Above Ground Tour

"Diamond Head, like some mighty sphinx or lion couchant, guarding the approach to an earthly paradise, was next approached. It is an extinct volcano and, properly fortified, would be the Gibraltar of the Pacific." John R Musik making landfall in Honolulu 1898 'Hawaii Our New Possessions' Fast forward 100 plus years and the 'mighty sphinx' loomed over our Hotel at Kaimana Beach where they used to award "I climbed Diamond Head Tshirts" no such luck today. Visiting Honolulu sans car meant one of three options hike to the trail head 4-5 miles, taxi cab and or the bus. After wandering around bus stops in Waikiki we settled on a Route 22 which stops in front of the Honolulu Zoo and is nicely air conditioned, costs $5 for two fares. Our morning hike had become high noon as the Temps reached high 80s and we fell into single file through a tunnel leading to the trail head. We stopped at the entrance to pay $2 and pickup a trail map as tour buses and ...

LuLuMahu Falls (meaning hidden place) is a short hike on private land off the Pali Highway in the Nuunau Valley outside of Honolulu Hawaii. June 22nd 2017 was a cloudy and at times drizzly day and there is an old story about the Nuuana Valley where it rains often. A local was giving directions to his house and said "go up the valley to where it's raining and my house is the second on the left".  We contemplated breaking local laws by entering a water reservoir area (you go through a hole in chain link fence) and King Kamehameha's II old summer grounds.We were reassured by our Uber driver and a parking lot full of fellow hikers that it was ok. We were counseled to follow the river and the trick was to find the river through the bamboo forest. The wind picked up and soon the bamboo was knocking together along the trail. One wrong turn and we double backed to stay on the gravel path to our left and soon came out into a clearing where crews were repairing a draw br...