Recreation
Hiking: Instant gratification
By Michael Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer
For anybody who has ever fast-forwarded "The Godfather" to watch Sonny smack Carlo upside the head with a garbage can.
Michael Tsai • The Honolulu Advertiser
For the shadow legion of people who grew up elbow-deep in Lucky Charms trying to fish out the rubberband rocket racer.
The Hau'ula Loop trail, an ideal hike for beginners, offers some spectacular sights without having to traverse switchbacks or barren land.
For all of us fat, lazy, turn-of-the-millennium softies who demand instant gratification without apology, Mother Nature graciously offers Hau'ula Loop trail.
Easy enough for the pasty-faced office poser in the scuffless Timberlands, but beautiful enough to tempt the hardcore adventurer, Hau'ula Loop gives hikers of all abilities the chance to gobble some all-natural eye candy without chewing up endless switchbacks or miles of dry, barren ridge.
The broad 2.5-mile loop gets to the good stuff without a lot of build-up. The trail begins a few blocks off Kamehameha Highway in Hau'ula, at the end of Ma'akua Road. After a brief meander through some tall grass and across a small stream, the trail widens, eventually reaching a fork.
Straight ahead is Papali Loop, which is often paired with Hau'ula Loop as a single beginner-level hike. But the theme here is instant gratification, and to get it, all you have to do is bear right.
Passing Hanaimoa Stream, you pick up Hau'ula Loop and slowly advance toward the ridge via a pair of long, leisurely switchbacks. Here the ground is soft with fallen ironwood needles, and you'll want to take advantage of the firm, flat footing to lift your head and enjoy the lush, overgrown walls of Hanaimoa Gulch.
After a brief intersection with the ridge, the trail descends gently into Waipilopilo Gulch to another small stream. You regain the ridge through a series of moderate gains. From the high point at 680 feet, you can see straight across Kaipapa'u Gulch.
The descent back to the start of the loop offers more of the same — towering Cook pines, glimpses of alahe'e, hoawa, akia and 'ohi'a, and wide ribbons of clear trail.
Save for a short section of man-made steps near the ridge, management of the lightly used trail is virtually invisible.
Given the relatively mild elevation gain and broad, safe pathways, the Hau'ula Loop is well suited for trail runners and mountain bikers. Still, despite the occasional tire rut, there is little evidence of either.
"It's one of those trails we would say has room for more people," said, Curt Cottrell, program manager for Na Ala Hele, the state's trails and access program.
