Near Kailua stand three peaks separate from the Ko’olau Mountains that are the reward for enduring a popular yet strenuous 2.5 mile hike called Olomana Trail. Visitors reaching the highest points of the peaks say the view includes an entire view of the windward side of Oahu.
The hike starts out as a walk through the mud with a steady and mild incline. After about a mile of a slow increasing angle, the trail opens up to expanses of ropes and rock climbing to reach the first peak. “It was scary,” exclaimed Mary Morton, a junior from Utah studying TESOL. “I kept thinking that I was going to fall off.”
Morton said reaching the first peak was sufficient enough of an adventure for her. Olomana Trail provides a view of everything between the Ko’olau Mountains and the ocean, and on some days visitors reported seeing mountain peaks from Oahu’s North Shore.
“I really loved the view from the first peak,” said Kevin Miller, a senior from Boise, Idaho studying exercise science. “I would have liked to have spent more time up there.”
After the first peak, the trail descends and then goes back up immediately to the second peak. The trail becomes a playground for advanced hikers, and travel websites warn hikers to use extreme caution due to the presence of steep ridges and deadly drop-offs.
“Coming down the second peak and then going up the third peak was the most technical,” explained Miller. Miller also runs cross-country for BYU–Hawaii with a personal best time of a four minute mile. He said the hike wasn’t very strenuous in the beginning, but coming back down from the peaks he started to get tired.
“I think the most strenuous part about the hike was all the pressure on the knees. I felt like an old man after the hike was over.”
Miller has accomplished several of hikes. When asked how 3 peaks compared to others he has done, he said Olomana trail requires more focus on the hiker’s part. Other hikes he felt like he could often just turn off his brain and let him himself “charge up the hill.”
He compared it to Laie Falls, a trail he feels isn’t difficult enough, which allows him to run up to the top. “It was very rewarding,” said Miller. “Three peaks has been on our bucket list for a long time.”
Morton said after the hike was over, although she was nervous most of the time, she still had fun. “I was glad I went,” stated Morton.
While not being a fan of heights, she felt the view was definitely worth the effort and hopes to go back and conquer the other two peaks another time.