O'ahu, Hawaii - Pillbox Hike and Other Random Views

Just a couple of random pictures from a recent Pillbox Trail hike and other miscellaneous views from the Hawaiian Island of O'ahu.

Kilauea Volcano and Lava Lake - Hawai'i

 I got to experience a top ten possibly once in a lifetime event during late January 2023 when I watched an active volcanic eruption from the caldera rim of Kilauea. The lava lake was glowing red in a fractured fractal fashion, and a vigorous lava fountain was shooting upwards near the middle of it. Someone next to me had binoculars, and lent them to me briefly. Watching that hot reddish yellow lava erupting upwards through the lens of the binoculars was truly amazing. Such fluid lava! 

Google map of Kilauea Volcano is here.

Mauna Kea - Hawai'i

 Carly Kovacik and myself successfully summited the 13,800 foot tall Mauna Kea volcano on the island of Hawai'i. Mauna Kea is a volcano currently resting, unlike its nearby and much more massive neighbor Mauna Loa, which erupted as recently as a month before our visit. Carly and I began our trek near 9000 feet MSL. We checked in with rangers, then hiked up volcanic dirt, ash, pumice, and debris for multiple hours. We eventually reached snow level on the mountain near 12,000 feet...pretty cool hiking on snow in a tropical island. Coming directly from sea level, the elevation gain occasionally gave me a drunk feeling...but the feeling disappeared as I acclimated near the summit. After around 4 hours of hiking, the telescope covered summit of Mauna Kea came into view. We made a final push to the highest telescope, then decided to humbly tag the main summit, which is generally frowned upon by Hawaiians...but again, we were humble and said a prayer of thanks at the top. On the way back down Mauna Kea, we decided to take the service road, which was steep, and subsequently was tough on my legs...they simply didn't want to shuffle fast enough to keep up with the rapid elevation loss. Nevertheless, we made it down, checked back in with the rangers, and then headed to Hilo for an awesome meal at Cafe Pesto (I highly recommend that place if you are in Hilo).

Google map location is here.

Stairway to Heaven - Moanalua Ridge to Haiku Stairs - Oahu, Hawaii

 Carly Kovacik and myself had an epic scramble up Moanalua Ridge to the legendary Haiku Stairs, otherwise known as Stairway to Heaven. As most people know, Moanalua Ridge is the legal route up to the Haiku Stairs, and the various government agencies of Oahu are serious about enforcing stairway regulations--going to such lengths as flying helicopters across the ridge to monitor law breaking hikers, which Carly and I witnessed when we approached the top of the ridge.

We started our hike normal enough, but ultimately missed the left turn that leads up the standard ridge route. In true Carly/Jonathan fashion, we managed to find a secondary route up the side of the primary ridge route that involved significantly more exposed scrambling along ridgelines that were knife-edge thin. However, the dense tropical vegetation covering the slopes helped reduce the psychological terror that would normally accompany that kind of exposure. We made our way up the steep ridge, pulling on roots, rock, and fixed lines attached to small trees that were very close to detaching from their terrain fixtures. And after an exhilarating scramble, we eventually intercepted the main ridgeline route. From that point forward the path was significantly wider and we cruised our way up the remaining route. That included a section of fixed ropes we had to pull on in order to ascend to the summit, but that section was well protected from extreme exposure due to multiple small gullies etched into the hillside.

Views from the summit ridge were outstanding. The terrain fell straight down to the Kailua area. Just as impressive were the clouds rapidly flowing straight up the terrain. After soaking in the views, Carly and I joined the conga-line back down to civilization. We then completed the long slog back to our car, cleaned up, and hit up Waikiki Beach for sunset views and dinner. Couldn't ask for a better way to experience Hawaii.

Check out the google map location here. Check out a YouTube video I put together that includes this adventure here.