OHE February 14, 1999 (Aiea Loop/Pahole)

Date: Sun, 14 Feb 1999 07:38:44 -1000
From: Dayle K. Turner (turner@hawaii.edu>
Subject: Saturday's hikes

I had to put in a couple hours at work yesterday, so I couldn't do a long, sustained hike like I often do on Saturdays. My goal was to get some exercise nonetheless since I hadn't logged any cardio workouts all week.

Prior to heading to LCC, I drove up to Aiea Heights to do the Aiea Loop Trail. I arrived there about 8:45 and to my surprise, I saw Thomas Yoza, his friend Cary, and at least two dozen other folks gathered at the trailhead. As it turned out, they were part of a mountain biking group assembled to do some work on the trail. Their goal was to do trail grading and to carve drainage canals to help funnel off standing water to minimize puddling during rainy weather.

Today's weather was anything but rainy, with clear skies and a cool bite in the air. The majority of the group turning out were teenagers, with Thomas, Cary, and a handful of other adults the leaders.

Thomas hung back at the rear to cut some drainage canals while Cary and I pushed ahead of the pack of teens and other adult leaders. Cary, lugging a 14" chainsaw, had the task of clearing any tree blowdowns blocking the trail, but as it turned out, there were none, so Cary and I hiked basically non-stop around the loop, which was in great shape and not in any dire need of maintenance. By 10:30, we had returned to where we'd parked our vehicles, and I motored off to Pearl City to put in two hours at the learning lab where I work.

By 1:00, I had completed my work duties, and I jumped in my vehicle and headed to Waialua where I had plans to hike up to the Mokuleia campsite via Peacock Flats to meet some HTMC friends, who are spending the weekend backpack camping. In the morning, they had started out at the Kaena Point Tracking Station and backpacked to the camp via the Kuaokala and Makua Rim Trails. That route would be too long and time consuming for me given the late start time I had, so I opted to park along Farrington Highway between Waialua High School and the Dillingham Airfield, and hike up the single-lane paved road to Peacock Flats (warning--do not park along the road off of the highway since car break-ins occur in high frequency there).

The leg to Peacock Flats took about an hour, and since I had had a week of workout deficiency, I was glad to be sweating and breathing hard. At Peacock Flats, at least six of the eight or so campsites were occupied by folks who had driven in via the 4x4 road from the Yokohama Bay (Waianae) side. One site was being used by HTMC members Lester Ohara and Greg Kingsley, who had driven in on Friday, spent the night, and had dayhiked the one-mile segment through the Pahole NAR to the Mokuleia campsite where the rest of the HTMC gang were.

While hiking up the trail to the campsite, I met Ken Suzuki, Inger Lidman, and Volker Hildebrandt, who were heading to Peacock Flats to retrieve some bottled water left there. They were dispatched to retrieve the H20 because the usual water source, the stream in the Pahole NAR, was running at just a trickle.

I arrived at the campsite at 3:30, and spent the next 90 minutes resting and talking story with the gang, which included, among others, Ralph Valentino, "Big" John Darrah, Pat Rorie, Charlotte Yamane, Carole K. Moon, June Miyasato, Georgina Oka, and Lita Komura. Tents were situated at various places around the camping area, including Ken's, which was sitting beneath a precariously perched dead tree. As it turns out, the gang's plan is to spend today (Sunday) dayhiking, enjoy another night at the camp, and hike out to the tracking station grounds tomorrow.

I bid everyone farewell at 5 p.m. since I knew I'd need an hour-plus for the return trip to my car on Farrington Highway. On my way through Peacock Flats, I chatted briefly with Lester, who offered me a ride until he realized that I was parked on the Mokuleia side instead of at the tracking station. I thanked him for the offer, then jogged off down the single-lane road. On my way down, I met a couple and their two young kids enjoying a late afternoon stroll on the road. And near the locked gate at the bottom, I talked with a local guy and his son who were looking for some friends hunting in the area.

By 6:20, I was back at my car on Farrington Highway, and after a stop at 7-11 in Haleiwa for some refreshments, I headed home to Kaneohe via Kamehameha Highway along the windward coast. A great Saturday it was.

--DKT


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