My trip up and down Koko Head Trail's "Stairs of Doom"

My wife and two other couples just completed a two-week vacation on O'ahu: we enjoyed the island's many riches.

One of these riches was hiking on the Koko Head Trail, known as "The Stairs of Doom". It is an abandoned Army rail that was used to transport personnel and supplies to a lookout on the ridge of the Koko Crater on the eastern side of the island.

One of the other spouses and I planned ahead, and departed well before sunrise to avoid as much of the day's heat.

It took us 80 minutes to make the ascent: many breaks were taken for our own well-being, and more were taken to allow faster climbers to pass us.

Reaching the summit was only half of the challenge; once you had taken in the amazing sights and was well-rested, you then had to descend those same 1,048 steps. As difficult as it was stepping up, stepping down was worse: where gravity was only troublesome as you had to lift your feet above the ties, it was downright lethal in the opposite direction. One misplaced foot and you will be crashing down the trail, breaking various parts of you (and likely others) along the way. 'Caution' is an insufficiently strong word here: take every step as if your life depended on it.

We took a little over 70 minutes to descend, so it was slightly faster than climbing.

Except for the bridge

The bridge was taken very slowly, one railroad tie at a time, as my friend and I had no desire to attempt to pack the other down the rest of the mountain after turning an ankle or worse.

I highly recommend coming here: the workout is tough, the views are amazing, and the camaraderie you will form as a result of surviving the trail will last a lifetime.