canyonwalker (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
canyonwalker) wrote2022-04-13 01:49 pm
canyonwalker) wrote2022-04-13 01:49 pm
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Hiking the Koko Head Rail Trail
Hawaii April Travelog #12
Hawaii Kai, Oahu - Mon, 11 Apr, 2022, 10am
We got up early this morning, not just because we wanted to go somewhere early but also because we had to figure out where to go. We've approached this whole trip with only a vague list of things we want to do. Other than visiting the Pearl Harbor Memorial, a specifc thing we knew we wanted to do (and kind of the main reason we're even on Oahu this trip), it was "hike some more waterfalls, hike some more craters, and visit more beaches".
Today our planning started with, "Hey, let's visit the botanical garden in Koko Crater; and BTW what else is nearby?" It then morphed into, "Let's hike the Koko Head railway trail".
Koko Head is the top of the rim around Koko Crater. You can see it in the picture above taken from a ballfield near the trail. You can also see the trail in the picture. It's called the railway trail or tramline trail because it follows the route of a short rail route built in the 1930s to haul equipment to a defense station atop the mountain. The rail trail ascends 885' from its base.
And when people call it a railway trail, the rails are still there....
This is a picture from near the bottom of the rail line. Yes, hiking it means climbing crossties like steps. Yes, it goes in a straight line—no contouring around the steep parts. And yes, it starts at a pretty good incline, gets visibly steeper in the middle, and then gets even more visibly steeper-er in the top third.
All that, and it's only 0.8mi (1.3km) each way. 0.8mi of hell. We're not sure we'll make it. But we'll try. In beauty we walk.
Update: Continue reading in Crossing the Chasm!
Hawaii Kai, Oahu - Mon, 11 Apr, 2022, 10am
We got up early this morning, not just because we wanted to go somewhere early but also because we had to figure out where to go. We've approached this whole trip with only a vague list of things we want to do. Other than visiting the Pearl Harbor Memorial, a specifc thing we knew we wanted to do (and kind of the main reason we're even on Oahu this trip), it was "hike some more waterfalls, hike some more craters, and visit more beaches".
Today our planning started with, "Hey, let's visit the botanical garden in Koko Crater; and BTW what else is nearby?" It then morphed into, "Let's hike the Koko Head railway trail".
Koko Head is the top of the rim around Koko Crater. You can see it in the picture above taken from a ballfield near the trail. You can also see the trail in the picture. It's called the railway trail or tramline trail because it follows the route of a short rail route built in the 1930s to haul equipment to a defense station atop the mountain. The rail trail ascends 885' from its base.
And when people call it a railway trail, the rails are still there....
This is a picture from near the bottom of the rail line. Yes, hiking it means climbing crossties like steps. Yes, it goes in a straight line—no contouring around the steep parts. And yes, it starts at a pretty good incline, gets visibly steeper in the middle, and then gets even more visibly steeper-er in the top third.
All that, and it's only 0.8mi (1.3km) each way. 0.8mi of hell. We're not sure we'll make it. But we'll try. In beauty we walk.
Update: Continue reading in Crossing the Chasm!