In his book "The Hikers Guide to O`ahu", Stuart Ball rates this hike
as Suitable for : Novice, Intermediate and Expert. Gee, what the heck
does that mean? After going about 1/2 way to the summit, I'd agree to
the Novice, Intermediate rating. I saw NOTHING to this point to
indicate an Expert rating other than the length.
At any rating we met at the upper parking lot (see below map) in the Keaiwa Heiau State Recreation Area at the top of Aiea Heights drive at 9 a. m. There were only 5 of us today, George, Lan, Francis, Todd, and myself.
We left the parking lot and began our hike at about 9:15 a. m. We did the Aiea Loop Trail a year or so ago, an so I did not post any pictures of the first part of the hike, the section along the loop trail. After about 35 minutes of walking we reached the turn off for the Ridge hike.