Kalapawai

Arriving once again on Hawaii island of Honolulu. Meeting friends catching up, I was told of the Stairway to Heaven. Known locally as The Haiku Stairs. They were built in 1942 to access the high point in the mountains and construct a 'Top Secret,' powerful transmitter tower/facility to communicate with Navy ships throughout the Pacific. It’s now illegal to enter the government owned stairs and the guard can fine you up to $1000 dollars if you are caught. So of course I had to give it a go! Packing up my rucksack and heading out on my moped I was super excited. The point of entry I chose was the fenced government road, I was greeted by 10ft high metal and barbed wire fence clearly marked “no hikers” fines in place. I found a break in the fence where other hikers had been before me and crawled through. Taking a trail through a bamboo forest and under the highway, after a few miles on dear trails I caught my first clips of the stairs. My head was racing! It felt like I was in a spy movie. The 3922 iron steps take about 3-4 hours to climb and are pretty treacherous and scetchy in parts. It was very windy so walking on 70 year old vertical rusty ladders up cliff faces and along ridges made it one of the most scary and exhilarating experiences I have had. Reaching the top it was blowing a gale but the view and sense of achievement was incredible. Now time for the decent. I didn’t see anyone on the stairs this time, nor did I see the guard or get caught (thankfully). Reaching my moped and heading for my next adventure I felt like an extremely lucky lady in more ways than one 🤙Read more