hiking the old highway

While it had been planned for many moons, the family finally made it out to do some hiking. After searching a handful of local outdoorsy websites, we concluded the Old Pali Highway hike would be a great starter hike for us. A consistent and slight grade, 90% paved surface, and ample parking made it easy and enjoyable to dust off the old baby backpack and go for a walk.

It was about mid-day and overcast. The park was busy, but not crowded. There are a number of tour bus lines that feature Nuuanu Pali Park and the Old Pali Highway as a hot stop, but with a separate bus lot, we hardly even noticed their presence.

What struck me first was the abundance of BEES flying around everywhere. They appeared to be only mud wasps, but still, Raden’s only been stung once, and nobody wants to be unprepared when that do-or-die second sting happens. We swung wide of most of the bees, quickly walked past the commemorative tablet and enjoyed the fantastic view of Kaneohe Bay on the eastern side of the island. Unfortunately, we also caught a glimpse of yet another golf course (Google says there are approximately 105 on the island of O’ahu), and a strip mine.

Satisfactorily saturated by the view and anxious to distance ourselves from the growing swarm of bees, we headed toward the head of the path. Though greeted by a Road Closed sign, we were assured the path was open, and the sign was simply a reminder that vehicles are no longer allowed on the path. (How one could actually get a vehicle to that location nowadays is beyond me.)

The baby backpack we used is simply fantastic. It’s very comfortable, has plenty of extra pocket space for diapers, water, food, etc., and supports a weight limit of 50 pounds. Heck with the rucksack, I’ll hike-with-a-kid to stay in shape! River started off in the pack, and Tracy and Raden enjoyed dashing around the trail, examining everything from berries to grasshoppers to graffiti. About half way back up the trail, Raden decided he had exhausted himself and would please like to ride in the backpack please. No problem, buddy.

Ultimately, the hike was wonderful. It was an easy walk for us and the kids, a great visual lesson on the history of Hawaiian road travel, and it offered some amazing views of Kaneohe. When you come to visit, we will go :]

The Google Map of the location shows the parking area (should be right in the middle of that map), and as you head north and east, you can kinda follow the path along and above the [new] Pali Highway.

(On a photographic note, the mid-day sun, combined with harsh shadows (and Tracy’s white shirt), made it very difficult for our camera to really capture the lighting appropriately. As a result, you will notice very blown highlights in most of the pictures. I’m attempting to “fix” that in Photoshop.)