KET #6: Pill Box View III Traditional Cache
KET #6: Pill Box View III
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(micro)
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Back Story:
We (kailua.cat&matt) attempted to do this trail back in 2010 but ran into a “Dark Cloud” and got completely lost. This was BC (before caching) and before we had a GPSr. We bushwhacked through strawberry guava trees, crossed gulches and streams, climbed cliffs, leaped over a wall in a single bound…wait, maybe not the last one, but we ended up at a Scouts Camp. We thought we had luckily hiked back to the Boy Scouts Camp where we had parked our car, but it was not to be. It was dusk and getting dark fast by the time we found out we were at the Girl Scouts Camp, which is on a completely different ridgeline at the top of COMSAT Road. By the good graces of a Girl Scouts caretaker and a Starbuck’s employee we got safely back to our car which was still parked at the top of Pupukea Road.
Years later, we decided to tackle this trail again after hearing that several members of the Hawaiian Trail and Mountain Club (HTMC) including, Stuart Ball, had successfully hiked and marked the trail. We were now armed with a GPSr and in the company of another experienced cacher, CelticGuardian, who assisted with all the cache placements. The trail was well groomed compared to when we first attempted it several years ago making our experience a pleasant hike. A huge mahalo to CG for your assistance with all the caches and for putting up with a Dark Cloud on what turned out to be a very beautiful day!
The Kaunala to ‘Ehukai Trail (KET)
The 6-mile long (one way) Kaunala-‘Ehukai Trail is located in the Pupukea-Paumalu State Park. This trail is maintained by HTMC and is open to the public. You can approach this trail either from the top or bottom, however, the waypoints and directions provided in this description will guide you along the KET from the Kaunala trailhead to the Sunset Beach Neighborhood Park. It is highly recommended that you take this route as you will have a pleasant downhill journey along the KET. Both parking and upper and lower trailheads are marked as waypoints.
The lower trailhead is located at Sunset Beach Neighborhood Park which is a public park located in front of Sunset Beach Elementary School. The lower trailhead is located just to the left before the metal gate leading into the school. PLEASE DO NOT PARK INSIDE THE SCHOOL. The school gate is locked during non-school hours.
The upper trailhead for the KET branches off from the main Kaunala Trail Loop which has a sanctioned trailhead located at the Boy Scouts Camp at the top of Pupukea Road. To find the upper trailhead for the KET, travel about 100 yards from the Kaunala trailhead sign. You will see the KET branching off to your left.
If you plan to do the entire 6 mile KET trail, it is recommended that you take two cars and park one car at the bottom at Sunset Beach Neighborhood Park and then drive your other car to the top of Pupukea Road and begin your journey from there.
The Six caches in the Kaunala to ‘Ehukai Trail Series:
- KET #1: Journey to the Sea
- KET #2: Whistling Pine
- KET #3: Power Outage
- KET #4: Onward Cacher!
- KET #5: ET Pupukea
- KET #6: Pill Box View III
CAUTION:
There are well over 22 miles of hiking and biking trails tangled in the Pupukea-Paumalu State Park area. Please be aware that the special sets of candy-cane-striped ribbons marking the KET are distinct at both ends of the trail but sparse in the middle. You will see sets of pink and other orange colored ribbons that dart off in all kinds of directions to designate different mountain biking and hunting trails. Throw in some jeep roads and metal placards into the mix and you can easily get disoriented while you are on the trail. If you are traveling the recommended route and beginning at the upper trailhead and heading down towards Sunset Beach Neighborhood Park, please maintain an overall mountain to ocean direction and pay attention to topography. We tied new orange ribbons, planted the “KET” caches along the way and posted some key waypoints to help guide your way. Happy caching!!
By the way, the caches in this series vary in sizes – please BYOP!
Peace at last
Enjoy the views!
KET #6: Pill Box View III
Okay, so the best view of the of the satellite dishes at the Inmarsat Broadband Global Area Network Satellite Access Station is not where we placed KET #5: ET Pupukea. But we didn’t know that when we placed the cache. In fact, we kept moving this cache every time we saw a better view of those dishes. We finally just left the cache where it is, however, once you leave KET #5, keep going along the trail and you will come to a clearing that has a SPECTACULAR view of those satellite dishes. This is a great photo op, but you’ve still got a bit more to go before your final cache in this series.
Continue on the trail in a NW direction; remember, you’re heading towards the sea and those satellite dishes should remain on your right. In about 1,700 feet, you will reach the final cache in this series: another pill box with a great view!
This is another place for great photos. If you are still craving more caches for the day, you’re in luck. On your way out to the bottom of the trail, waypoint "Sunset Beach Neighborhood Park lower trailhead", you will pass by Pill Box View II. Be sure to stop and grab that on the way down. Your final descent to the bottom is rather steep in several areas, but there are ropes to guide you down.
Upon reaching the bottom of the trail, we really hope you remembered to leave a car here so that you can drive back up to the top of the trail where you started and left your other vehicle. Otherwise, good luck and have fun hiking the six miles back up to where you came from!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Cvyy obggyr ghpxrq va gur zvqqyr bs guerr ynetr obhyqref bss ba gur evtug unaq fvqr bs gur genvy nf lbh urnq qbja gb gur ohaxre.