Traihead and trail info: The trailhead for Malaekahana starts exactly at the same trailhead for the Laie Falls trail. Instead of taking the left on the dirt road to go up Laie Ridge, go straight, passing several dirt roads on the right and left. Reach a gate with ribbons. Walk on more dirt road past the gate. The trail will eventually start climbing through a couple of long eroded sections. Keep an eye out for ribbons. About an hour in, a campsite is reached. About a little under an hour and a half, reach a signed junction. The left junction continues to the Ko'olau summit. The right junction heads steeply downhill to a stream and waterfall. Swim through the pool of the first waterfall and climb the waterfall with previously installed ropes to explore further upstream. Malaekahana Ridge lies between Laie Ridge and Kahuku Ridge. The only footage I've seen of a Malaekahana Ridge summit attempt can be found here from 2007: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiOa1C0pqr4. Two guys actually tried to summit after hearing that the Hawaiian Trail Mountain Club cleared it, but with only a half mile left to go, the trail disappeared. For some reason, the HTMC does stuff like that. They'll slay the bottom portion of the trail to its guts, but when the summit is close, it seems that they just give up and do a minimal amount of clearing for the last final push to the summit.
The camp spot.
It was unreal how blue the water was this day.
