Monday, May 04, 2009

Hiking Koko Crater Railway Trail

Spent a great day outdoors yesterday.

First, went hiking up that crazy railway trail at Koko Crater. I had never done this hike before but had driven past it many a time and thought...man, that's steep! Finally decided to take the plunge yesterday.

The entrance to the trail is located inside of Koko Head Crater Recreational Park. Just follow the road to the left and park near the baseball field.

Then it's time for the climb.

The view up from the first step
Supposedly, there are over 1,000 steps on this trek. The first quarter of it or so isn't that bad as far as difficulty level. Sure, some of the wooden planks are rotted and the loose dirt is a little slippery but nothing too dangerous or difficult.

But when you reach the steep part, that's when it gets to be excruciating!

Talk about walking straight up!
I had to stop several times climbing up this portion as my ass muscles were screaming out at me to stop. Not to mention my quads and hammies too! They were all fighting for my attention, demanding answers to why I was making them suffer so.

After about 40 minutes, I finally reached the peak! I couldn't even register this accomplishment yet because I was too busy wheezing all the oxygen I could into my failing respiratory system.

But the views were truly amazing. You could see a full 360 degrees around you.



After spending about 30 minutes at the top taking pictures, snacking on some grapes, and healing my lungs, it was time to go back down.
After the greuling hike, it was time for lunch and the beach! Grabbed a plate lunch from Loco Moco and drove down to Makapuu to eat and then swim for about an hour.
Gotta love a great day outdoors!