Haiku Stairs

Little past twelve Monday night, I received a text message: “Hiking tonight, stairways.”

It was my first time hiking Stairway to Heaven. After some detours driving through neighborhoods and watching the end of 50/50, the boys and I made it to the beginning of the hike about half past three.

The trail that leads to the stairs is in a residential area. We parked in a perfectly parkable area, on the side of the road by a house. I guess the house owner didn’t want hikers parking near him, though, because the moment we stopped the car, we saw a man standing at the window, shining a flashlight directly at us….okay.

We moved the car and got ready to begin our hike. Two of the boys (Hadji and Donato) had done the hike before; it was Joshua’s and my first time. The hike itself wasn’t terrible–only 3,922 steps (maybe about 3,918 or so if you count (or don’t count) the few missing steps). There were quite a few other groups hiking that night/morning. Directly behind us was a group of German men, all well equipped with headlamps that blinded anyone who dared look back. It wasn’t nearly as terrifying as I imagined it to be, but ten or fifteen minutes into the climb, my hip flexor started to feel sore. Twenty minutes into the climb, it just felt terrible. For the rest of the hike, I was on the verge of tears, it hurt so badly. “Celina, are you okay?” “Yeah.” “Are you just saying that?” “Yeah.”

We made it.

It took us less than two hours to get all the way through. We enjoyed the view (pitch black darkness with clusters of city lights below being it was still five something in the morning) for a moment before running into the little pillbox building thing for shelter. It. Was. Freezing. Yes, I live in Hawaii. Yes, it gets cold in Hawaii. Lately, the lows have been around 64 degrees. 64 degrees is definitely cold around here. Now imagine how absolutely freezing it must have been at the top of a mountain when at ground level the temperature is at 64 degrees. Freezing.

The really cool thing about the hike is that there is absolutely no traffic going in opposite directions. I was nervous thinking about going down while people were going up, but that doesn’t happen. Everyone gets to the top before sunrise and doesn’t start back down until after sunrise. So at the top, there is a community of people from all over the world who hiked the near 3,000 steps together, huddling together in a little concrete shelter covered in amateur graffiti trying not to die from the cold weather while waiting for the sunrise. Together.

I fell asleep for a few minutes while waiting in the pillbox shelter building thing. I really don’t know what to call it.

When the sun started rising, I went outside for a minute at a time just to catch seven or eight shots. It was difficult because the moment I stepped outside my entire self would begin shaking uncontrollably. It really was unbelievably cold.

The hike down was not so terrible, either. Going downhill was a lot more gentle towards my hip flexor, and the boys made sure I was okay the entire way down. Also it was more enjoyable being able to see the trail and the view with actual natural light.

In all it was an amazing experience. I went to my 7:00 dance class that night with a limp, unable to move in many certain ways, looking like an absolute zombie. I woke up this morning for an opening shift with a slight limp and incredible pain throughout the rest of my body. I woke up after an hour nap for my 6:00 and 7:00 dance classes still in ridiculous pain, still looking like an absolute zombie.

I will probably wake up in pain tomorrow and I will most definitely be a zombie for the next few days, but I’d say the experience was worth it all.

Note: All photos were taken with and edited on my iPhone 5s. I am still kicking myself for not taking my camera on this hike. Joshua is a photography enthusiast who has a much nicer camera than I and more equipment, etc., so I figured there was no point in taking my own silly camera at all. Next time, next time.