LOCATION: OAHU, HAWAII

The fear is unsettling. Atleast for the time that I contemplate the 2 times I potentially got myself into dangerous accidents in the past 24 hours. My legs stiffen up as to remind me of the work I put them through. And in 5 more hours, I would’ve made the decision to do it all over again. Why? Because my mind is set, as crazy as it is, on accomplishing the feat at hand, and foot.

We meet at the Vive Hotel after a round of wake up calls and texts. The parking lot attendant asks us what we are up to for the day, and we look at each other with secretive stares. “North Shore”, I replied, “Spending the whole day there”. We all smirked knowing otherwise. 5 strangers are packed in the car. All stateside, scattering from New York, California, & Miami. All just as crazy as the next one. It was only 10 hours prior that we had met for the first time in person, the 2 weeks prior we were just email addresses who would respond timely to questions like “So are you still down to do the hike?”

And now, a dream that once was, began to form into fruition as we are joined by 2 other brave souls. We reached the Moanalua Valley gate park at exactly 5:20 AM. We followed the instructions as told, “keep left at all forks”, Mac counting down the number of streams we pass by. The sun starting to show face, as it starts to shed light upon the once shadow laden hills of the dark mounds that stood so tall.

Alas, after walking and conversing with our fellow squadrons, we made it to the sign. Once again, there we stood, stretching out our limbs trying to shake off any nerves that may be tugging at our heart strings. "Tree with shaven trunk". "Rock of solitude". The trail base making itself known to the naked eye. Thus, the journey begun.

We made our way through the shrubs finding ourselves a little bit more elevated with each climb, being thankful for the times where we would meet flat ground. Our minds were focused, but every now and then the wandering eye would lead us to a showcase of nature’s grandeur. A valley of a green richer than that found on a dollar bill would set as the background for today’s journey.

Quietly, I thought to myself, this is exactly what I had imagined this pathway to be. Streaks of sun would find itself bouncing off of the leaves that whislted as the wind breezed by. A quarter of the way, I hit my first obstacle when my left calf started to cramp up. With the help of my hiking mates, I managed to stretch it off and howl down a banana for the extra kick and muscle maintenance.

Things didn’t start to set in until we hit our first landmark. A boulder that seemed to sit still in the middle of the trail. Behind it, was a pathway that held no more than 2 feet of earth below our feet. Slowly but surely we would make our way during our first contact with the tricky trail. This was a foreshadowing as the next couple hours were pattern of such hurdles, wooded areas that led higher up into the mountainside, narrow straits of fragile land that sometimes felt like it could all crumble with one step.

The clouds would start to gather around us as if they were shadowing us. Spots of rain started to fall, making parts of the trail quite slippery and muddy, adding to the danger of the journey. Sometimes standing before us, was a series of ropes that aided us in overcoming the trail where the incline was too much to bare without assistance. One of them, required a real sense of heightened alertness as it was almost an 80 degree angle of an incline. By this time, the footing was muddy and required that you not dwell so long, otherwise you would slip. The rope, sturdy as it can be, acting as your lifeline, otherwise your abrupt descend would be deadly. One by one, we would make it through, a silent congratulations from one to another, knowing that we may just conquered the most difficult part of the trail.

Tria climbing via rope.

Closer and closer we got, until the satellite finally was in our line of sight. Sighs of relief and mini bursts of happiness would present themselves, with the thought that the trial will soon be over. On our way, we had met other hikers who got stranded due to the presence of overnight rain with their dogs by their side. A fate that would be all too surreal for simple visitors like us.

And after 5 hours of bathing ourselves in the love of Mother Nature’s earthly textures, pushing ourselves past our previously known physical boundaries, we finally stood atop of Oahu, in a grab bag of clouds which would soon disperse and reveal an urban jungle shining at the base of our very feet. “Heaven”, I whispered to myself. THIS is it. I thought to myself, some people may never get to experience something like this, and I can say I have so, twice in a matter of 48 hours. 

Inhale. Wheeze. Exhale. Repeat. 

On our way down, as the sun made its mind to gloat in our glory, we bypassed the section of the stairs that were affected by the recent landslide. However, it may have been over exaggerated on the web, as it only required some careful trekking as parts of the handles were removed, but it was still manageable to get through.

As for the guard, well we decided to face him up front. Regardless of our decision to be as respectful as possible, we were met with a warning that the HPD was on their way. We were told by the guard that if we did not want to get into any trouble, that it's best that we leave immediately, otherwise we could get hit with a fine of $600. And alas away we went, cutting through a backroad to make to our getaway car parked in the Haiku Village. As we got on to the H3, we were able to catch the final glimpse of the mammoth we just tackled.

At the end of the day, I was most amazed by the comraderie that was formed between my new mates and I. The sense of accomplishment was only exemplified by a new founded friendship, one that is only formed through the victory past struggle and hardship. And the fact is, you don’t make it all the way to heaven without brushing shoulders with God’s finest work. To some, it’s daily occurrence, but I still find that a group strangers coming together to overcome an obstacle such as the Moanalua Ridge Trail to parade our way up the “Stairway To Heaven”, is a testament of miracle in itself.

(From L to R) Jamie Joyce, Jeffrey, Tria, Cathy, Neil, Mac & Kenny a.k.a "TEAMSQUAD"