Personal Narrative: The Ka Iwa Ridge Trail

As I stepped out of the car and onto the road I looked up to see the peak of the Pillbox Hike, also known as the Ka’iwa Ridge Trail. The sun was still hiding behind the Ko’olau Mountains, which encircled the town of Kailua and the windward side of O’ahu. Back home on the Big Island I had a lot of things on my mind such as, school, work and family problems. It was the summer before senior year and even though it wasn’t months from now I was already stressed about it; the schoolwork, socializing and senioritis. There was also the thought of having to go back to work with my unbearable manager and the piles of bills my parents were having trouble with. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to face the responsibilities, I just wanted to get away, even if it was only for a week, so I came to O’ahu. Here, I was with my older sister Jossevey. She was only 3 years older than me but more of a kid at heart. She was the reason we were about to hike this long trail, even though I’ve never really hiked before. It was probably around 7 in the morning and the sun wasn’t rising just yet. The first part of the hike consisted of dry dirt,

Although all the troubles at home still stuck to me, As I was hiking towards the top, the only thing that was on my mind was the view of O’ahu and how I was going to get to the top. Out of breath, I still lagged behind my sister, but every now and then she’d yell to me “Are you okay?!” and I’d say the same thing every single time “Yeah I’m okay!” or “I’ll catch up, don’t worry!”. My legs were becoming weak but I refused to stop going, It became a goal for me to reach the top. Jossevey had always loved going on long hikes, I started wondering why she loved it so much, but maybe it was because it seemed to lure you away from reality, giving you something else to think about. After every rough step, we got closer and closer to the