Kamilonui Trail: Where No Man Has Gone Before?

I hiked up a Star Trek ridge (i.e. where no man has gone before) in Kamilonui Valley (Oahu, Hawaii) recently. My hiking colleague for the day was Wing Ng, a local attorney and hiking enthusiast. Kamilonui literally translates to "the large milo tree." I can imagine that at one time this area was populated with groves of milo, but are present I couldn't find any.

Wing has done a lot of pathfinding in the valley. As a result, I know of three different routes to the summit from Kamilonui. To see a topo map of the valley, go here. An "x" marks the spot where we began our hike.

We started hiking from the end of Kamilonui Place in Hawaii Kai on Oahu's east end. Hawaii Kai is an affluent community. By the looks of untramped state of Kamilonui, it appears that Hawaii Kai folks don't do much hiking, at least in this neck of their woods. Kamilonui Place is a public street, though signs ("Private Road-Keep Out") we passed along the way seem intended to make people think otherwise.

There are a string of farms along this road and the story is that these farmers have 60-year leases that expire in 2025. In the meantime, a developer, Stanford Carr, has been trying to purchase the farm land (83 acres) from the landowner Kamehameha Schools. If he is successful, Carr's plan is to build a couple hundred homes in the valley. The catch is that Kamehameha will only sell if Carr can get all the farmers to turn over their leasehold interest to him. From what I have gathered, some farmers want to sell their leases to Carr; however, a few are steadfast in staying on the land until 2025.

I also found out that a cemetery--Paradise Memorial Park-- in Kamilonui has already been approved. Phase 1, which will encompass 23 acres in the valley, is scheduled to begin this coming spring (2008). Eventually, the cemetery will occupy 69 acres.

What does all this mean? For one, we probably won't be doing much hiking in the valley once the development begins, so I was thankful to Wing for inviting me to hike with him yesterday.