ my teenage son as our chauffeur.  We arrived at the trailhead right at 9:00 a.m. and immediately headed in the wrong direction.  😂  We soon realized our mistake (many thanks to the family headed up the trail to Mt. Ka'ala), back tracked, and the real start of the new hiking adventure was under way.   

 

Lualualei did not disappoint.  We spent about four hours on the trail (including incline breaks, checking out nature breaks, yoga breaks, and of course photo breaks).   The start of the trail is along a paved road.  The trail quickly enters a short forested area surrounded by big black lava rock.  We hiked through this uneventful portion of the trail until we came to yet another road, this one more of a dirt, gravelly country road.  The flora of the area is definitely threatening to take over this path, but it was clear enough for us to get through.    

Our early-ish start was a life saver, as we didn't have to deal with the typical westside blazing sun.  Instead we were graced with a mini Mauka shower, rainbows, and a breeze.  We were grateful for these gifts as we had a consistent steady incline for the majority of the hike.  We were all starting to become weary of the trail when Jennah saved the day with a fun trail game.  For the last intense part of the climb we took turns figuring out our number one celebrity crush.  Winners in no particular order: Chris Hemsworth, Jason Momoa, Milo Ventimiglia, and Keanu Reeves...can you guess who each person picked? 

When we finally made it to the ridgeline of the hike we were giggly with excitement (was it the view or was it the celebrity crush game).  After an hour and a half of steep, rather uneventful forest trail, we were at last seeing what we had come for, that view!  Despite some rain clouds, and a layer of fog on top of the mountains, we were still captivated with the expansive westside panorama.  Green, mystic mountains everywhere.  And when we thought things couldn't be anymore spectacular, another rainbow appeared on cue.  

Now that we successfully made it to the top, it was time for a group selfie, some yoga fun, and a celebratory summit beverage.  Cheers!  The view from the top was my favorite part of the day.  I snapped countless images.  I took it all in.  The air was so fresh and crisp and we were all so elated to have pushed through the rough parts of the journey. We made it to the top relatively unscathed. 

My words definitely can't do this view justice.  Neither can my pictures.  It was a perfect Sunday morning.  On our way up the trail we only ran across one or two other hikers.  On the way down we definitely encountered quite a few more, but overall I would not consider this an overly populated trail.  We took care to pack out what we packed in and did our best to leave the trail in as good a shape as it was when we entered as when we exited.  I hope the same was true from the other hikers that day.    

I would rate Lualualei as an intermediate level hiking trail.  There weren't any technically difficult parts---no ropes or scaling walls or extreme rock climbing necessary.  Other than the very beginning portion of the trail, it was a straightforward trail marked by a series of pink/orange (it's a debate) ribbons, blue spray painted arrows on trees, and old Gatorade bottle caps with florescent paint to help guide your way.  

If you get anxious with heights, this might not be the trail for you since the best part with all the views is along a narrow ridgeline with steep drop offs.  If you are careful with your footing, you can maneuver this portion of the trail just fine, one step at a time.  The wildlife we encountered: mosquitos (bug spray recommended), singing, chirping, melodic birds, an unknown skull remnant (most likely a leftover from a pig hunter), and the grand finale---a hot, smelly, recently deceased giant mongoose.  

If you find yourself with four hours to hike and on the westside, I suggest hitting this trail.  And if you have some adventure loving friends willing to go with you, even better.  My hope for you would be that you luck out with great weather, rainbows, and laughs like we had.  Number 7 of "52 New Things" is in the books.  It was a beautiful, accomplished feeling trail that I'm happy I can now add to my list of "O'ahu Trails I've Hiked".  

"Hey glum face...Next time there's a rainbow, look up.  You'll feel better." ~Rainbow Brite