The safest place to park your car, for the car not you, is on
Ala Akau Street which is across from Wai`anae High School’s
baseball field. There is an elementary school there. Park along the
street and head back to Farr. Hwy. Walk north three blocks to Maiuu
Rd. Follow it to the trail head. I recommend starting as early in
the morning as possible as this can be a VERY hot hike if the sun
is shinning.
The day I placed the cache I took advantage of an almost full
moon and began hiking around 6 a.m. After an hour and a half of
going up hill I reached the cache site. On the way up there is the
Kamaile Heiau. PLEASE DO NOT WALK ACROSS IT. There is a trail that
skirts the Heiau on the Makaha side of the ridge.
After you climb 100 feet or so the views become fantastic so
bring your camera. If the land was flat some fool would have built
a mansion here. But lucky for you and me it’s not flat and it
belongs to the State of Hawai`i so there will never be development
up here.
Today I was hiking w/the Hawaiian Trail and Mountain Club on
their annual visit to this ridge. We hiked as far as one can safely
go just a bit past the second of the two nameless peaks on the
ridge. Funny thing is these peaks have NO name and they are (almost
the same elevations) the 3rd highest peaks on O`ahu. To the
Hawaiian Trail and Mountain Club they are know as “NO NAME
PEAKS”. The elevation is about 3200 feet. Pu`u Kalena is
approx 3500 feet in elevation and Mt Ka`ala is about 4025. Fourth
would be Pu`u Konahuanui in the Ko`olau Mts and about 3150 feet in
elevation.
The hike to No Name Peaks has the third highest elevation gain
on O`ahu. First would be the Dupont trail which begins in Waialua
at approx. 200’ and goes to the top of Mt Ka`ala at
4025’. Elevation gain is approx 3825’. Second would be
climbing from the forestry gate (600’) in Wai`anae Valley to
the top of Mt. Ka`ala, a gain of 3425’. And todays hike
Kamaile`unu beginning at about 100’ to No Name Peak at
3200’ for a gain of 3100’.