Stairway to Heaven (Haiku Stairs)

I've got a bunch of stuff to get up on the blog, but wanted to get this up as quickly as I could... Danielle and I had a chance to hike a trail known as the "Stairway to Heaven" or Haiku Stairs today. My sister Ruth is staying with us for a while and agreed to wake up with the girls so that we could get an early start. The key to hiking this trail is the early (generally, pre-dawn) start. It is officially closed to the public with a guard stationed at the base of the stairs during daylight hours. So, we got to the neighborhood for parking by about 6:30. It's maybe a quarter mile through any one of a variety of bushwacked trails to the base of the stairs.

Starting off!!

The hike starts below H-3, which is an unbelievable feat of engineering that basically connects Kane'ohe Marine Base with Pearl Harbor (and also makes it a lot easier for us to get to the airport and the North Shore). The trails consists of 3,922 steps up to an old radio station and some other WWII structures. Portions of the stairs could more accurately be called ladders. The first third of the trail is the most consistently steep section. You quickly gain a lot of altitude as you pass H-3 in elevation.

After about a third of the hike, you can take a break and enjoy the view!

This was a beautiful flower growing along the side of the trail. This one must have flowered very recently. As we continued, most of these flowers that we saw were covered with ants and some sort of flying midge.

After that they trail is more a combination of steep, gradual, and flat. For the most part, the stairs are wide enough for one person and if you meet anyone going the other way or to pass someone needs to step over the railing and wait. Yes, there is a railing for the entire hike and yes, you need it! There are certain parts of the trail where you simply cannot pass and would need to back up if you met someone else, because there is a vertical drop on either side (of about 2,000 feet).

Getting close!

It took us about an hour and a half or so to get to the top. We hung out there for 15-20 minutes chatting with a few other hikers and started down.

If only we could see the view!

Both of the times that I have hiked up, we have been in the clouds soon after passing the first platform area. This area of the Ko'olau mountains tends to have clouds in them often. The moist air comes off of Kane'ohe Bay, hits the cliffs, and clouds form... Going up it is really pretty easy to focus on the ladder, stairs, your feet, the cute legs of the hiker in front of you... Coming down, it's a little tougher. In a way, it's probably pretty good that it's cloudy so you can manage the vertigo!!

One of the narrow sections of trail.

Smile...you want me to smile?!?


About half way down.

Exactly where do these stairs go?

There were some beautiful wildflowers along the steep slopes!


Almost back down to the bottom...H-3 in the distance.

When we got to the bottom, a man on a dirt bike asked us if we made it to the top, congratulated us, and then explained that he was security and that he did not want to see us again. (We'll have to wear fake moustaches and sunglasses next time). We found this video that is a pretty good depiction of the hike. It's a little long, but you can fast forward or jump around with it. Also, for more information about the trail, check out this link .