Me, on top of Peak one. Peaks two and three are in the background. This picture is a little misleading as it makes Peak two appear to be the more formitable of the two. Actually, the walk up Peak two is very easy.
In the summer of '98 I went to Florida to visit an Aunt who was very ill. When I returned home to Hawaii, I felt a need to spend the day out and alone, so I hiked up the three peaks of Olomana, a small mountain in the middle of Kailua. I had been to the top of the 1st peak several times before, but never beyond to the 2nd and 3rd. The climb to the 1st was an easy hour and a half uphill trail with only one place requiring a rope for assistance. From there it was down a small slope, and then an easy walk up to the 2nd peak. But then it was almost straight down a few hundered feet (with the help of some very old and rotten ropes - !!!) to the base of the 3rd peak. The climb up the ridge of the 3rd peak is characterized by sheer drops, narrow ridges, and crumbly rock. I came within 30' of the top when the clouds moved through and, fearing rain, I immediately turned back.
I thought about the climb for the next few weeks before contacting Mel, a Sierra Club friend, and asked him if he'd like to make the climb with me. Hiking and/or climbing in Hawaii by yourself is NOT recommended and I never should have gone out alone the first time.
Anyway, here are a few pictures of the climb. Mel took better pictures than I did, so this unfortunately means I'm in the foreground of most of them. Sorry!
Me, on top of Peak one. Peaks two and three are in the
background. This picture is a little misleading as it makes Peak
two appear to be the more formitable of the two. Actually, the
walk up Peak two is very easy.
This is the view of Peak Three as seen from the top of Peak two. From this location it's a pretty straight drop down to the valley before you begin the razorback climb up to number Three.
About a third of the way up there is a narrow area which is too steep and thin to climb over. Here it's necessary to go around to the left and then climb up the back side.
Having passed around the narrow area, we begin a steep climb up a particularly narrow area of loose rock. In this picture I was smiling on the outside, but very concerned about the condition of the rocks (and the sheer drop on both sides).
Here's a shot of Mel after we reached the summit of Peak three! We stopped here for lunch and then began the climb back down. Total time from car to car - around 5 hours.