Waimano Ridge Trail, October 14, 2022

My first proper visit to the Hawaiian Islands gave me an abundance of incredible people, views, close-your-eyes-good food and drinks, memories, and training opportunities between the time I spent in Kona, Maui, and Honolulu for about 2 and a half weeks.

On the running side of the journey, I got to experience some wonderfully hot and humid conditions on road and trail alike, with many a mile pressing me to feel like a toothpaste tube at the very, very end of its life.

I knew I could expect the same when Waimona Ridge Trail caught my eye during my time in Honolulu.

AllTrails brings plenty of value to my life, with one of my favorite features being how simple it makes finding the hardest and longest segments around any location I get to visit.

Waimona definitely checked those top-priority boxes with the stats it put on my screen. It then took my full and sustained attention as I read through the reviews (definitely recommend reading them here if you’re interested).

Personally, to summit the trail itself gave me a day that was as tough as it was gorgeous. I’d call the terrain significantly difficult, brimming over as it was with tropical overgrowth, mud, raised roots, rain, vertical gain, and plenty of dramatic turns in temperature.

But, of course, I was happy to meet all of it on another exceptional day in a place that simply has no bad views.

I will say that, though I recommend this trail very highly, the comments and warnings around Waimano Ridge are valid. This trail requires a hard effort with constant care and vigilance, and I did my best to give all my abilities and appreciation to this extraordinary place.

I also made the important move of letting more than one contact in the area know exactly where I was and when I would be starting. If nothing else this gave me good peace-of-mind on the safety front, which is ideal when a million other demands are facing you on a tough day out.

Another special point to watch at Waimano is overgrowth that acts like stepping on your own shoe laces, if these shoe laces were multiplied dozens of times over, then layered thick enough to not see your shoes beneath them.

In these places you can’t help but step on a bushel that catches on your next step. Deeper, tighter clefts cut out of the trail felt like walking on a slippery tight rope that I couldn’t see, either.

With that, I was very willing to keep my pace slow and steady for much of this adventure. Even I still went down a couple of times. You can see one fall in my video, not a bad one, but it’s the type of thing that I’d expect in these conditions.

At one point on the way back a muddy edge dropped away under my right foot, bringing me to my hands and knee beside a fairly sheer drop. I’m glad I caught myself, and it was one of a number of times I was reminded to stay humble and relaxed throughout the day.

The variety of the overall experience and terrain was truly remarkable, from sections of low-growing trees that felt like mazes to cave tunnels, creek crossings, and exposed stone. Conditions were balmy for much of the trip, though it got plenty cold and rainy when I climbed high enough to get into the clouds that hug the peaks. The winds at elevation kept the bushes and grass around me at a lean, and easily marked the coldest temperatures I felt on any of the islands.

The summit also offered a sealed plastic container with a notebook and pencils inside for people to sign as they arrive.

It was inspiring to flip through and see the different dates and times people had taken to get to this point, as well as a wide variety of origin points around the world that visitors had come from to be here.

Wildlife was pervasive in the way of tropical birds giving a lovely soundtrack to most of the journey, but I didn’t see much beyond that.

I did at one point hear something large moving through the trees above me along a wall of switch backs. It was big enough that I doubt it was a person. I stopped and clapped and called out that I was friendly, which got no response. Large deer and sheep do live on Oahu, as well as boar. I wish I could’ve found out what it was, but we let each other be, which might have been for the best if it was a boar.

With a finishing time just under 7 hours I was happy to earn a heaping serving of exhaustion, clothes and gear soaked through completely, and an overflow of lessons and perspectives as valuable as they are unforgettable. I hold all of them close, as well as a sense of accomplishment I can’t compare to many other summits I’ve completed.

As a continuing and forever student of the sport, this is exactly what I ask for on any trail, and I hope I can come back someday to this colossus of a challenge in one of the most stunning locations I’ve gotten to explore.