Diamond Head Crater

Diamond Head Crater (O’ahu, HI) ©

February 15, 2014, Joel Hawk

(Click on pictures to enlarge)

A buddy of mine and I went to O'ahu, Hawaii to teach for a week.  We invited the ladies (Chris and Linda) to join us so they could have a bit of a vacation while we slaved in the classroom (well, it was Hawaii so not too much slaving).  It was a perfect opportunity to go a few days early and stay a couple days after class was over.  It felt like a good get-away.  The day after Chris and I arrived, we decided to go on a short, but interesting hike up and into Diamond Head Crater at the end of Waikiki Beach.  I know, it's a tough life.

Chris and I decided to hike this from our hotel.  It was a perfect day for a hike with lots of beautiful people and blue skies.  This is a beautiful fountain at the end of Waikiki looking up at our original destination. 

We walked along the sidewalk parallel to the ocean overlooking multimillion dollar estates.  We also came across a lighthouse on our journey.

This shot below is from the top of the crater looking down.

It was a great walk, but much farther than we were told.  Not having my GPS nor any maps, I relied on advice from the hotel staff.  Man, I tell you now, don't do that.  We walked all the way around the crater the wrong way for 4.6 miles one way before we found the route up.  Neither of us had very good walking shoes on because as we were advised, it's only about 2 miles round trip.  I guess they missed the part that we were walking from the hotel; not driving to the trail-head and that it's actually 1.6 miles one way up from the trail-head once there.  So with blistered feet, we bailed and rode the bus almost two miles back to the hotel and decided to do it another day.

This time, our friends Ron and Linda drove us to the turn-off and the four of us set out from there.

After only a couple hundred yards, we knew we were on the right path.  There were many times on previous hikes in the outback I wished I had stumbled upon a sign that said this way.  It sure would have saved me walking a long way off track.

So after a few adjustments, we're off to see the sights.

Let's tighten those shoes - nice shoes....

 Looking at KoKo Head from the trail.

This is an auto tunnel to the trail-head.  It's only about 1/2 mile from where we parked, but we saw some interesting people and adorable children.

Coming out of the tunnel and looking at the trail-head and parking area.  We are inside the crater at this point and the peak in the distance is our destination.

Here are a few shots of the information plaques I thought were interesting.

The birds are crazy beautiful here.  This is a Brazilian Cardinal and he was quite friendly coming up close for some nice pics.

  

 I'm eyeballing you....

Is there a worm down there?

There are a lot of birds visiting the crater that are quite interesting.

The sign below states not to feed the birds.  Hawks are the exception.  :)

Even the weeds are beautiful in Hawaii.

 Now this is a planned hike with lots of comfort.  Check out these stairs/steps.

And I thought I was going to be all alone out here with just my friends...

An interesting part of the crater rim and then a shot looking back down the trail.

Getting ready to go into another one of 3 tunnels.

I'm not sweating....I have a leak!  And unfortunately, that's not a pictograph.  I just don't understand why some people think it's cool to deface history.  It's just plain wrong!

We made it to the top!  It is so gorgeous up there with a slight breeze that we all appreciated.

I was surprised to find a benchmark there, but very happy to.  As some of you know, I'll spend a lot of time scouring peaks looking for the BM.  I consider it a success when I find it.  Ok, ok...I found it along with about 200 other people.

The Pacific Ocean from the top and Waikiki Beach.

Some interesting cliff structures just below the top.

And a lookout point along the trail.  There was an old winch attached to this platform where the Army used to haul up materials for use on top.

Alas, the discovery of Diamond Head Crater is over and we have to return.  We really enjoyed our little hike with our friends and look forward to another adventure again soon.

Be safe, enjoy living and appreciate our lands.   ~ Joel

Directions and the numbers:

For more information, follow this link.  It’s painless and an easy hike for the family.  http://www.hawaiistateparks.org/parks/oahu/Index.cfm?park_id=15

The trailhead is just past the first tunnel after walking appx ½ mile from the main road (Diamond Head Crater Rd).  Total round trip is appx 3.5 miles, 562 ft total ascent with a max elevation of 761 ft (per the brochure).   Overall this took us about 1.5 hours. 

And as a bonus, here is a copy of the Diamond Head State Monument Brochure for more information.

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