Hihimanu (Kaua'i), 1/9/17: twenty-eight ropes!

[adamschneider]

[True, the trail described in this trip report isn't anywhere near Oregon... but it's being written by an Oregon hiker. And that, after all, is the name of the Web site. ]

Kaua'i is my go-to spot for tropical vacations. It's warm, it's green, and the hiking is far better than on any of the other islands. I've been there eight times now, so it's getting tricky to find trails I haven't been on before. On this trip, I ended up doing several hikes where I simply went farther up or down a trail that I'd only partially explored before.

On my first day there, I decided to tackle Hihimanu, on the north shore near Hanalei. This was probably a foolish decision, because (a) I hadn't been hiking since November, so I was out of practice, and (b) it had been raining buckets on the north shore recently, so mud was guaranteed. BUT, the wind was supposed to be from the south, which meant sunny skies up north, so I figured what the hell, no time like the present. I got on the trail just before 10:00am, which I thought would give me plenty of time before the 6:15 sunset.

Hihimanu is a high point (although not THE high point) on a ridge between the Hanalei River and Wai'oli Stream. The lower part of the ridge is a very popular hike called the 'Okolehao Trail. (I did this hike four years ago, but didn't go all the way to Hihimanu because I didn't have enough daylight.) It starts out near sea level with some very squishy mud — if it's been raining — then climbs steadily up to the ridge crest. The first vista out over Hanalei Bay is from a power line cut at around 470':

Another 500' of sweaty climbing gets you to a nice viewpoint with a bench, and from there you start getting some views of Hihimanu and the even taller ridges & mountains behind it. In this next photo, Hihimanu is the dark peak on the left. The huge plateau behind it is Namolokama, and the photogenic green mountain on the right is Mamalahoa:

After the bench overlook, the trail gets rougher and more overgrown...

...but a fair number of people go a bit farther, to a hill called Kauka'opua (1270') — this is where the official trail ends, and where the, ahem, "fun" starts.

The route to Hihimanu follows a rugged but wooded knife-edge ridge (pictured above), with ropes to help you on the steepest parts. Gloves are a must. At first, you drop a couple hundred feet down to a saddle — four ropes down, one rope up, then one very long rope down — and then you launch upwards with the help of 22 more ropes. That's right, I counted TWENTY-EIGHT ROPES. (Of course, it depends on how you count them; some had angles and/or multiple ropes end-to-end. You could make a case for there being 30 or 32.)

In the photo below are three of the ropes. The one on the left is pretty mundane: just a steep stretch of normal trail. The one on the right helps you up a nearly vertical wall of mud. The one in the middle illustrates the insanity that is Hihimanu: not only is the trail so steep that you need a rope, it actually goes through a tunnel of ferns and branches.

Sometimes the route almost completely disappears under uluhe ferns (native) and soapbush (invasive):

(In those stretches, you need to be careful not to step off the ridge into "green air.")

Speaking of plants, I found this cool one, which turned out to be 'ie'ie (Freycinetia arborea):

And it wouldn't be a hike in the mountains of Hawaii without 'ohi'a lehua:

As you climb, the views of Hanalei start looking more and more like aerial photos:

And finally, after a ridiculously steep section in which you gain 750 feet over 1/4 mile — a rate of 3000' per mile! — you come out of the woods and onto a narrow ridgetop. The goal is the highest peak on the right, with a lone tree on top of it:

(It felt like I was home free at that point, but there were still six ropes left, one of them a real monster up an eroded gully.)

Finally, the end of the climb, and an amazing view of the TRUE summit(s) of Hihimanu, out of reach beyond an impassable notch in the ridge:

Clouds were moving in from inland, but the views were still pretty nice off to the east:

I wasn't expecting to be face-to-face with the huge "weeping wall" at the head of Wai'oli Valley, which fills with waterfalls after heavy rains:

Helicopters full of tourists were buzzing by constantly; it was annoying, but you can't really blame them for wanting to get these views.

Anyway, the stats on the ascent: about 2500' of elevation gain over about 3 miles. And it took me FOUR HOURS. Granted, I took a few breaks, but it's not like Saddle Mountain or Catherine Creek, where I get slowed down by wildflower photography. No, this was slow because it was hard. (28 freakin' ropes!)

I lingered on top for more than an hour, because it was beautiful and because I needed a break. Finally, at about 3:00pm, I decided I'd better head down. 3 hours would normally be plenty of time to descend 3 miles, but this wasn't an ordinary 3 miles.

It took me nearly as long to get down (almost 4 hours) as it did to go up. My GPS said my moving average on the way down — i.e., my speed when not taking breaks — was just 1.2 miles per hour. 1.2 mph downhill: how embarrassing! The whole way up, I'd been thinking, "oh my god, I'm going to have to go DOWN this," and obviously I had reason to be worried. It was awful.

On the way down, I slipped and fell on my 'okole a few times; on one of those falls, which ironically happened on a nearly flat part of the trail, I went down sideways, and a broken branch scratched its way up the side of my neck and tried to take off my ear. That was painful, bloody, and just generally not very fun. (I'll spare you the photos of my injury.) I didn't get back to the trailhead until almost an hour after dark.

But hey, I conquered Hihimanu. Would I do it again? God no, once is enough. Would I recommend it? Sure, I guess, if you want an experts-only adventure, but try to go when it hasn't been raining too much... and for god's sake, get an early start!


Here's the elevation profile (small dots are ropes):




And here's a photo of the 'Okolehao/Hihimanu ridge that I took on a previous trip, from the west side of Hanalei Bay. It's basically a real-life elevation profile:

And here's a Google Map, from which you can export a GPX or KML file if you want: http://adamschneider.net/photos/2017-01 ... imanu.html

[pablo]

Thx for the report and pretty pictures. Who maintains the ropes and how are are they cycled out? Is this trail on public property?

--Paul

[adamschneider]

Thx for the report and pretty pictures. Who maintains the ropes and how are are they cycled out? Is this trail on public property?

The trail is definitely on public property; the trailhead is in the Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge, and the entire ridge is part of the state-owned Halale'a Forest Reserve.

I have no idea exactly who installs and maintains the ropes; local hikers and/or hunters, I guess, and I assume it's all 100% unofficial. The ropes are a variety of materials and thicknesses; some are natural fibers, some are nylon, some are even plastic-coated wire cables.

"Rope" #26: more of a knotted cable than a rope

[arieshiker]

Fun and exciting report Adam.....full of memories for an old Marine who was stationed in the islands and left just as they were becoming our 50th state.

It seemed the U.S. government, read that military, owned most of the land, unsettled land anyway, at the time, so it wasn’t unusual for the occasional groups, small or large, to be sent off for some training exercise some sadist dreamed up, either to test new gear/equipment or the limits of human endurance/ingenuity. Climbing/hiking gear in 1958-59 was pretty basic compared with today’s craftsmanship/material. But we always had the best. Our uncle told us so.

Your image of the knife edge ridge and trail through flora-tunnel brought back a few good and not-so-good memories, which I suppose have to be classified as good since I’m still here to remember them. Traversing those ridges on hands and knees took a lot of crawling and mental silliness. Oh to be young and foolish again!

I was fortunate in that I got to explore the backwoods of Oahu, Kauai and the Big Island on someone else’s dime, all while drawing that $79 a month, before taxes. I’ve not been back though, and probably never will return. Even in its natural wonder, I suspect I’d be thoroughly disappointed in what statehood for nearly 60 years has done to “paradise.” Back then, only military choppers flew the valleys, and sometimes they had us jump out of them. Imagine drifting down some 2000 feet seeing nothing but those steep valley walls and waterfalls.

But for those who couldn’t be there, do that, back then.....your report still resonates as reason to go for those who haven’t.

[Don Nelsen]

Thanks for the detailed and excellent report! Nice photo documentation, too. Brings back memories of lots of fun hikes.

I think ropes like that are pretty much standard in Hawaii and I've seen lots of them on Maui, Molokai, Oahu and Kauai. I've thought it was mostly the pig hunters that put them up but local hikers too. There's even a route on Oahu that has dog leashes, clothes lines and even bundled telephone cables to serve as "ropes"! Photo:




dn

[McChaix]

Great report. I've been curious as to just how bad those ropes were. Never thought I'd find out on Oregon Hikers! We did the Okolehao trail just up to the bench a couple years ago in the dry season. Ran into 3 local Hanalei girls hiking it barefoot! We were amazed at that and they said " No worries - when we get to the ropes we'll put on our sandals." The girls said the rope sections were pretty bad and they'd only made it rope 18 or so previously but were trying to summit this time.

[adamschneider]

Great report. I've been curious as to just how bad those ropes were.

There are a few first-person accounts of Hihimanu on the Web, but none that went into much detail stats-wise. I wanted to really document (i.e., count) all those ropes, so I just marked each one on my GPS as I came to it. Hopefully people doing google searches in the future will be able to find my report.

Ran into 3 local Hanalei girls hiking it barefoot!

Yeah, on my previous trip I was right behind a barefoot woman most of the way down from the bench, and the lack of footwear didn't slow her down at all. I guess when you can wander around shoeless 24/7/365, your feet get pretty tough!