The Stairway to heaven was built between 1942-1943 which was during world war II. Unknown to most people today they were built up this steep ridge to access a hidden radio tower at one of the ridge's highest points. The high altituide of this radio tower meant that the frequency was so great they could send or receive any warnings to other soilders in the US amry about any of the enemies attacks on the island or any enemies approaching.

Before the Haiku stairs were built, It took Bill Adams & Louis Otto 21 days (the first climbers) to make their way through the dense Hawaiian jungle and reach the ridge where they decided to build the radio tower. I find the progression of the stairs impressive, no machinery was used, only the hands of these two men that placed spikes in the ridge wall which were used to hang ladders to make it easier to reach the tower in the furture. After the ladders were placed they later replaced them with wooden stairs and eventurally the stairs were replaced with the steel stairs we now know today as the stairway to heaven. The stairs are on still U.S. goverment property and this hike is illegal and comes with a fine if you get the wrong guard. I will tell you about our experience with the guards further down this page so keep reading.

If I was blogging when I went on this adventure I would have made you guys a step by step guide with photos to find the base, although I never took many photos on how to get there I have a few, and I have some shots in my video I made so you can check out some out some in the main check points along the way.

It's important to know that if you're staying here you're going to need to rent a car or motorbike to get to Haiku village.

It all started with a picture on google images, I can't remember what I typed in the search to end up with a picture of the stairs but there it was calling me. The moment I saw it I got online and booked a flight from ALK - HNL to depart in two months. During that time I researched over and over the best ways to find the stairs and tips on avoiding the $1000 fine. I remember telling my mum that I was going and that it was illegal and her saying

''WHAT IF YOU GO TO JAIL!''
''Mum..... it's only a fine, and I'm putting $1000 in my budget incase that happens.''
''Well I know there's no stopping you so have fun.''

I wanted to do this hike with a group of people but I had no idea what site to post it on knowing that it's not illegal. While I was looking for tips I came across a app called ''All Trails'' which is actually an app to review hikes and provide information about the hikes. I typed in haiku stairs and it didn't have any info but I saw there was alot of traffic on the page about the stairs, I typed a message saying

Hey guys, I'm Brad. I'll be coming to H.I. on this date and I'm looking for a group of people to hike the stairway to heaven with, if anyone is down let me know via facebook.

Nobody had messaged me and I thought I was going to have to do it alone, but that was ok, I didn't mind. It was crazy, a few days before doing the hike the messages started rolling in and about 8 people had contacted me, I was so happy, I couldnt belive it.

So that was it, I started a group on facebook and during those two days everybody had contact with each other via the chat about where to meet, the time or any details that needed to be confirmed.

I felt a rush of energy with the thought that in 8hrs at 2am I was going on an adventure. I stayed with friend I met at my hostel that night and she had decided to come along with me, we became good friends and looking back she taught me my first line in Spanish '' Quieres ir por una cerveza?'' Little did I know that I would be speaking Spanish everyday now! haha it's crazy how everything works out. That morning at 2am we left to meet our friends from the group who had rented a car and we started our journey from Waikiki beach to Haiku village.

It was 2am and pitch dark, we parked the car and made our way into the jungle in search for the stairs. Now I have to tell you guys that we followed all the instructions and all the maps we had but add darkness and a group of people with no service to double check and it = LOST. We walked for about 2 hours and realized that we were lost. We didn't give up, it was getting lighter and we were running out of time to see the sunrise and eventually we found a few trees and a warning sign that looked similar to one we saw in a picture. Then we found a hole in a fence, jumped another, went though bamboo type vegetation and we saw a car parked with a light on inside and realized we had just spotted the first guard!

The guard we passed was on her phone with no cares in the world so we just ran past, they won't come on the stairs anyway so it's a safe zone once you reach the base of the stairs.

I remember feeling an acomplishment even before climbing them, one step was enough to hit me with the surreal feeling. I was facinated with these stairs and I was so happy to be there. We made it for the sunrise! We didn't get all the way to the top for the for the sunrise but we got a perfect spot to watch it, there were alot of other hikers up there doing the same thing. When we got closer to the tower the ridges were covered in clouds and when they were hit by the sun they were touched with a golden tinge, the feeling of being up there really lived up to its name ''The stairway to heaven''.

On our way back down we saw another guard, at this point we started thinking
do we or don't we? We decided to take a chance and walk straight down, what's the worst that could happen right? so we did, we noticed the guard signal out to somebody when we were nearly back to the ground, we thought it was the police! We then realized that they were other hikers that he was holding back until we came back down so we could pass safely, what a good guy. He then told us to run because the police were in the area, we smiled, we took a photo together covered in mud and created a memory that would last a life time.