Nualolo to Awaawa'puhi Hike

This hike was so great the first time, I hiked it again and it was even better. Thinking I will do this one regularly to make it my own, see it in different conditions, as each time will be familiar yet different I'm sure.

One new aspect this time was that I set a time to be out at the trail head: a local friend offered to pick me up at the other end of the trail (almost two miles up the road from the start) and save me the walk back. Leaving at 11am I said I would be there at 5pm; while it wasn't essential I be there exactly on time, I was determined to be on time, and realized I had never hiked with a specific return time before (just vaguely always made sure I was back before dark). This turned out to be a good challenge.

Update: unfortunately, the connecting cliff trail is now closed indefinitely.

Heading out late morning it was sunny and dry, perfect for the descent from the Nualolo trail head which is fairly steep in places and the clay can be slippery. Uphill the first 1/4 mile, from there it's  steadily down hill through forest, with occasional meadows and clearings, leading out to the ridge on the west side of the Nualolo valley. Today I decided to shoot "interesting" sights, rather than beautiful, and the trail was full of things that caught my attention. I stopped and shot quite frequently as I moved down the trail.

Continuing out past the cliff trail junction leading across the back of the valley, I went directly to the Lolo Vista overlooking the valley with views up and down the coastline in both directions. Spent perhaps half an hour out there, mostly shooting pictures, and realized that I'd used up over half the planned time and I was about one third of the way. I could skip taking the Awaawa'puhi out to the lookout to save over a mile, but still I had over five miles with a lot of climbing to go.

Moving quickly and shooting a lot less frequently, returning back up the ridge to the cliff trail, I headed across. The exposed washed-out section (less than 1/4 mile) is near the Nualolo side so I encountered that quickly and crossed it uneventfully. The rest of the trail winds in and out of the valleys through forest and an area of tall grasses. In a couple of spots the trail is tricky to discern.

At last I crossed connecting with the Awaawa'puhi trail (a parallel of the Nualolo that I had descended) at 3:30pm giving me 90 minutes to go 2.75 miles back up nearly 2000 feet. I didn't think I could make 5pm but measured myself on the first quarter mile to see what pace I actually could sustain. Pushing myself to keep moving at a good pace without overdoing it, to my surprise, I set a pace that would get me back on time but with very little margin. The trail is marked every quarter mile with the distance from the trailhead so it was easy to pace myself: if I covered each quarter mile in 8 minutes I could make 5pm.  An 8 minute pace is about right (just under 2MPH) and I can sustain that pace, often with a minute to spare. When I did get ahead of schedule I rewarded myself with picture taking and water. At 4:56pm I reach the trailhead right on schedule. Perfect.