Hiking Oneawa Hills

Growing up in Kailua I have always wanted to explore the hill near Kapaa Quarry.  It is an interesting hill dividing Kailua and Kaneohe that offers spectacular views of both sides.  Even though this hike divides Kailua and Kaneohe like the Kalaheo Hill this hill is a lot less dry.  This means you'll see a lot more green and different kinds of plantlife here hiking Oneawa Hills.

We started the hike off of Kokokahi street in Kaneohe.  These stairs are a little difficult to find from the road.  If you are going to hike the ridge to the other side which is supposed to come out at Lipalu Street have somebody drop you off and pick you up on the other side.  Me and my brother Kory had our brother Kurt take us there and our sister Tanya pick us up.  These stairs are supposedly upkept by the surrounding community, and is kept pretty well.  Many of the plants along the trail here are labeled and are pretty diverse.  To find the stairs drive slowly on Kokokahi or get out and walk some when you get near the hill.

 


The first cool thing we noticed were the bamboo trees.  All of the sudden the trail becomes surrounded by bamboo quite a bit.  The bamboo sort of makes you feel relaxed and zen.  Did you know some bamboo can grow 18 inches per day?

  
Next you will notice different types of plants being labeled and such.  I thought this red hibiscus was worth taking a picture of.  After all it is the state flower of Hawaii.  Originally hibiscus in all colors were considered the Hawaii State flower, however after 1988 the yellow hibiscus was named the state flower.  So I guess technically this isn't the state flower now since it is red.  Did you know yellow hibiscus is the only one native to Hawaii?

I also thought this plant was pretty. It is what I believe to be a heliconia or a parrot flower.  These are pretty much grown for landscaping and don't have use for much else.  Do you know of any way these are used other than for landscapring?

There is a section of the hike that comes to a clearing and you can take a look at Kaneohe Bay.  Here is a picture of Coconut Island and you can even see Chinaman's Hat in the background.  On the very right is a small piece of land.  That is a far corner of Kaneohe Marine Corps Base or the Mokapu Peninsula.

 The scenery of the trail is actually very diverse.  On this section you can see that vines have really taken a stronghold.  Note that the amoung of sticky plants (plants with seeds that stick to your clothes) are PLENTIFUL on this hike.  By the end me and my brother were stickied up.  It seems like less fiborous clothing will do the trick here.  My brother wore a cotton shirt and high socks... not the best combo.

On the ridge you will be able to see both Kaneohe side and Kailua side.  This is the picture of Kawainui Marsh, Kailua Town, and you can see the Mokulua Islands in the background.  The hill you see on the right hand side is actually the hill of the Pillbox Hike. 

You will come across several clearings of Laua'e ferns. After the ferns, you will be in for a surprise.

I actually didn't really know how this looked up close.  What you see above you is Kapa'a quarry.  They have dug a hole into the ground for the rock.  At the bottom of the hole is a lake.  It is a spectacular sight actually and is the closest thing to the Grand Canyon you will see in Kailua.

Me and my brother, we made a mistake and went off trail.  After seeing the quarry you will come to an area where there are many pink slips indicating for you to make a right turn to head down the hill.  Unfortunately we weren't paying very good attention and ended up doing an hour of trail blazing.  Not fun at the time, but probably the most memorable part of the hike.  We came across lots of pots and dead snails and I thought maybe it was for growing 'special' plants and to protect the 'special' plants snail poison was administered hence the dead snails, but we found no such plants.  We did find what seemed to be an invasive species of plant though.  You can see the seeds of the plant here next to the pink hibiscus.

We backtracked on the trail after we figured out that we were definitely 100% guaranteed going the wrong way.  We went back through California grass, pokey plants, and trees with branches that like to poke you in the eyes.  Finally we came back to the spot where they put lots of pink slips to indicate that you need to go in that direction.  Going down the hill towards Lipalu Street, you will find yourself in fields and fields of these berries.  I don't know what this plant is but it was cool seeing tons of red berries all around you.

Finally toward the end of the trail, tired as heck, we came across this Heiau. I found out that this is the Kawa'ewa'e Heiau and is supposedly where Chief Olopana met his death, slain by Kamapua'a, a demigod.  The Legend of Chief Olopana and Kamapua'a is a very cool story.  You will see that people still make offerings at this Heiau, and it was most likely built for Lono, god of fertility, agriculture, rainfall, and music. 

The Oneawa Hills Experience

Hands down, the most memorable part of this hike was getting lost.  It wasn't fun, but I don't regret it.  We went off the beaten path and saw stuff that the normal people hiking Oneawa Hills don't see.  Remember to keep track of the pink slips.  Also when you get down the hill, try to find your way to the road as soon as possible, unless you want to get to the Heiau.  The trail to the Heiau is marked with orange slips instead of pink.  The hike is worth it but prepare yourself for the sticky plants!

View oneawa hills hike in a larger map

Hawaiian Language Glossary

Oneawa:  Milkfish sand

Kāne'ohe:  Bamboo husband (According to legend, a woman compared her husbands cruelty to the cutting edge of a bamboo knife)  "Hawaii Place Names"

Lipalu:  A type of seaweed
Mokapu:  Sacred district
Laua'e:  A fragrant fern

Hiking the Kalaheo Hillside

Adventure was the theme of this hike.  I always see the Kalaheo hillside and the famous rock at the top (which the graduating class of Kalaheo High School paints).  But I have never before ventured up there to see what kind of views it had to offer.  The truth is, the views are very nice and what's more, I along with my two brothers discovered a secret up there.  Read more to figure out what kind of secret we found.

 The hike starts off in the corner of the Kalaheo High School parking lot.  You will see a pink strip of plastic indicating where you should enter the fence and from there you will find the trail.  This hike has lots of dry vegetation and can scrape and poke your skin.  Your movement would be a lot more comfortable if you wore jeans and maybe a long sleeve shirt of some sort, but of course you would be less comfortable from the heat.  The short trees can be quite dangerous as they slightly branch out toward the top and may poke you in the face.  So remember to protect your face.

The climb is very dry if there is no rain of course.  The vegetation is dry and the rocks are a little loose.  This along with the trees that irritatingly poke you are the only things that make this hike difficult.  Other than that you will get to the top rather quickly.  Make sure you get a firm footing as you go up as the loose rocks may come out from under you.

If you hike other areas of Kailua like the Pillbox Hike or Olomana, you will notice that there are these rock formations.  I have to ask a geologist why the rock forms like this, I find it very interesting.  Usually it is around the ridges of the mountains.  I am pretty sure it isn't man made, but I couldn't be 100% sure.  Anyone know why?

After you get to the actual rock you will get a very good view of Olomana mountain as you can see on the right hand side of the picture.  You will also see Kailua town (on the left), the dyke that separates Kailua town from Kawainui Marsh, and of course Kawainui Marsh.  Did you know that 4000 years ago the marsh was once an inland sea?  That's how some say Kailua got it's name.  Kailua literally means two seas.  One sea being Kailua bay and the other being where the present Kawainui Marsh is. 

Once you get to the top of the rock area, you will get a very nice view of Kailua Town and the ocean.  Be careful not to venture too close to the rocks edge, it possible you can fall off as the winds are pretty strong up there.  In the picture you can see two of my brothers taking a rest after just getting to the top of the rock. 

My brother Kurt pointed out Kainalu elementary school which you can see in the picture.  When I went there as a kid I didn't realize just how close to the beach it actually is.  Kainalu Elementary School is located at the end of an area in Kailua called coconut grove.  The name is obviously due to the amount of coconut trees growing in the area.  Look how many there are in this picture... tons.

The area is so dry and proof of that can be seen in the type of vegetation you will find.  We found several cactus.  What a nice view of Kawainui Marsh this cactus has.  Sometimes I wonder if I would ever use a cactus as a water source if I ran out of water, which I did that day because my brothers didn't bring water and drank all mine.  I probably would if it were life and death.  You?

This is a close up view of the rock.  The colors of Kalaheo High School are blue and orange.  I don't know what this rock was supposed to represent.  Looked like just splattered paint on the rock.  The tradition of painting the rock on the Kalaheo Hillside was going on for a while.  I don't know if this is actually allowed... probably not.  But as far as I remember it has always been done every year, and I don't see that tradition ending anytime soon.

The rock is not located at the top of the hill.  You will have to climb a little more to get to the top.  After you get to the top you can go right or left, as there is a trail that follows the ridge line of the hillside.  I would suggest going to the right (heading towards Aikahi).  Me and my brother Kory went to the left and had to trail blaze eventually.  If you do go to the left watch out for barbed wire.  It tends to be sorta hidden in the vegetation.  In the background is a view of Kaneohe Bay. 

SURPRISE!  We didn't even know it existed.  You will get to this location if you decide to turn a right after you get to the top of the hill above the rock.  This is a full blown elaborate bike park.  It looks like a bunch of people took shovels, hammers, wood, and nails and built the thing with their bare hands.  It was the coolest thing running through the trails of the bike park with my brothers.  Some of the ramps though seemed quite scary.  I wouldn't mind bringing a mountain bike out here and trying some of the trails though. 

View kalaheo hillside hike in a larger map

Notice how whoever built the bike park did a good job of making these makeshift bridges.  We all walked across and it seemed to be sturdy.

The Kalaheo Hillside Hike Experience

This hike was really fun as it offered outstanding views of Kailua and Kaneohe and had the bike park surprise.  Next time I come I think I'll bring a bike on down and try some of the trails.  You will notice that people really put a lot of effort into making this park. I hope you'll get a chance to experience the Kalaheo Hillside for yourself.

Hawaiian Language Glossary

Kawainui:  Big water
Kainalu:  Ocean wave

Chuanzhusi 川主寺: The Friendly Town

Welcome to a place where time seems to stand still.  Where the traditions of culture still thrive and people struggle to earn a living, all the while maintaining ultra-friendly personalities.  This is Chuanzhusi.  Chuanzhusi is located in Songpan County Sichuan Province.  It is a town at the crossroads between Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong.  I can confidently say that this was the friendliest Chinese town that I have ever visited.  Friendly in the more family/caring sense.  The people are still competing for your business, which will cause them to try to make prices higher than they should be, yet stay competitive.  We bargained on everything, including food!  Just because it was so darn expensive, we felt compelled to do it.  It is quite encouraging when you can bargain better than the local nationals.  That is what we were told by two visitors we met traveling from Hangzhou.  We quickly made friends with them as they were a very young couple and quickly took fancy to our immature jokes.

Upon arrival to Chuanzhusi, we quickly noticed that the town was rather empty.  Apparently it wasn't the peak season to travel to Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong and there were lots of empty rooms throughout the whole town.  These are absolutely perfect conditions to use your bargaining skills.  We went from motel to motel asking if they had hot water and what price they were offering per night.  Eventually we chopped the price from 100 RMB per night to 30 RMB per night!  That was where we bargained for our food too.  The food was so delicious, and unfortunately I was so hungry that in my ravenous ferver, I forgot to take photos of our sweet-sour fish (糖醋鱼) and Huiguo rou (回锅肉).  The Chinese couple were stunned at our bargaining skills and kept talking about it.  This strengthened my notion of Chinese culture putting heavy value on finding and obtaining the good sale.  Besides we were traveling on a shoestring and it's not like my Korean travelmates had unlimited resources.

The surrounding town does not have much in the sightseeing category, but we did manage to get to a Buddhist temple.  The temple we looked at seemed old and not kept as well.  This was delightful as most temples in China seem to be kept for tourism, this one did not have that jive to it.  Monks were walking around on the temple grounds and it felt authentic.  Being fairly close to Tibet and so high up in altitude made me think that this was the closest thing to a Tibetan town that I might come across, if I ever make it out to Tibet of course, which I intend to one day.  The ethnic minority is apparently the Qiangzu (羌族).  Women apparently act as the head of the family, and that seemed to be actively practiced in Chuanzhusi.  All business owners or at least the transactions were done with women.  Talking to the locals was quite fun.  I think they were probably very interested in us, as we were strange yet could speak Mandarin so we had the ability to discuss the differences we had.    You could tell they were authentic too.  They had real families to support who seemed to be doing ok, as I saw many children playing towards the end of the day.  Although for the most part the town seemed to be authentically Qiang, there was evidence of tourism which was expected.  The town makes much of its money off of tourists passing by.  We came across a tacky dance class that reminded me of hula lessons given to tourists at lu'aus back home in Hawai'i.  Of course this dance was not hula, but a dance of the Qiang people, which consisted of walking around in group circles, similar to Japanese Obon.     

The Chuanzhusi Experience

I was really refreshed after my stay at Chuanzhusi.  Our time in Songpan county with Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong was coming to an end and Chuanzhusi was an excellent way to close it off.  We finally got to see the culture of the 'real' people that live in the area.  Luckily we had the toursists from Hangzhou to do a little comparison.  The Qiang as well as the tourists were both Chinese by nationality yet our tourists from Hangzhou knew just as much about the Qiang as an American and 3 South Koreans.  Staying at Chuanzhusi will give you a mix of peace, relaxation, and a heckuva warm atmosphere in a rather cold place.  We only stayed one night, but I wanted to stay more.  I hope I can go back one day.

Banner at Chuanzhusi Temple

Notice the type of material used to build this structure which was next to the temple we went to visit.  Looks like clay on dried grass.  Supposedly it works very well as an insulator.

The buildings of this town aren't that impressive, but the scenery of the surrounding mountains make up for it.

Sorry about this blurry pic but I wanted to show the local beer next to the shop owner who sold it to us.  The beer wasn't quite to my taste.  Reminded me of caramel added to rum and coke with a little less rum.

Lonely Planet:  China

Below is the Lonely Planet Guidebook for China.  I would highly recommend this as I often used this as a reference for a wide range of things from finding places to sleep to transportation to eating, and more.  The important thing about traveling in China and most of Asia in general if you are on a budget is to get to know the prices of things.  Guidebooks like Lonely Planet do a pretty good job at telling you approximately what price things should be so that you don't get ripped off.  Click on the image and it will take you to amazon.com where you can purchase your own copy of the book.  

China (Country Guide)