Hiking to the Pali

We have been doing quite a bit of backyard adventuring lately, a.k.a. yard work. The kids actually enjoy the extended time outdoors as a family but it doesn't make for very exciting blogging, so I haven't had much to write about.

We did do a little hiking this past weekend though, so here's a new post finally. I can tell we've been hiking more consistently because it's taking us less time to get everyone ready and out the door than it used to. Backpack for our girl to ride in, check. Backpack with sunscreen, camera, water and snacks for everyone, check. Backpack for our boy to wear and fill with whatever he so desires, check. Shoes and socks for everyone, check. And off we go! Although this hike convinced me we need to add: mosquito repellant, check. Live and learn!

Don't know the official name of the hike we did. We started at Ko'olau Golf Course and hiked like we were heading to Likeke Falls but instead of turning to the falls we kept going up the old rock road. It turned back into a trail that we followed for quite a ways. We passed a tour group and felt lucky/happy to be hiking for free, even though we didn't have the narration about the trees we were passing and the official reminders to hydrate.

We eventually came out onto a junction of old, abandoned roads. We headed uphill there and hiked until we got to the Pali Hwy. It was very weird to be between the lanes of opposing traffic. From one place I stood the downhill traffic was aimed right at me for a second before making a right turn. When I imagined what would happen if a car didn't make the turn I quickly moved to a different spot where I wouldn't be a distraction to the drivers and I wouldn't get hit if they failed to navigate the turn!

We could have gone under the second part of the highway and connected in with another trail but we turned around. I think the other trail would lead to the Pali Lookout, which is where many people seem to start their Likeke Falls hike from. Personally I prefer hikes that go uphill first and downhill on the home stretch, but maybe that's just me.

On the way back we stayed on the abandoned road rather than hiking through the jungle. I wasn't leading the hike but it was my lucky day - uphill first, downhill last AND a loop trail, another hiking favorite! A little trail connected the end of this road with the parking lot at the golf course.

Our boy was a happy hiker the whole afternoon, even when he took a couple falls on the road which was slippery in a few places from last week's rain. He and a friend who was also on the hike turned more and more red from the red dirt as the afternoon wore on, and they sure had fun in the process. Our girl had missed both her naps but she was happy and especially enjoyed getting a chance to escape the backpack and walk down the road for a ways.

I've sure enjoyed the hiking we've been doing and want to keep it in the activity mix! There's just something about spending time being active in the great outdoors that leaves me with a very content feeling at the end of the day. And I'm hoping that by doing it a lot now while our children are young they'll just consider it a part of life and not whine about it when they get older. Wishful thinking? Maybe, but so far they're enjoying it.


Do it yourself:

We did this hike again in April and went all the way up to the Pali Lookout.  Click here to read about our second time on the trail, complete with much better trail directions and descriptions than I included in this post.