Moanalua Valley to Stairway to Heaven Trail.
Aloha folks! Im back again after taking a sorta long small kine break from keeping up with my weekly blog posts. I have so much photos over the past couple of months to share but I'll start off with a recent hike I did this past Sunday.
On this Sunday morning hike, our group of almost 15 and more, went to Moanalu Valley to access the Stairway to Heaven trail, which is one of the legal ways to get to the top. This trail itself is a total of almost 9 miles roundtrip and took us about 8 hours to complete. Getting to the top took about 3 hours or so. The weather conditions on this hike was sunny and hot at first, with occasional cloud coverage by the time I got close to the top and then eventually heavily raining while I was on the top and walking along the stairs. This was a very strenuous and memorable hike for me. I did this with four hours of sleep and still feeling some pain in my legs from Friday night (Dancing of course). I ended up falling behind while the rest of the group was far ahead of me, which is why I took a little longer and took my time making my way up. Overall, this hike was the by the far one the most challenging out of all the hikes I did in my lifetime.
Heres all the photos I took that day with my camera and I'll also share the experience of how this trail was and some useful tips on taking this hike.
This is the longest part the trail, the hike before you even get to the hike and when you get back down from the trail, longest walk back to the parking lot. Its a little under a mile and you're traversing along rocky and muddy roads that was some paved parts and also river crossings. Vehicles do access here if they have a code for the gate, we did see hunters up here so this place is always busy at some point in the day.
Parts of the road trail leads you into muddy and overgrown vegetation, gives it that adventurous feel though.
River crossings like these, are present around the road. If you want to stay dry (Which I did most of the times lol) you can either go along to top part bridges or step on rocks. If you don't mind getting wet, then just walk along the river and feel that cool mountain water. Honestly I want to come back here and take some photos in these pools, crystal clear water and looks super refreshing, even after long hikes like this.
Finally made it to the top of the begging of the trail hike, after a little less than a hour later.
This was taken somewhere midway through the trail, I was going on my own pace due to my legs and amount of energy I had, the rest of the main group was already on the rope parts of the trail. I did manage to see more people from our group finally make it out after missing the morning start.
Tree tunnels along the trail made for some epic photos, just wish I had a few models or certain someone to pose in them haha. Not going to say names but one of them knows who she is.
A break after dying halfway to the trail lol, I don't think this was even the halfway mark yet but it was a clear opening and I could see the both north and south of the valley. I also love the new hiking boots I got from 5.11, way more better than my issued army boots which kept making slip during Kuliouou ridge trail recently. You should also invest in Crampons, which are these metal spikes attaches to a frame that goes over you shoes or whatever you wear when you hike. They are very good to keep the traction and not have you slip or fall. They work great in the mud and help you move a little better. I didn't have any but will look into it before my next major hike. Also I recommend getting some clothing and gear from 5.11 which is where I get most of my stuff for hiking and military related. The 5.11 pants I used is great for extreme hiking conditions and it even had a pocket for my knife. I like to hike like I'm going to war lol (If you know me well than you know how geared up I look). Appropriate clothing and gear for hiking places like this makes hikes easier for me, in my own opinion but feel free to go however you feel will be comfortable.
Should I fall, just tell them post my photos lol.
Some parts of the edge were narrow, use extreme caution when its muddy and there also ropes tagged at different parts of the trail to help you get through easier.
Thats where I had to go to in order to get to the top. Majority of the group was already at the stairway portion.
Are we there yet???? Literally that was going through my mind the whole morning.
I see you China Man's Hat.
Just beyond that ridge is the H3 and also this another trail to get up to Stairway to Heaven but it goes directly along the H3 and even researched this trail. Its part of the Stairway to Hell from what its commonly referred as. Its probably the more crazier way to get up since you need to scale steep rocky portions and you have barely 3ft wide of space on these ridges. This part made for a nice photo op though.
Now were on to the most challenging rope part of getting to the top. At first going up for me was relatively easy, however this hike was so crowded that I had to wait for a group of people to go down. I also had a group of people behind me so we all ended up sharing the rope. I highly advised not to have too many on the rope at the same time because you can cause greater injury that way. Going down was a challenge because it was raining earlier. With this part being wet and muddy, the only best way most people and myself did to get down, was to slide down and use our hands. This is the part that can make you dirty in a matter of seconds. So if you don't mind getting dirty then this hike is for you haha.
Ok now I made it to the top but forgot to take photos of the building with the radar dish since it was constantly pouring and I didn't want my camera to get water damaged. But heres a portion of the stairway that goes down to the other building down below and then the rest of stairway.
So does this count as Selife sunday???
The inside of the radar dish building. A lot of graffiti words and even bottles of drinks and photos of people left on the top, as remembrance for people who recently hiked and probably partied up here.
Heres my favorite photo from the stairway part of the hike. Using my 15mm lens, I captured whatever angles I could along with battling the rain at the same time. I am also on a vertical steep incline and one slip could mean I fall down pretty hard and get injured very badly or fall off the mountain. Be careful when walking up and down the stars when its rainy, you may have a chance of slipping. I had gloves on most the hike so it did help me with gripping the rails.
I managed to go down to the platform below but thats when the rain picked up and stopped me from heading to the other building but the rest of the group that was there was leaving so I decided to head back to the top and wait fro them.
Enjoying the hike the best I can, still can't believe I went up here.
Going back up perspective. I can only imagine this is what it looks like if you're accessing the stairs by the H3 way (Illegal way of the trail.) nothing but endless stairs and cloud coverage.
Now for the fun part, heading back down the trail. Lets just say it was super muddy and I tripped 7 times on random see branches and roots in the ground. With this part of the trail, the only best way you can down here when its super muddy, is to slide down while using your hands. You either get dirty and make it down, or get stuck or fall off. If you're using the ropes, its best to use gloves to prevent rope burn. I have a technique I use when i go up and down using ropes on hiking trails. I wrap the top once around both hands. One hand acts as the release and the other hand is the brake. Its a technique you see military or even rescue or people who can repel down ropes, use. Theres other ways to handle but I feel that just holding them without wrapping it around makes it it difficult. If its wrapped around, you'll have a better grip and won't have to worry about slipping off. Just find your way you feel is easy for you to use ropes. Always remember t check if the ropes are good too.
Capturing a few of our members from this par of the trail. The remaining portion of our group consisted with about 8 of us. Everyone else left early so whoever was left stayed together.
Rest time is much needed when you've been hiking for hours all day. Make sure you get enough rest and drink water the day before. Also eating the right foods can help keep your body going. Don't be like me and go on hikes with barely 4 hours of sleep. Not everyone can run it hard like I do but its better for your health haha.
I guess the abundance of ropes on this trail was a good thing about this hike.
One more look of this valley and the dry waterfalls that surrounded the valley. I'll be back here again soon, maybe even sooner but for now, I'll take it easy on these hikes so i can catch up on resting. This is the one of the better legal ways to get to the Stairway to Heaven but if you plan on hiking the illegal way by the H3, just do it at your own risk and always be prepared and pack for this hike. If it took us 8 hours to do and expected heavy physical hiking and unpredicted weather changes, then you should do your research and see what you need to bring here. Don't be that one person getting rescued and making a scene on the news. Hike safe everyone!
