Stairway to Heaven : LEGAL WAY

OAHU, HAWAII, USA

Since our first post about from Oahu, Hawaii about The Stairway to Heaven hike, also known as the Haiku Stairs, we've been receiving numerous questions on how to do this hike the LEGAL way! So today's your lucky day, where we are sharing all the directions, tips , facts and things we wish we knew before starting this hike! Enjoy

BACKSTORY

Yes, we did try to do the illegal way up because it is nearly 1/3 the time, however we got caught by the cops at 3am and were sent back to our car. Spirits were not broken, we had our backup plan, and it started at Moanalua Valley Road Trail (Kulana’ahane)

Distance: 8.6km

Elevation Gain: 804m

Directions and Parking

So the trailhead is located at the end of Moanalua Valley. When you pull up to where google maps takes you there will be a little lot that holds maybe 15 cars. If there’s no space near the Community Park, you can also park along the sides of the road within the neighbourhood! But be mindful, and try to keep the noise to a minimum!

What to Pack

• comfortable, good grip shoes/ hiking boots (they will get very muddy)

• change of shoes (flip flops) // after the hike your feet will want to breath

• gloves (we used gardening gloves from a grocery store)

• 1L of water / person

• snacks

• sweater/jacket

• camera

We are by no means experienced hikers, but we have good stamina and a drive for adventure! We didn't own hiking boots, or the studded grips to put on your shoes! We did what we did with what we had and it worked out! And on that note, when we first heard to bring gloves we laughed and though no way... but they helped tremendously! Know what type of hiker you are before attempting to go on this journey, there are tons of people who need to be rescued from this hike, and if this happens too frequently the hike could get shut down! So to keep yourself safe and keep the future adventures coming, please be prepared for this hike! For those who don’t feel comfortable going alone there are guides available! One that we considered was @mike.karas

Time: 6-8 hours

For us I believe it took a solid 4 hours to reach the top (it was very muddy going up), and nearly half the time to reach the bottom on the way back (keep in mind all the wet mud had dried up at this point).

The first 30 minutes or so was easy walking, on a relatively flat path, and once that ends the tricky part starts! After the flat path you will pass a large boulder in the creek that designates where to look for the trail to access Moanalua Middle Ridge. Once you start ascending up the mountain you must be ready to hold onto trees, rocks, stumps and ropes to hoist yourself up (why we strongly recommend gloves). The day we went was ridiculously muddy and very slippery, but as the day went on the mud hardened and become much easier to climb. For this hike know your limits, there are several sections of vertical climbs where without the rope it would be near impossible without the appropriate gear! As we ascended up there were many people who were giving up half way, which is nothing to be ashamed of, this was easily one of the most challenging hikes either of us had ever done.

WIND and MOUNTAIN RIDGES

Once you reach the top of the mountain you have several mountain ridges to cross ahead of you! This was some of the scariest obstacles we had ever done. Often times we wondered how this route was the "legal" way. Some of the ridges were extremely narrow, and would be straight and steep drops over 50 meters easily. Thankfully there are ropes to assist you in getting across! Take note that at such heights the wind is violent! It was nice having the wind cool us off from the hot sun, but it was terrifying when climbing/ crawling along the mountain ridges!

This is one of the many steep inclines that you will encounter on the hike!

Once you make sight of the old weather tower, you know the stairs are close!!

YOU'VE MADE IT

Once you see the stairs, there is no greater feeling of accomplishment! You are now free to climb up and down the stairs as much as you please to get those amazing pictures!

Stay tuned for the top places in Oahu Blog post !