Oct 16, 2007
Entry Submitted by: Merlin
A few weeks ago a small group and I hiked into Kahana Valley on the Nakoa Trail (marked in blue in image at left). We noticed two other routes off the main loop and determined to return to explore more which we did two days ago. This time we took a route that started near the large cement boxes that are randomly sitting in the valley there (where the green trail meets the blue). The second route (in green) was quite an amazing trail. It started off going through a bamboo forest then it followed the stream cut in the ridge about 80-100 feet above the water. Since it was higher up it offered a great view of the stream and trees and all. It looped around down into the stream and returned through the river bed. No back-tracking on either trail. I have not yet hiked the one in orange . I marked the intersection where the trail starts and then drew the trail in orange of what I estimated it to be from a hiking book description. I aim to follow and mark it with my GPS like the other two. The one in orange goes up a ridge near 1,000 feet elevation and should offer a pretty good view of the valley. The other two loops don't get higher than 380 feet elevation.
The picture at left shows the trail from an angle to see the ridge heights, the one below is from top down to get and idea of the trail lengths.
First loop (Blue): 3.2 Miles
Second loop (Green): 1.5 Miles
Great trails all together, it's a shame I didn't explore them sooner. I haven't posted the directions/instructions yet on the Activities page yet - I will once I finish the 3rd loop.
 |
