The Giant - an Alaska Hike

The Giant is a large formation of rocks on top of mountain located at 60-61 mile on the Kourgarak road system outside of Nome, Alaska.  Our family camp is located at the Pilgrim river bridge. So as a family , we hike to the Giant often.  The trail is about 3 miles round trip with great views of the Pilgrim River Valley and the Kiglualik Mountain Range.

So after you cross the Pilgrim River bridge, you are looking for the trail.  The trail is actually a ATV trail.  You can blaze your way across the mountain on your own but the ATV trails works its way through the Alder brush, making the trek a lot easier.  You should easily see the ATV trail and where it connects to the road.

This was a family event, my parents just got married and so a whole bunch of family:Aunts, Uncles, Cousins were in town.  Last year, my Aunts and Uncles had come up to Nome to bury the ashes of my grandparents at the base of the Giant.  So we had an ulterior motive to do this hike.

If seen with human eyes, you would have been able to see the giant rising out of the background, but as with pictures, you don't see everything that the picture taker saw.

The Giant, I would almost rename it the fingers myself.  There is a Hawk's nest on the side and has been for as long as I have hiked up to the Giant.

The hawk's nest is the brown dot there on the very left column towards the top.  The hawks were still there, so as to not stress them out too much we stood on the other side of the Giant from the nest.

My grandparents memorial.  Doug & Alice Scott: Its started over.  Also in between the rock columns, you should be able to find a plastic peanut butter jar.  I hope you brought a pen to write down who and when hiked to the Giant. So sign away but please the jar back firmly.  The winds are strong up there.

All the way around the Giant, a field of Monkshood bloomed.  A very pretty purple flower.

This a fun and fairly easy hike, that really the whole family can do.  i would recommend 8 and older.  We did seem some bear poop along the trail and recommend bringing a gun with you. A great and fun hike around Nome Alaska.

Aiea Loop Trail

My boyfriend and I hiked the Keaiwa Heiau loop trail, or as it is more commonly known as the  Aiea Loop Trail. This is a 4.8 mile loop with very little elevation change.  There are some minor hills and rock piles and gets very narrow in a small section but overall a very easy but long hike.

First off there are three main parking areas at the Keaiwa Heiau State Park.    We parked at the second one and then walked by the road to the trail head.  This doesn't really matter because the way that the trail loops even if you park by the trail head, you will still walk up the hill in the end.  The hike started out pretty dry but we had a hint of what was coming from another hiker covered in mud.

Expect to get muddy, wear good shoes - no flip flops.   I have been on couple of hikes here in Hawaii and always see people trying to hike in flip flops.  Stop! Its a great way to break your ankle. I have a tendency to roll my ankles, so I have two types of hiking shoes - a pair of running shoes with good traction and then ankle high hiking boots. My boyfriend is modeling hiking sandals - good for people with strong ankles.  The straps on the toes keep your feet from moving around unlike flip flops.

 The trail goes through multiple lemon eucalyptus stands and gives the air a nice citrusy scent. There are also conifer trees on the side of the trail.    A couple of times, I smelled a fragrant flower in the air but could never locate the bloom. 

 Boyfriend in front of a grove of Lemon Eucalyptus.  I initially thought they might have been rainbow eucalyptus.

Dogs are allowed on this hike if on leash and well behaved.  This little guy above is named Jack and he is an avid sniffer.  Other hikers have seen boar on this trail so be aware.  There are also two boar hunting days a week on Oahu.  Which I believe are Wednesdays and Sundays.  The boars aren't what I worry about much, but the boar hunting dogs on the other hand, keeps Jack home on those days. 

This was one of the tricky parts of the hike, it was very muddy on our hike and made getting up this rock pile tricky.  Expect to straddle a couple of fallen trees that are blocking the path and maybe even duck under a few more.  The hike was worth the breathtaking views of the H3 - the most expensive road to build per mile in the US.  Get pockets of views of Aiea and Pearl City as the canopy breaks for views of the land and ocean.

It took us two hours to finish this hike.  We saw only a couple of hikers which is nice when you can feel that you are in the wild alone

Maunawili Falls Hike

Maunawili Falls Hike - its about a 3 mile hike round trip located in Kailua, Hawaii.  This hike full filled my dream of going on a hike and swimming in a waterfall at the end.  Now that is said, swimming in fresh water streams in Hawaii may not be the best idea.  They have a bacteria in the water called leptospirosis which can cause infections -really bad ones.  Anyhow, didn't stop me from going into the water but if you have unhealed cuts, sores or lesions - stay out.  Here is a link with more information : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leptospirosis

So back to the hike, so when you arrive there is a small parking area up the road from the trail head.  The locals are nice enough to post warnings and safety precautions on a chalk board by where you park.  So you walk down the road a bit, go over bridge and then you finally make it to the trail head.  This hike is fun but wear proper footwear!  I have never seem soo many people slipping and sliding as I did on this hike.  Flip Flops are a NO NO!  It was extremely muddy and it will probably be muddy when you go too.  Its on the rainy side of the island.  

The hike, because of the mud, can be a little treacherous, be careful - find a walking stick if that helps.  But after an hour or so of watching your step, you will be rewarded by arriving at Maunawili Falls.  This is a very popular hike and there will be people coming and going by.  Not a good loose dog hike for sure.  It was a little cooler out the day that I went. So there wasn't really anyone but me in the water which was fine by me.  

 There is a rope and ledges to dive off of.  I am not advocating that all.  I guess the week before someone was jumping off one of the ledges and landed wrong and broke her back.  She was helicoptered out.  Be careful people.  But I guess a lot of people do jump off the sides of the waterfall.

The water as you can see is very murky and I have no idea where its deep or not, but I loved exploring anyhow.  I will definitely do this hike again for sure, if not just to go swimming again

Diamond Head Hike

Diamond Head Hike - located at Diamond Head State Park near Honolulu.  Big tourist attraction, loads of people.  They bring them in by tourist bus. There will be lot of other people on this trail.  Diamond Head is an ancient dormant volcano crater and has part section off as a military installation.

We walked from our house and added an extra mile and half to the hike.  The hike itself is pretty easy until you get to the stairs.  Ahh the stairs... nearly fainted when I saw the second set because I blazed up the first set.  Paused at the bottom of the second set before trudging on, but luckily you are near the top when done.  

I have seen other people's hiking blogs and they have wonderful pics of the views and none of themselves.  Well this is my blog and I have picts taken of me while hiking and they are usually the pics I like best... So enjoy.

 This is at the bottom of the trail where if you walk in into the park, you pay a dollar each.  Most of the trail is paved and only a slight incline.

 Views from the trail.  In the background there you see parts of Honolulu.

 A view from the very top.  Diamond head in the past was a military base, with parts of it still sectioned off from the public.

A view of Waikiki and Kapiolani Park.  It's crowded at the top, not for the claustrophobic at all.  A good beginner's hike for sure.

Makiki Loop Trail

Makiki Loop Trail - The trail head located at the Hawaii Nature Center.  You drive up and they have an area that you can park your vehicle.  As with all hikes in Hawaii - don't leave valuables in your vehicle.  There are break-ins sometimes.  I stuff my valuables in my glove compartment and go.  The path for this hike is well maintained and marked.  If you like reading about native plants and the history of this area, there are little information markers at the beginning.  Before it became a reserve, it was a coffee plantation and you can still see some coffee plants along the trail.  They have tried to weed out non-native and evasive species in this area.

As you hike along the trail, you will be able to see the downtown Honolulu skyline in the distance but for the most part will feel like you are in Nature.  This is a pretty popular workout trail and will see alot of other hikers and runners.  The first time I did this hike it was pretty dry, but the second time it was pretty muddy.

There was a flowering tree dropping pretty pink petels carpeting the forest floor.

 Not sure if the pic above is man made or a natural phenomenon.  But since it was the only tree I saw with this kind of cluster around the tree trunk, pretty sure it was man made.

 There are multiple side trails you can go, I went with a friend a second time and we added another loop to the hike, for a longer workout.

 View of Honolulu/Waikiki from the hike.

Since its a loop, at the beginning of the hike, you have a choice to go left or right.  I suggest the left first, it has all the information signs at the beginning.  If you go to the right, you will be going up a steep trail which is fun but when you loop back around, you probably won't want to read the signs.  The left trail is a more gradual incline but both ways are fun