USA Hiking Trails

We stayed an extra day on O’ahu after the Kaimana Klassik XXIII ultimate frisbee tournament to get in a few good hikes before flying back to California.  We took the advice of one of our teammates who lives in Hawaii and found the Makapu’u lighthouse trail along the Ka’iwi seashore.  At first it doesn’t look like much of a hike (there is a large parking lot and a paved path), but the view are definitely worth it. You start off with Koko crater in the distance to the West, and after curving around to the South West you end with a breathtaking view of Waimanalo all the way to Kailua.  The lighthouse is impressive as well, and you can see some interesting cacti along the hike up, and maybe even a whale or two depending on the season (the one we saw was very camera shy, we never managed to get a good picture while breaching). The best part was the short scramble up the hill to a few left over bunkers, which offered great 360-degree views of both the crater and the shore off in the distance.  We didn’t spend too much time dilly dallying on the way down because we were getting pretty hungry and we didn’t have too much longer before we needed to return our rental car.  After going to O’ahu for 5 years in a row I can’t believe I never did this hike before.  You can do the whole thing in about an hour but you will likely want to spend longer at the top just taking in the views.

Continue Reading Makapu’u Lighthouse Trail

Tags: advice, along-the-hike, both-the-crater, California, distance, first-it-doesn, Hawaii, Hike, kaimana, kaimana-klassik, makapu, south, teammates, took-the-advice

We got a tip from our teammate that this was his favorite hike, and and although it was difficult to find (park before the bridge that leads to the golf course), we eventually found the trail head. The man at the gate was extremely helpful despite challenging us by telling us marines finish the entire thing in about 90 minutes (and Recons in 45). We were also warned that some boars had recently given birth and if we were charged we should look for a nearby tree and try to get to it before the boar did. Luckily we didn’t need to jump up into any trees, but we did see a boar at one point (and we all looked around for low branches immediately). When I heard the trail was steep I brushed it off. I’ve hiked Half Dome several times, and there are some nasty (lots of stairs) sections on that, and even though we were just coming off of 3 days of playing ultimate and usually I wouldn’t be able to move after that much exercise. Well this trail is STEEP! I’m talking 1600ft elevation gain in under a mile steep, with several rock walls with ropes hanging down so that you can climb up them. It was also completely worth it. The views along the trail were spectacular, but nothing could compare to the top. At the top of the first peak, it was only a few meters wide, maybe 10 long, and just barely enough space for 5 people, but the views! Oh the views! We didn’t have time to go to the other peaks (which were apparently even steeper!) because we had to return the rental car before 6pm. With a a little over a mile left to go and about 40 minutes before closing we decided we had to start running for it. 7 minutes later we were out of the jungle, back in the car, and cruising towards Enterprise, getting there with a solid 10 minutes to spare.

Continue Reading HIking the Olomana Trail

Tags: along-the-trail, apparently-even, before-the-boar, elevation-gain, enterprise, golf, heard-the-trail, helpful-despite, talking-1600ft, teammate, Trail

Another quick hike…mostly to plan a trail maintenance event on the Norred Trail, but also to look for new flowers.   Trail conditions after rain the previous day weren’t great.  Muddy and slick.  I fell once, turning off my GPS and causing the gap in the track.   Still, we were rewarded with some nice turkeys, pretty flowers and an incredible rainbow!

Continue Reading Slipping and Sliding at Santa Teresa

Tags: causing-the-gap, fell-once, nice-turkeys, norred, norred-trail, pretty-flowers, track

A nice hike with my daughter in Rancho Canada this afternoon.  We managed to get in a mini hike but turned back short of our goal with foreboding black clouds coming in.  We were searching for salamanders and newts but ended up with just a milliepede find which was fine as Alex was entirely thrilled with that. Love this park… usually not very busy and puts on some great flower and wildlife shows most every time I visit.

Continue Reading Baldy Ryan Creek Stroll

Tags: afternoon, black-clouds, fine-as-alex, goal, milliepede-find, most-every, park, puts-on-some, some-great, usually-not, wildlife-shows

Paul Gerald is the author and publisher of many books Two of his outdoor books that give up many of Portland`s hiking secrets caught my attention and are listed below.

Day and Overnight Hikes on the Oregon Pacific Crest Trail
60 Hikes within 60 Miles: Portland area including Mount Hood,  Mount St. Helens and the Columbia River [...]

Continue Reading Portland Hiker and Author of Hiking Books – Paul Gerald

Tags: Author, guide-books, Hiking, Outdoors, PCT

I had a very funny backpacker and blogger tweet one of my trails today and I had a chuckle at his Twitter bio (he doesn’t like rat snot on the trails) so I thought I’d post a summary of one of his hikes here. For fantastic photo’s of the Maah Daah Hey Trail, check out [...]

Continue Reading Maah Daah Hey Trail – Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Tags: adventure, backpacking, Hiking, Hiking Trails, travel website

Hiking inside a crater, on a solidified lava lake, is a unique experience. It can be done in the Kilauea Iki crater, right at the heart of the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. My dad and I have been meaning to hike this trail. As a matter of fact, we came back to the park despite the distance (about 3 hours of driving from the Kohala Coast) just for this hike, and it was really worth it. Located right next to the huge Kilauea caldera, Kilauea Iki is much smaller. Until 1959, it used to be a deeper, trees-covered crater, similar to (I guess) the ones you see on “Chain of Craters Road”, but in 1959, it started spewing lava. There is a lot of documentation available about these events. One of the results is that a lake lava covered the bottom of the crater. The lava solidified, subsided a little bit and is now the new crater floor, the one on which we hiked. We made the hike a little longer than the official hike by starting and ending at the visitor center rather than at the Kilauea Iki overlook. We started on the Crater Rim Trail, which provided awesome views of the big Kilauea Caldera (which was closed to hiking because of dangerous gases). Later, as we hiked along the north rim of the Kilauea Iki crater, we were in a beautiful rainforest, with gigantic ferns. We passed by the overlook (the real trailhead) and half a mile later, the parking for the Thurston Lava Tube. This is where the trail starts going down to the crater floor via a series of switchbacks. That was a big change of scenery. No rainforest there. Even though the floor looked flat from above, it was not, as the surface of the lake was often broken in an “inverted V” shape. This is because of the lava contraction when it cooled down. We enjoyed checking out the steam vents. Not only because they carry the heat from the hot rocks below (liquid lava is currently estimated to be 440 feet under the surface), but also because the water they carry allows new plants to grow around those vents. One of the best part of the hike was the exploration of the rocks by Pu’u Pua’i. This is where the lava fountain was. It projected lava in the air, and this lava took all sorts of shapes when falling down or when projected against the small “lava hill”. We found “foam”, “pele’s tears” and olivine crystals.  Once we reached the end of the crater on its west side, the trail climbed out quickly in the rainforest, through a bunch of stairs, and in no time, we were above the Byron Ledge. We continued North along the Waldron Ledge. The trail soon went down to the Kilauea caldera (the main crater) and even though the through trails were closed, we could hike along the wall until we reached the Halema’uma’u trail (another interpretive trail). This last trail gently took us back up to the Crater Rim Drive and then to the visitor center. 

Continue Reading Hawaii Volcanoes National Park – Kilauea Iki Trail

Tags: crater, Hawaii, Hike, kilauea, kilauea-caldera, lake, lava, north, park, parking, Trail, visitor, water

WVLT TV is reporting that the National Park Service will plug 45 abandoned oil and gas wells in the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area. According to officials, the wells need to be plugged and reclaimed in order to protect the environment and habitat of the park. All 45 abandoned wells dot the backwoods of the park’s 125,000 thousand acres and some of them dated more than a century. Park officials said they were unable to locate the owner of each well, so they’ve taken them over and will use American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to plug the wells and reclaim each site. The reclamation process involves tearing down above ground structures associated with the well, planting the area with native species and stabilizing access roads. Established in 1974, the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area protects the free-flowing Big South Fork of the Cumberland River and its tributaries in the area along the Tennessee and Kentucky border. The area boasts miles of scenic gorges and sandstone bluffs, is rich with natural and historic features, and has roughly 150 miles of hiking trails. Jeff HikingintheSmokys.com Detailed information on trails in the Smoky Mountains; includes trail descriptions, key features, pictures, video, maps, elevation profiles, news, hiking gear store, and more.

Continue Reading Big South Fork to plug 45 abandoned oil wells

Tags: abandoned oil wells, big south fork, environment, kentucky, plug-the-wells, Tennessee, tracks

Yesterday the Grand Canyon National Park turned 90 years old. On February 26, 1919, the Grand Canyon became the 15th national park added to the system. To help celebrate, check out this awesome aerial view video I found on the Backpacker Mag blog site : Jeff HikingintheSmokys.com Detailed information on trails in the Smoky Mountains; includes trail descriptions, key features, pictures, video, maps, elevation profiles, news, hiking gear store, and more.

Continue Reading Happy (belated) Birthday to the Grand Canyon

Tags: 15th, 15th-national, aerial-view, awesome, birthday, help-celebrate, Hiking Gear, national park, smoky mountains, video

Criminal charges have been filed against a North Carolina man in connection with the shooting of a bull elk in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park last fall. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina filed charges in U.S. District Court in Asheville against Bruce Wayne Cromer Jr., 35, of Stovall, N.C., for allegedly shooting the elk on November 13th. If convicted, Cromer is subject to a maximum fine of $500 and/or up to six months imprisonment, plus court costs. Cromer also faces forfeiture of his firearm, a Browning .270 caliber rifle, and his vehicle, a 2002 Chevrolet Avalanche, if convicted. Cromer is scheduled to make his initial appearance before a federal magistrate in Asheville on March 22. Click here for more on this story . Last November when I first posted about this story I had an anonymous person, claiming to be Cromer’s friend, who made a few comments explaining Cromer’s situation. If you believe what this person is saying is true, this may (or may not) add value to the big picture. If anything it brings additional information to light that isn’t be presented by the media at this point. FWIW. Jeff HikingintheSmokys.com Detailed information on trails in the Smoky Mountains; includes trail descriptions, key features, pictures, video, maps, elevation profiles, news, hiking gear store, and more.

Continue Reading Man charged in elk poaching

Tags: bruce wayne cromer jr, chevrolet, cromer, great-smoky, Mountains, north, North Carolina, office, person, shot, smoky mountains