2000 Lunges Before Breakfast: Oahu’s Koko Crater Trail
Like a string of twinkling Christmas lights, the headlamps stretched into the distance up the mountain. Its pitch black and we can’t find the trail. In the pre-dawn hours on Oahu we can only see the long row of lights marking the headlamps of hikers on the Koko Crater Stairs. In the almost-cold of early morning in Hawaii, the scene reminds me of images of hikers lining up for the final ascent of Everest – albeit a much smaller and warmer version.
Despite the difficult climb ahead of us, we are anxious to get started, if only we could find the way up. There are no signs that we can see in the parking lot to lead the way. After starting behind some others we quickly lose our way in some brush. Our goal is to see the sunrise over the Pacific Ocean and we’ve timed our hike to reach the top with not much time to spare. We don’t have time to waste walking in circles! Luckily, this is a popular hike and there are plenty of others making their way to the base of the Stairs. So, after a couple of false starts in the darkness, we find ourselves on the infamous Koko Crater Stairs.
For the uninitiated, the Koko Crater Trail or “Stairs” are actually an old military railway that goes to the top of Koko Crater. The railway was used to bring supplies to a small posting at the top but was abandoned many years ago. Since then, someone got the bright idea to use them as a hiking trail to the top for amazing views of Oahu. The trail is very steep and the railroad ties spaced far apart – it is a challenge for even the physically fit. Needless to say, I barely made it up!
Worse than the physical challenge for me, was when the ground under the railroad ties suddenly dropped off. In the darkness I could not see the bottom, only the tops of trees, and my fear of heights got the better of me. With my hiking partners already well ahead, I slowly lost my nerve making that wide step and sank to a sitting position on a railroad tie.
Luckily there was a path that cut through some trees along the side to go around this part. The side trail was pretty rough as well but at least I could see the ground! Apparently, I’m not the only one who doesn’t like lunging across floating railroad ties in dark.
It took about an hour to reach the top and we were rewarded with a beautiful sunrise over the Pacific Ocean.
The sun rise!
I highly recommend timing your visit to see the sunrise because, well, duh, you get to see the sunrise! Also, this is a hard trail that is only made more difficult as the day warms up.
The view from the top is stunning and stretch to Honolulu. It is the perfect spot to relax for a bit after the strenuous climb up.
You can see Honolulu in the distance in this picture.
Don’t celebrate too much at the top though, the way down seemed even harder to me.
As we made our way down, the trail was even more crowded with people going up and it was starting to get hot – this is a hike you want to do when it is cool. There is very little shade along the trail and did I mention that it is steep?
With a little over 1,000 “steps” of railway ties, the hike is like an unforgiving StairMaster. It is well worth it however despite the aching legs afterwards. I couldn’t squat for two days after this hike but the upside is - now you’ve earned some drinks on the beach!
