Mt. Olympus Trail

Nothing says Happy July 4th like hiking straight across and up a mountain ridge! Andrew and i have been wanting to tackle the Mt. Olympus hike since I was out here this past fall for rotation. Unfortunately, life intervened (broken legs tend to prevent epic hikes). Thus, 9 months later we took on this trek. On paper (and the web where it's listed as a beginner/intermediate hike), it seemed quite doable. We didn't know that K&A affectionately refer to this hike as "The Hike of Death" until afterwards. The hike was hike + bear crawl + mountain climb + sheer incline + rappelling with a line attached to a shrub all on a foundation of slick clay (which made everything more exciting in a rain storm). That all being said, it was an awesome hike. The view was phenomenal. (and quite frankly it's really cool to say that we've done it.) As to whether or not we will do it again during our time in Hawaii... well that has yet to be seen. For now, I bring you some awesome pictures.

The first part of the trail is part of a trail system maintained by the state park system. You then brazenly pass signs that say "DO NOT GO FARTHER! TRAIL NOT MAINTAINED!"
The rewards of this hike are the beautiful views - Diamond head with a cruise ship sailing past.
And after you crest the mountains, suddenly you can see over to the other side of the island. I wasn't expecting this, so I suddenly looked up from bear crawling to realize that I was standing on top of my favorite mountain range and could see Kailua. Pretty awesome.


Looking back towards Diamond Head / Waikiki / Honolulu. The mountain range in the center is what we hiked.

To prove that we were there... us with Diamond Head in the back ground.

Followed by shot with Kaneohe Bay.

It started to rain on the way down the mountain... and lets just say that Anna + Rain + steep down hills + clay = accidentally sliding down a mountain on my tush. Oops.