Koko Crater Tramway (aka: The Stairmaster of Doom)

I lied. My first hike back was actually this one. I've heard it referred to by many names: Koko Head, Koko Crater, The Stairs, The Stairs of Doom, (and my personal favorite) The Stairmaster of Death. The draw for this hike is that it's all stairs. Stairs! We do stairs all the time, right? The elevator is broken, we take the stairs. No biggie.

Wrong.

First of all, they aren't stairs. It's a set of railway ties that was used during WW2 to haul supplies up to bunkers at the top of Koko Crater. About halfway up the mountain, the actual tracks are still intact and it spans a gully measuring about 20 feet across. Recently I have heard that there is a bypass trail alongside the tracks for those acrophobics among us (hello!) - which I plan to use the next time I go.

So the Stairmaster of Death. It incorporates about 1,050 steps up an extinct volcanic crater. At the terminus of the tramway are a set of bunkers, as I mentioned before.

Nearing the end of the tramway, looking back on how far we've come. In the distance is Hanauma Bay, Portlock, and Hawai'i Kai. 

Seeing as this was my first real re-introduction to training, I shouldn't have been so surprised at how winded I got and how quickly I ran out of gas. I tried to charge up as much as my legs would allow me but once we got about 3/4 of the way up, I couldn't do more than 10 steps at a time before I had to break to rest for a minute or two. I recall thinking to myself, "this hike is dumbassery at its finest. What was I thinking?" But I kept on, and eventually I made it to the top. The reward was incredible.

jdizzle (who had powered up way ahead of me and had to wait a good 20 minutes for me to drag myself up to the top) and I quickly scrambled to the top of the first bunker to peel off a few shots for posterity's (and instagram's) sake.

Believe me, smiling was the last thing I wanted to do. I was glad to have made it to the top though!

This was really how I felt about it. But this was Day 1 of training and I expected to feel like I got hit by a train, a truck, and a classroom full of energetic toddlers simultaneously. 

This hike is a must-do if you're a visitor to the islands or a kama'āina. Taking water is a given, of course. There's little (to no) shade whatsoever, so wear sunblock and/or a hat, even on overcast days. Shoes are advised; however, on this particular day we did speak with a gal who tackled this trail barefoot. Because of the crowds, it's important to exercise good hiking etiquette and give way to those folks coming down the steps. Exercise caution when walking down the ties - especially on the tracks over the gully. One misstep and you could rack yourself or worse. All in all, this is easy and family-friendly (if your kids are mountain goats, that is.)

How to get there: Head east on H-1. Continue on H-1 till till the freeway ends and turns into highway 72 (Kalanianaole Highway). Continue 5.3 miles to Lunalilo Home Road. Take a left on Lunalilo Home Road and continue 0.3 miles to Anapalua Street. Take a right on Anapalua Street and follow it into the Koko Head Regional Park. Continue to the obvious parking area 0.3 miles into the park. Park and walk the dirt path to the base of the railroad tie stairs to the summit.

Trail length: approximately 1 mile round-trip.
Elevation gain: 1,200 feet
Time: Lots of folks use this as a regular training course and complete it in under 30 minutes. I am not one of them. It took me about an hour to get to the top.