Hiking Kuli'ou'ou Ridge Trail

Brian and Becky have kindly introduced and shared their Hawaii friends with us. So, on our return trip to Hawaii we've been able to hang out with these cool people as well as Brian and Becky. One fun thing we were able to do with these new friends is hike the Kuliouou Ridge Trail on Oahu. The trail is 5 mi round trip with many switchbacks bringing you to 2000 ft above sea level. And, the nearly 300 degree view from the top is spectacular. "Spectacular" doesn't really cover it, but it's the best I can do right now. And, of course, the pictures don't do it justice. 

Natural arch on the way up the ridge made by a crazy tree 

View of the Kuli'ou'ou Valley from about halfway up 

Our cool hiking group after making it to the top! 

View of Maunalua Bay

View of Koko Head Mountain and the town of Hawaii Kai down below

Panorama of east side of the island with the two Moku Islands to the far left

Steep stairs near the top of the ridge

Noticing some interesting textured pine tree trunks on the way down 

Needless to say it turned out to be my favorite hike I've done in Hawaii! The only bummer of the trip was that we didn't get to hang out more with our hiking group after the hike. We had wanted to grab some beer with everyone at nearby Kona Brewing, but we had only an hour and a half to make it all the way to our campground on the North Shore before the gates locked at 7pm. We hurriedly left after the hike and made it to the campground with 12 minutes to spare. Even ending on a hurried note, it was still a great day though.