Makiki Valley Trail

Relaxing hike through tree-lined trails and fallen leaves

DATE: 30 May, 2010
TOTAL TIME: 2 hrs
DIFFICULTY: Easy
PARTICIPANTS: "Weatherman" Matt, "Broken Slippa" Kathy, Ipo the Wonderdog, and me
REHIKE VALUE: 6

I invited Kathy for this hike and she showed up in a sundress, slippers, and a chihuahua. Needless to say, the flip-flops were put through the test...and failed. She also brought along Matt, a no shit meteorologist. Neat.

Left to right: Me, Ipo the Wonderdog, "Broken Slippa" Kathy

"Weatherman" Matt and me

I've never done any hikes on Tantalus and I've always wanted to check out the trails. Kathy suggested we do Makiki so it was the perfect situation. Aside from slipping on mud and the walk up and down the wide ridge leading into Makiki Valley park, this one was pretty easy. The view was great from the top and the multi-colored fallen leaves on the ridge made it seem as if we were walking on confetti. On the flip side, there were parts of the trail that reminded me of the forests in Lord of the Rings. I fully expected Gollum to crawl out of some cave looking for his "precious."

Bridge crossing over a silent stream

Natural confetti; must have known I was coming

Weatherman Matt predicted scattered showers... over Oahu. Good job Matt. Just kidding. I’m sure he’s very good at what he does. Overall, it was a pretty easy hike. Great for trail running if you're coming from the park and if you’re willing to sweat good half mile uphill. It'll work you out.

Ipo was busy scouting the trail and doing headcounts of us, making sure we were all together

Walking back up Makiki ridge was a workout in itself