The Olomana Hike, famously known as the Three Peak Hike, is one of the most
thrilling and beautiful hike in Hawaii Islands. If you are an adrenaline junkie, this is
the hike for you! Ever since I started trekking in Hawaii, this one was on my
bucket list. In my initial years of trekking I did attempt this hike but I came back
from the second peak. The route leading up to the third peak was not my cup of
tea at that time. In this blog, I will take you guys through my experience of
climbing all the three peaks.
I am very lucky to have made a group of like-minded people who enjoy outdoors
and hiking just as much as I do. Most of my hikes are with them. One fine morning
I put across in our WhatsApp group, my desire of doing the Olomana trek and
within no time, we decided to go for it the coming weekend.
The trail head starts from Auloa Rd. in Oahu. One must reach early here to find
parking spot. From here, the hike up to the first peak is pretty straight forward.
The trail passes through beautiful forest and towards the summit, there is a small
rock climbing section. Ropes are pre-installed. After the rock climb, you are
standing on the first peak.
Most people turn around from here. But this time we
wanted to get to the top of the third peak so we carried on.
After the first peak, the real fun begins. A steep descent from the top begins to
get to peak two. There are several fixed ropes in sketchy sections. The ropes are
fixed to roots of trees so initially one finds it difficult to put faith in them. You
have to hang on these ropes over steep edges; drop-off’s and overhangs. It is
tricky and quite frightening at first but you get used to the motion. The rocks also
are not very stable and they give away pretty easy.
You make it down few cliffs
and then steep uphill ascent begins towards the summit.
With the help of fixed
old ropes, we made it to the top of the second peak. We were overjoyed and
pumped about this. We took a quick break and started our journey to the most
awaited third peak.
The route hereon becomes crazy! The cliffs start getting narrower and the drop-
off’s become deadlier. There are a few sections which require good footwork and
scrambling skills. One wrong hold or a step could send you over the edge, killing
you instantly. Once you near the top of the peak, it looks like a small version of
Matterhorn.
From here it is a 30 feet straight climb up the pinnacle. With the support of the
rope, we made it up the third peak. It felt unreal.
The views were astounding. We
took a few pictures, had a good look at the view and started descending.
Here is a picture I love which we took while descending before sunset
I really hope all of you enjoyed reading my blog.
Follow on for more adventure. Cheers!