Kō'loa Gulch to Kaipapa'u Ridge.
As I mentioned in the last post, things did not go according to plan on my 2nd trek out to Kō'loa Gulch. I really like the detour we took though. It was incredibly strenuous, but so beautiful. We started off at the trailhead to Kō'loa Gulch, but instead of going right at the first fork we went left and ended up going down....and up a densly overgrown saddle to the Kaipapa'u ridge.
We careened down through a lush strawberry guava forest; the floor covered in a bed of rotting fruit flesh and swarms of gnats. I wish I had picked some, but didn't cause I thought we'd be coming back the same way. I was, however, able to pick some guava. We contoured trails barely a foot in width overlooking a sick ass view of Hau'ula and a misstep to death awaiting in the valley below. We ran down steep patches of loose pillow like utisol, remnants of where the mountain's top soil had given away. There was an Australian Pine forest that we had to go up through, it was so steep that we were crawling on our hands and knees cause we couldn't get any traction with the thick blanket of pine needles that enveloped the ground. The views were so spectacular. All I could think about was just how much I absolutely love my home.
As usual I was the only one completely covered in mosquito bites. I reapplied bug spray multiple times, but something about my blood, they're just like yolo. At least we were all covered in mud and scratches from the uluhe. Hahah. We came out Kawaipuna street, and since we had parked at La'ie beach park we still had over a mile to go after it was all said and done. On the way we stopped at North Shore Tacos, not for tacos, but for brewskis with the broskis. Drank our beers, ate the lunches we packed, then made our way over to Kokololio and jumped right in. The cool water felt so awesome. #resurrection Hahahah. I wanted to climb over the coral bed that jutted out separating Kokololio and La'ie cause you know, I didn't ravage my body enough. Justin and I made our way up, Nam said hell naw and made his way out to the road, which was the better of the two ideas to be honest. It was, at one point, probably a super cool spot to camp. Now it's a cesspool of crap. Anyways, enjoy the pictures.
Tips for when you head out there:
We careened down through a lush strawberry guava forest; the floor covered in a bed of rotting fruit flesh and swarms of gnats. I wish I had picked some, but didn't cause I thought we'd be coming back the same way. I was, however, able to pick some guava. We contoured trails barely a foot in width overlooking a sick ass view of Hau'ula and a misstep to death awaiting in the valley below. We ran down steep patches of loose pillow like utisol, remnants of where the mountain's top soil had given away. There was an Australian Pine forest that we had to go up through, it was so steep that we were crawling on our hands and knees cause we couldn't get any traction with the thick blanket of pine needles that enveloped the ground. The views were so spectacular. All I could think about was just how much I absolutely love my home.
As usual I was the only one completely covered in mosquito bites. I reapplied bug spray multiple times, but something about my blood, they're just like yolo. At least we were all covered in mud and scratches from the uluhe. Hahah. We came out Kawaipuna street, and since we had parked at La'ie beach park we still had over a mile to go after it was all said and done. On the way we stopped at North Shore Tacos, not for tacos, but for brewskis with the broskis. Drank our beers, ate the lunches we packed, then made our way over to Kokololio and jumped right in. The cool water felt so awesome. #resurrection Hahahah. I wanted to climb over the coral bed that jutted out separating Kokololio and La'ie cause you know, I didn't ravage my body enough. Justin and I made our way up, Nam said hell naw and made his way out to the road, which was the better of the two ideas to be honest. It was, at one point, probably a super cool spot to camp. Now it's a cesspool of crap. Anyways, enjoy the pictures.
- (2) Casuarina equisetifolia or Australian Pine N
- (5) Arundina graminifolia or Bamboo orchid N
- (6) Clusia rosea or Autograph Tree N
- (7) Amanita
- (8) Cyptotrama asprata or Golden Scruffy
- (14) Passiflora edulis or Passion Fruit/ Liliko'i
- (24) Stupid Lau fucked my fucking hand.
Tips for when you head out there:
- Be in better shape than I am.
- Bring sunscreen and bugspray.
- Pack lightly. I always make the mistake of not doing this, and going on this roller coaster made me deeply regret it.
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