Views from the Top (Koko Head part 4)

Hawaii April Travelog #15
Hawaii Kai, Oahu - Mon, 11 Apr, 2022, 12pm

Climbing the Koko Head Tramline trail has been about more than killing our legs and enjoying the views on the way up. It's about enjoying the views from the top. Those include being able to see over the other side of the mountain.



Koko Head is the high part of the rim around Koko Crater. The view down over the crater and to the beaches behind is phenomenal.



Sometimes there's a shot you want but other people are in it. You can get mad about it, you can wait it out, or you can make them part of the picture.



Or Option (D) is find another spot that's just as good.



From atop Koko Head we could see in all directions. Here's a telephoto shot looking back toward Waikiki. On the left is the Diamond Head crater, which we hiked to the top of on our trip in December. To the right are the skyscraper hotels and residential towers of Waikiki.

Update: You know what comes next? It's like going downhill on a rollercoaster... without the rollercoaster!

I've Been Walking on the Railroad (Koko Head Tramline Trail, part 5)

Hawaii April Travelog #16
Hawaii Kai, Oahu - Mon, 11 Apr, 2022, 3pm

We're back from atop Koko Head now, eating a late lunch/early dinner at a Greek restaurant in Hawaii Kai. Taste amplificaton is making the food taste... merely good.... So this restaurant probably sucks. 🤣

We started the trek down the mountain after spending a while at the top.



The view back down the tram line wasn't as imposing as looking up from the bottom... or even looking up from a third of the way up. Still, it was like looking down from the top of a hill on a tall rollercoaster— one with an 880' drop— except with no rollercoaster. You have to walk down the tracks.

Coming down the mountain was "easy" only in comparison to the effort of ascending. Walking down the steeply inclined tracks, stepping from crosstie to crosstie, involved over 1,000 bone-jarring steps. On the way up I wrote about pacing ourselves by climbing 10-12 crossties between rests.... on the way down we had to pace ourselves, too, taking standing breaks every so often to let our leg muscles stop quivering.

On the way down we both avoided the bridge with angry bees. Our legs were getting rubbery and we worried that we lacked the stability to balance exclusively on the crossties. Plus, word of mouth on the trail was that someone a bit ahead of us had fallen right near the beehive (fallen = feet slipped and landed straddling a crosstie), riling up the bees to be angry at all intruders.



The sun was in and out behind clouds as we descended. In the pic above, where I'd reached the bottom of the tracks, the sun's behind a cloud. When it was out strongly it was hot on trail. I'm glad we began the hike before 10am, reaching the top around 11:30. People climbing up the mountain as we were coming down were drenched in sweat.

BTW the bottom of the rail was not the bottom of the trail. There was still a quarter mile or so of walking on dirt trails and an old road. Except it felt more like a full mile. I shuffle-stepped the whole way; my quads were already feeling fried. I know I'm going to be wrecked tonight.

Update: Yup, I'm wrecked pretty bad.

Wrecked in Waikiki

Hawaii April Travelog #17
Waikiki - Tue, 12 Apr, 2022, 8:30am

We've been taking it easy at the hotel last night and this morning, after yesterday's epic hike up the Koko Head Tramline. Okay, "taking it easy" is a bit of a euphemism. The unglamorous truth is I'm wrecked.

Being worn out yesterday evening, I expected. After finishing up the hike and eating a late lunch on the way home, we relaxed in our room and at the hotel pool. Unfortunately the hot tub was running cold yesterday, so mostly we relaxed in the room. Soon enough it was dinner-ish time. We walked down the street to see what was available at the nearby food halls and brought dinner home. We ate a picnic style dinner on the hotel's breakfast lanai like the night before.

Our plan this morning had been to get up early and walk down to the beach to wade in the surf for a while before returning to the hotel, cleaning up, and heading out to the airport for an 11:50am flight. That was the plan. The problem wasn't waking up early. We've set our alarms for 6/6:30am all trip. The problem is that this morning I/we are still feeling wrecked from yesterday's hike. We've spent the morning being slugs in the room. Slugs with aching quadriceps and IT bands, that is.

We're leaving for the airport in about 20 minutes. This means we'll have stayed 4 days in Waikiki without going to the beach in Waikiki at all! Stupid IT bands.

Update: I was wrecked really hard. I avoided hikes Tuesday and Wednesday. Simple walking for short distances was okay. Stairs and ramps, especially ramps, were tough. By Thursday I did a bit of hiking, including ascent and descent. But it was a strain. All in all, though, the Koko Head Tramline was such an epic hike I don't regret it.