Hike Diamond Head?

Has anyone done it?
Are the tunnels clostrophobic?
Are the stairs too strenuous if you have been up all night at Tiki's?

I've done it a couple of times with family members. Tunnels weren't claustrophobic (at least to me). One of the stair climbs is a good one, but not overly strenuous. Bring a few bottles of water and you'll be fine. The view from the top is incredible.

My wife is claustrophobic, I had to lead her by the hand through the one tunnel that is kind of long. It's not too bad, there's some lighting and it's plenty big enough to walk through standing straight up. If you've been "up all night" you might want to take the easy parts slow, or you'll feel it for a couple days. Don't be fooled by the teenagers running past you, or the Japanese girls in high heels.

It's definitely worth it.

TT

[ Edited by: Tonga Trader 2007-10-03 10:44 ]

When I was a kid we used to hike diamond head all the time - one of my favorite DH hike memories is when we dropped mom off at the Cinerama (which had some great tikis in front of it - it is now a checker auto store) so she could stand in line for Empire Strikes Back. My Dad, brother, some friends and I all drove up to Diamond head and had plenty of time to do the hike before the movie started. Back then the hike was very "unimproved" and the only way to get to the summit bunker was by making your way thru all the lower bunkers then climbing a rusty ladder up a cement chimney to the top. You can still see the chimney with the latter at the top - but it is now bared off and you can't climb down it. It was always scary for me when I was a kid in those bunkers - they were FILLED with weird graffiti (exept for one level that had a memorial in it an a pained placard asking that no graffiti be placed on the walls of that level out of respect). I have some old photos I took of the hike when I was 9 or 10 - I gotta dig them up!

The tunnel was a little claustrophobic for me. And very very dark. Make sure you have a flashlight.

Other than that, it's not a terribly strenuous hike, and the view from the top is just lovely.

The tunnels are lighted now. I hiked it last year. It's doable for anyone in reasonable shape. TOTALLY WORTH IT! Just take your time...there are benches periodically to rest on.

I have photos from our climb on my blog

http://yogaluca.blogspot.com/search?q=diamondhead