Chris fell ill on Saturday, so we changed our Sunday ride plans from doing the entirety of Demon trail to a less involved afternoon ride. Up Wailuna and down through the mystery hills was the plan, but rain from Saturday evening through Sunday morning along the leeward side of the Ko’olaus made that idea a wash. The final fallback was Ditch. Sunday afternoon was windy with mixed clouds, but it looked like the weather would hold on the windward side for an afternoon ride. This was not to be. On the way to the trail the sky opened up and dumped when I reached Castle junction. It was socked in all the way up to the Pali, and out past Mount Olomana. I figured I’d give it a chance and at least drive out to the trailhead, since we’ve had dry rides on days when it was dumping along the Pali.
Nope.
Kalanianaole was dry, but as soon as I hit the stables at the chicane in the road, it all came down. The street and gravel parking at the trailhead was dark with wetness when I arrived. Root pulled up, and soon thereafter another squall pelted the area. Ckucke arrived as the rain abated, and while we waited, the ground began to dry up. We waffled between riding and calling it off. Each time it looked good and we started getting ready, a downpour would dampen our resolve. Out to sea, there were blue skies, but these rain squalls continually rolled in. Ckucke seemed determined to ride, so I thought, “what the heck – if he wants to suffer, he won’t suffer alone, and I’ll make sure the suffering is great!”
We climbed the road and the weather held. Although the air was humid, the temperature was moderate for a change. A rest at the top brought back our enthusiasm and we continued up the Demon trail. If we stayed where it was wetter, we could avoid the mud-packing that was surely waiting for us on the Ditch. There was a good amount of organic matter and decomposed rock along the Demon trail, so any mud that formed would not be the sticky gumbo kind. We climbed in long, hard pitches, taking a rest at the melaleuca grove then forging on to the ridge one away from the halfway point ridge in back of the Maunawili farms. We turned around one ridge short instead of making the unnecessarily painful descent and climb. Toward the end, there were even several puddles, but sure enough, there was no mud packing whatsoever.
Backtracking, we returned to Waimanalo, dropping into the mystery drop-in to the side loop. The ground was drying up, so the roots and rocks that were slick outbound were fine on the way back. The descent was epic. Back at the trailhead, we loaded up to leave. Even with the less-than-ideal weather, we had a good ride, and our morale was paradoxically high. Ckucke equated it to a flashback to the kind of riding we used to do when we first started mountain biking, when we would ride rain or shine. The little kid in all of us needed to get out and splash around in the rain and get all dirty! Some hikers arrived to leave a car at the Waimanalo end and carpool to the Pali Hairpin. They asked about the trail conditions. It was after 17:30 and seemed rather late for them to be starting the trail. I’m guessing they finished in the dark. As we rolled out, it started to downpour again. I’m guessing they hiked a good part of the trail in the rain.
Trailhead = 40m
Mango tree = 110m
Top of Government Road = 160m
Powerline road = 170m
Faerie forest = 230m
Melaleuca grove = 240m
Turnaround point = 325m
Trailhead = 40m
D = approximately 10.6 km (6.6-miles), Vmax = 31.1 km/h (19.3 mph)
Total trail time approximately 2 ½ hours, Vertical climb = 285m (935.0 feet)
More pictures here
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