The alarm comes alive at 7am on a Sunday morning. I pull away from my dreams and strongly consider going back to sleep, staring at the ceiling to stop my eyes from closing. I decide that a better adventure is to be had if I wake up. I drop my left leg on the side of the bed; follow it with my right, which helps lift my body upright. I probably look like a zombie but it gets the job done – I’m up.
Moving slowly around the house, I get my food and my gear ready, making sure that I have enough water for the day ahead. I hop on my car and drive out. The sun starts to kiss my skin and the glorious blue sky unfolds before me. I eat my sandwich and drink my coffee.
The Schofield-Waikane trail starts out from the end of California Avenue in Wahiawa and ends on a ridge overlooking Kahana. Because I live in Mililani, the trail location is a treat and allows me to sleep an hour more than other trailhead locations. The trail length of 14 miles will be a feat.
I pull into the street at the end of which is the trailhead. Fellow hikers who have arrived earlier are either by their car lacing up their boots and donning their backpacks; or walking to the trailhead; or already at the trailhead in various clumps waiting for the hike coordinator to arrive. I park and set out to do the same. The mud from the last hike uncakes from my boots as I walk from my car to the trailhead.
The hike coordinator arrives and gathers everybody. He starts his spiel, telling us about significant points in the trail and its associated dangers. He concludes with “You are responsible for yourself and you can die today.” So far, I have not seen anybody turn around and go back to their cars at the end of this spiel. I always wonder at the psychology of this.
We start off into the woods where the sun tries to pierce through the canopy of leaves and makes the forest floor look like a kaleidoscope of light. I fall into step with my hiking buddies. We come out of the woods into a 2 mile road walk. The road walk adds 4 miles to the official 9 mile trail. Hikers usually complain about road walks but I usually appreciate it. After sitting in my cubicle the whole week, the road walk allows my body to physically acclimate before the mountain ascent. The clouds favor the hikers today and hide the sun, which made for pleasant weather.
We reach the start of the official trail and the 5 mile trek to the summit begins. The city of Wahiawa slowly disappears behind us as the mountains start to envelop us. The fresh mountain air becomes a delight to breathe in and out. This particular trail is fairly graded and made for quite easy ascents and descents. My biggest challenge is a result of the decision to wear the hiking shorts that I recently got for my birthday. The trail got overgrown pretty early and the foliage cut and sliced my legs for the remainder of the hike, AND back. They were pretty raw at the end.
Despite this minor sorrow, I start to enjoy various things on the trail. We pass various scenic points. I see interesting plants, some indigenous and only seen in the mountains. Beautiful flowers act like carrots suspended over a tired donkey, enticing my tired legs to hurry up and check them out. Moss, heavy with beads of dew, look like sparkling green chandelier as it catches the light of the sun. I am constantly amused by bugs that scurry out of the way on the trail floor. Some peek at me from the bushes and then dart inside as I come nearer. On occasion, they pose and let me capture them on film, one eye looking at me unwaveringly and another eye pointed at where they will hop to with one wrong move from me. Most especially, I enjoy the camaraderie of my hiking buddies who, after so many shared miles of grunts and stories, become my fast friends.
I try to capture all of this on film – I try to stitch scenic points into panoramas, I try to frame plants and flowers, I try to chase bugs, I try to capture hikers as they experience the trail, but the resulting image always fails to represent the experience when I witness them.
We trudge slowly, making sure to avoid false floors that are actually vegetation covering a trail edge hovering over 80 feet of nothing. We slip and slide on occasion when our foot falls on gnarly roots. We consciously limit our fall to within the trail width of a foot and a half. So far this mind strategy has worked.
Finally, we reach the end of the trail where a magnificent view awaits and never ceases to amaze. We see the mountain ridges behind Kahana and Kaaawa – Puu O Kila (the ridge we summitted on the prior week’s hike), Puu Manamana, Puu Ohulehule, Puu Kaau Makua. Kahana Valley on the left and Waikane Valley on the right reveal the ocean beyond, adding more color to the already picturesque scenery before us. Behind us roll the mountains that we traversed, which are a part of the Koolau mountain range.
I feel the limit of my significance in the midst of the immensity of the scenery surrounding me. A peace settles within my soul and I start to feel the spirit of the mountains, the trees, the wind, and my fellow hikers. It’s an uncanny feeling and there are the words that I can so far sputter out to describe it. We huddle together and eat our lunch whilst enjoying the scenery before us. I try to imprint as much of this experience into my brain.
The lunch and break rewards us with a second wind. With gravity more in our favor, the 5-mile hike back to the road walk is usually faster and easier. Although we traverse the same trail, the experience of the trail hiking in is different from the experience of the trail hiking out. Without the pressure of reaching the summit within the time limit, I notice more plants and flowers and bugs as I hike out.
A group is usually gathered at the trailhead where we return. We share drinks and hiking stories and greet other groups of people that the trail attracted that day. It was a great hiking day.
Remembering the hiking coordinator’s spiel this morning, I realize – I could have died any other day through any other way but at least with the decision to hike Schofield-Waikane, I had this story to tell in the after-life.
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