Stairs

Most trails meander along, gently winding their way up hills and circling around mountains. Some are steep, but still laced with switchbacks. But the Haiku Stairs, or "Stairway to Heaven," is not most trails. In fact, it's not a trail at all- it's 3,922 vertical steps that take the steep and jagged face of Puu Keahi a Kahoe Mountain head on. There's no messing around on this trek- you literally head straight up the stairs, over the mountain, through the clouds, into the heavens.

I've been lucky enough to have done this hike twice: once in November and once this past week, both times with my uncle Myron. The first time was a surreal rush and I didn't take in as much of it as I would've liked, so this second time was even more phenomenal. We all met up at the Kaneohe KFC (this time I brought a few roommates and friends along to share the experience) at 6:20. Myron pointed towards the top of a dominating, jagged mountain whose top half was covered in thick white clouds. "That's where we're going," he said with a grin.

In order to access the stairs, you have to maneuver around a few gates and beat the security guard to the base of the steps. He usually doesn't make it out there until around 7, but I have yet to see him before or after either trip I've made. Needless to say, we were relieved to find no one there, and we got on the stairs and started climbing quickly. The first part would elevate us over the H3, which looked towering from the base. But that was only the beginning...

The steps, made of solid steal and very stable, were a little slippery this morning due to the night's rain. I gripped the narrow railings on each side tightly. Before we knew it, the H3 was far below us and the cars on it looked like MicroMachines. I turned around and looked down, seeing this spectacle almost directly below me. I turned back forward immediately and gripped the rails tighter. The second time up definitely isn't any easier on the nerves, I thought.

After the first grueling section, in which the stairs became more of a ladder and I found myself actually letting go of the rail and gripping the steps above me for leverage, I finally caught up with this girl that had been slowly making the ascent ahead of us. Boy, was she struggling. There are places I don't belong: the mall, sushi restaurants, frisbee games, even Las Vegas. This girl definitely didn't belong on the Haiku Stairs. She was breathing hard, looked scared, and asked for water. I quickly handed her my water bottle, and she quickly drank 90% of it. Shoot. I slowly followed her up the last stretch to the first platform. There, she was reunited with her two other friends, and she quickly began telling Myron in detail all of her struggles. That was our cue to keep on climbing.

By now, the clouds were just above us. And then, with a few more sets of steps behind us, we were actually in the clouds. The previous time up, it was a pretty clear day, and the panoramic view of the island was quite breathtaking. But I thought that being in the clouds was just as cool. Stairs just 20 feet ahead of you eerily disappeared into the mist. I was climbing into the unknown.

By the time I finally reached the summit, a platform with an old World War II satellite on it, I was a little sad. I wished to keep climbing, up and up into the gray. But all things must come to an end. It was time to begin the descent, a thrill ride which pitted you, this time, face to face with the 2,800 feet of air between you and the ground below.

I descended the really steep parts quite gingerly, but on the more gradually declining sets of stairs, I threw on my gardening gloves, lifted my feet, and slid down along the railing. Myron had introduced me to this last time, and it was almost like space walking. We glided past five, six, or even seven steps at a time, making the trip down much quicker and more recreational than the trip up.

When we finally reached the bottom, my arms and hands were sore, but my heart was pounding. Another trip up and down the stairs, another thrill ride. I turned around and looked back up at the stairs, leading straight up past where the eye could see, and at that moment, all I could think about was how bad I wanted to do it again.

Today, while headed towards Lanikai on H3, I looked up and spotted the Haiku Stairs. They looked like a small metal chain, stapled sloppily along the ridgeline of a giant mountain. That is crazy! I can't believe I was up there, I thought. Why wasn't it terrifying? What about vertigo? I always tell people that the answer is in the stairs themselves. You may be clinging to a cliff, thousands of feet above the nearest ground, but when it comes down to it, you're just on a stairway. Your feet are on the steps, and your hands are on the railings. If it's too intense, you don't look down, and you don't look back. You simply focus on the stairs.

The Haiku Stairs aren't the only thing that's crazy. Life out here in general- school, IEPs, TFA, University of Hawaii, Plan B Papers, paying the bills, staying healthy, friends, social life, weekends, etc.- can be flat out nuts. There are so many times, especially lately with the year rapidly reaching its climax, that I've felt like I was going to fall right off the face of the mountain. This is when it's important to cool off, focus, and take on the small things at hand one by one. If it's too overwhelming, don't stop to look at everything around you. There are some things that I don't want to ever look back down on again. They'll just make me want to fall. But if I hold onto those railings, and just focus on the steps in front of me, I'll make it to the top just fine. It's all about the stairs.

All the pictures were taken by Jess P. Hope you enjoy them. Thanks Jess!