Koko Crater South Rim

Standing on the oceanside of the lava tube

DATE: 29 May, 2010
TOTAL TIME: 3 hrs
DIFFICULTY: Easy-Medium
PARTICIPANTS: Myself
REHIKE VALUE: 8

Simple hike today. Working the knee and my bum MCL. My usual hiking buddies are out of commission after last week's escapade (get well soon!), and another hiker called too late to join.

For this outing, I went up the south rim from the Botanical Garden inside the crater itself, instead of the route usually used by the HTMC which crosses the stone arch bridge up to the ridgeline. I’ll definitely try that next time. The route I took enabled me to walk the entire south ridge but the climbing and narrow ridge parts was pretty hairy. Not recommended to those who have a fear of heights. Of course, I have a fear of falling... wouldn’t recommend it to those with that fear either. I was going to attempt the north rim coming down, but that would have meant missing the Laker game. Instead, I went down the stairs.

Sitting on a rock looking down at the botanical garden on the crater floor

A little rock scrambling needed to get over that part of the rim but nothing to worry about

To finish, I meandered over to the Lanai Lookout. Okay, so I drove over there. Same difference. I wanted to check out the lava tube underneath the highway so I hopped the railing and went down the gulch across the street from the parking lot. It was a pretty neat way to end any hike in Kokohead as the tube opens up to an ocean shelf on the other end.

I’ll have to figure out a way to begin the hike from the oceanside of the lava tube and up to the Koko Crater rim next time. Good short hike, and good training ground for more advanced hikes.

Traversing the south rim to the top

Inside the lava tube as vehicles zip by on the highway above

The ocean shelf on the other side of the lava tube