One Peak, Two Peak, Death Valley, Three Peak

• Lori Palminteri
• Uncategorized
• December 4, 2024

“The Olomana Trail, also known as the ‘Three Peaks Hike’ is one of the best challenging hiking trails on Oahu,” I literally copied and pasted that from an online travel magazine, ‘Journey Era.’ Naturally, I’ve had my eye on the challenge for sometime.

Ideally, I would have have a hiking/climbing buddy with me, but despite some friends I made on the island and my search on Bumble for new companions, I did not find that proper someone. Locals warned me not to do the trail after rains or on a windy day, so I carefully monitored conditions. Besides being one of the most notoriously dangerous hikes on the island, it is also known for having some of the best views of the island, perched up there over 1,600 feet with a 360 view.

A couple days upon my return from Big Island, I decided I was going to do it. The weather was fair, I didn’t have any work that day and it wasn’t a good surfing day anyway. The trail is located inside a private golf club, so you have to park just somewhere off the highway, walk about a half mile into the club, where a trail is clearly marked.

You’ll find, often, in Hawaii, cars parked off random highways or streets where adventurers have abandoned their trusty vehicles for the day. Some trailheads are clearly marked, some rather hidden. Olomana, or Three Peaks, is very clearly marked, with a sign warning hikers of the perils of the hike, including an ominous sign listing deaths of people who fell (usually between the second and third peak). I think at least one more person has perished on the trail since it’s been updated.

I knew already I probably wasn’t going to do all three peaks. I wanted to at least reach the first peak, and then I’d take it from there. My family had just buried my uncle, so I wasn’t trying to put a second funeral on their to do list. Proceeding with caution was top priority. I brought with me to Hawaii my hiking shoes. I highly recommend for this hike, or any hike that tends to be muddy or have rock scrambles, to get proper foot gear. Sneakers are not proper foot gear. They lack the treads hiking shoes or boots have that are almost like tires. Many of the hikes I’d done in Hawaii, or near home in the Catskills, or Iceland, I have had proper foot gear and when I’m on challenging hikes and pass hikers, I judge them by what’s on their feet. I know exactly how prepared and knowledgeable you are by your footwear.

It was my hope that perhaps I’d run into fellow hikers, but on the way from the road to the trail, there was no evidence I would have company. In my trusty backpack, I carried my phone, a back up charger, two water bottles, a meal bar, fruit snacks, bandaids, hand sanitizer, my ID, a pen and small notebook, painkillers and a t-shirt.

Though the trail is well marked, I got spooked by this small, abandoned concrete house like structure, decorated with graffiti and vines. My first thought was, “cool.” And, initially, I wanted to go inside to check it out. Hawaii, however, has a bad homeless problem. I feared, possibly, there could be a homeless person strung out on drugs and I decided against not only going in it, but near it. Not that every homeless person is a meth head, or even to be feared, but again, I’m a solo female and I was raised to not trust people. I steered so far from the creepy shack, that I actually briefly lost the trail, but I found it once more.

The hike is quickly steep. And muddy. Really, really muddy. Within ten minutes, my shoes are covered in mud, and I’m sliding and using tree branches to assist me from slipping. It’s best, I tell people, to not resist falling at times. Knowing when to slide to your butt is smarter than resisting a fall and then taking a much harder hit. Risking an ankle or knee injury. I know when to tap into my monkey like climbing ability, and I’m not afraid of getting dirty. I had researched this hike exponentially, as I usually do before doing anything. Many reviews on All Trails said it would be extremely muddy and slippy to start, but then would dry up further up the mountain, luckily, as it never get less steep.

Quickly, my heart rate elevated and I was sweating a lot. I regretted not bringing more water, and knew I would have to somewhat ration my sips on the way up. Once out of the mud, I reached this section of great pine trees. I was much relieved to not have to worry about slipping and sliding. Already, the view through the trees was astounding. I still had cell service, which brought me some comfort. That is one good thing about Oahu. The cell service is very good, even on hikes, seemingly in the middle of no where. Service would cut in and out throughout the hike, but I liked to keep on eye on it so in case I did get in any sort of trouble, I would know where to go to be able to call for help. Modern technology is truly a miracle. I wouldn’t have been able to do half the things in my life without it. The level of safety and security it allows us, daily, we take for granted. My sister has full access to my whereabouts through the phone and she jokes how she regularly “stalks” me, but especially when traveling. In case of emergency, she would be the person best suited to find my whereabouts.

The pine trees would be the easiest part of the trail (which I knew from my research), and then again, the hike got steep. It was basically rock stairs, all the way up. Sometimes there were ropes to help yourself climb up. I was extremely grateful for these ropes. Climbing is fun for me, so even though I was winded, I was having a blast. An intense exercise isn’t everyone’s idea of fun, but my inner child had taken over my body and I was limber with excitement, pausing only for views and water breaks.

One of the  many great things about Hawaii is it’s a soft core jungle. By that, I mean, there is very little that will hurt you besides human error (or other humans). There are no snakes on the island, minimal poisonous bugs, and there’s not even poison ivy. There’s no mountain lions or anything like that. Hurting yourself from a trip up is your biggest danger. Even spending a night alone in the jungle, you would probably be fine. Nothing would eat you and it doesn’t’ get cold enough to get hypothermia. Granted, it would be dark and scary as hell, but in reality, you would probably make it through the night with no problems.

However, I did get an unexpected scare up on that mountain. Out of no where, a came upon a small boar (which at the time I called a warthog, but they are, in fact, boars). I knew the island had them, though I did not know they would be so high up on a mountain. We startled each other and we were both squealing like little piggies. It probably would have been a comical scene to a third party. Though this guy was on the small size, I feared perhaps there was more. Boars can, and will, charge you out of fear. Males have small tusks that could severely puncture your leg. Though after a charge, it would just leave you, you would be in a lot of trouble. Especially if you fell off the cliff. Oh man, do you know how pissed I would be if I died because a boar pushed me off the cliff? And no one would even know. They would just think I died falling. Hukuna matata, my ass.

That gave me a good fright, and I’d be more alert for swine friends or foes, but I didn’t see anymore after that. The trail got more narrow and steeper on either side. For sure, you did not want to fall either way. It’s definitely not for anyone afraid of heights. There were more and more rock scrambles and ropes along the way. Increasingly, I wished I did have a partner with me, but trekked on.

The views were worth it. Just breathtaking. You felt as though not that you were on top of the whole world, but better, the top of Eden. Paradise. Complete awe. My life, I knew and felt in that moment, was not just well lived but thrived. For I’ve had some of the most wonderful experiences to fill multiple lifetimes. And I’d continue to overfill my cup, as long as I could. Blessed beyond measure I was to not only have this opportunity to travel and explore here, but my health and vitality, even at 35, to be capable of doing any of this.

The final push the top of the first peak was a hard one. I mean, it’s just a rock cliff with a rope. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t somewhat nervous. That rope was literally your life line. If you get go, at best, you’d break a limb or two. At worst, you’d die. I climbed on. The tip of my left knee, where it’s just skin and bone, banged against a rock. “Motherfucker,” I cursed. That was going to bruise. Already, I could so a bump forming, blood pooling under the skin. Not good. But I pulled myself to the top and there I was. First peak, conquered. I sat on the ridge, pulled out my water bottle and took it in. I could see the third peak and there was no way in hell I would pursue it. Almost all the deaths took place somewhere between the second and third peak.

I did go a little beyond, somewhere between the first and second peak, but then decided against going any further. On top of the ridge up there, it’s not much wider than a balance beam, with certain death to both your left and right if you fell. Plus, I’d read, that the first peak as the best views anyway. I wasn’t going to push my luck. My lust for adventure was more than satisfied.

[That’s the third peak, just beyond.]

As I was getting ready for my descent, I heard something. It was, to my surprise and somewhat relief, a young man. He was equally surprised to see me and that I was alone, standing on top of the cliff. I told him to use the rope and just like that, there were two of us on top of the mountain. He also decided he wasn’t going to go any further, and that we’d return together. He said he had passed a couple other hikers on the way up here. He was from New Jersey and in his early 20s. He Facetimed his father on top of the mountain, which I thought was sweet. His dad was like, “who’s that girl.” And he told him he just found me up here when he got here. He told his father I was “like an angel” when he saw me, taking my warning not to go further and possibly saving his life. I waved to his dad on the camera, smiling. It me, Lori the angel, saving young men from being dumb.

We were both glad to have the other’s company on the way down. I was at least 10 years older than this bloke, but he wouldn’t have guessed it. We did pass the hikers he spoke of (none of which had good footwear, one guy was even in sandals. I told him he was crazy). Going down was much easier than going up. Except the muddy part, where at times it felt like we were Tarzan, sliding down while holding on to bamboo branches.

Another pair of hikers were coming up. We gave them the details of what was to come. Neither of them had a backpack or any water. I gave them my second bottle of water which I hadn’t opened. “You’re gonna need it,” I said. Hawaii always seemed to bring out this kindness in me. I was happy to be another young man’s guardian and I can guarantee you about 20 minutes later that guy would be beyond grateful some random girl gave him water.

[That’s the peak there in the distance.]

When we go to the road, I said to my new hiking buddy, “listen, seeing that neither of us are murderers since we could have easily killed each other by pushing the other off the cliff and I met your dad, I’ll give you a lift back to the city if you want, but I’m taking the long way along the shore and going to make a couple of scenic stops, starting with a beach to wash all this dirt off me.” He had taken an Uber to the trail. He took the ride. Again, he talked to his dad in the car, ensuring his safety and his dad was like, “wait, now you’re in a car with this girl?” Haha. My dad would have been REALLY alarmed that I’m driving boys I just met, but like I said, if he was any threat he already would have been. Plus, I favor myself a great judge of character and am rarely wrong in judging people (haha, I know that sounds pretentious but it’s true and people close to me would vouch for my judgement). The kid said I had the same taste in music as his dad (we were listening to Sublime in the car, which isn’t THAT old, geez). Likely, his dad would love me.

I showed him some cool spots on the way back I’d seen before, including this blowhole where waves push water through these rocks and it blows away into the sky.  Eventually, we made it back to the city and parted ways. We exchanged social medias, but I didn’t see him again (he was cute but too young for me). He was extremely gracious for my ride and company. He offered me gas money, but I said it was okay, I was making the trip anyway. Pay the kindness forward. That’s the aloha way.

That was probably the most dangerous thing I did in Hawaii (including free diving with sharks), in all honesty. A couple of the bigger surf days might have been close. I would highly recommend the hike to anyone who loves a challenge, heights and rewarding views. I would though strongly recommend the right footwear and also not doing it alone, as that is a little reckless.

I’m not sure I would do it again, but I could probably be convinced if it was with the right person. I’ll never forget it though. For I climbed as close as a mortal can to the Heavens, and sat with a view meant for the angels, and there I was one with all that’s divine and decadent, in perfect nature.