On Oahu there is an (illegal) hike, named "Stairway to Heaven", it's one of the most famous on the island. During WWII (I believe) the armed forces built a stairway up a mountainside so that they could set up a huge satellite radio antennae at the top. It's signals are supposed to be able to reach all the way around the world! Once it wasn't in use anymore it became a popular hike because of the view. However, it is very steep, slippery with dew, narrow, and the stairs were not well maintained. As a result there were several hikers that died. About 25 years ago the government closed the hike and put a guard at the bottom to keep tourists out.
However people still ventured up to climb the rotting wooden stairs and hold onto the ropes to get up the mountainside to the bunkers and satellite at the top. About 10 years ago the government replaced the rotting wooden steps with very narrow steel stairways, but kept the hike closed and illegal. It's still one of the most popular hikes on the island ;).
To get around the guard and avoid a fine you must start the hike at about 2 am so that you can make it past the guard station at the bottom and climb to the top. Most people then stay in the bunker at the very top of the mountain until the sun rises. Once the sun is up you hike back down, enjoy the view, and the guard gives you directions on how to get back to your car most easily. If they don't catch you on the way up you don't get a fine, and they are very easy going.
We did this hike two weeks before we graduated, as it was one of the last things left on our Hawaii Bucket List.
It was by far the scariest thing either me or Scottie had ever done. Some sections are about 80 degrees, so they are more of ladders than stairs. Then the mountain cliff is often only two feet off the sides of the narrow stairs, and you are gripping the dewy handrails for your life. It was amazing.
Once.
But we highly recommend it.
Here is the proof that we did it!
This is Scottie in the bunker at the top of the hike. there were about 50 people in this 300 square foot bunker, hiding from the wind. There was trash everywhere, and it smelled like B.O. and rotting food. It literally looked like a concentration camp. This is at the end when we got up to start hiking down.
Here is the top bunker, with the satellite on the top.
Here is Scottie headed down some of the stairs, you can see how the fog limited vision to a few feet, and very steep.
A few sections at the top were built like this instead of steps, because it was 'flat'.
Here is me and Scott at one of the 5 level stops on the way down. Look how sweaty and dewy we are!
This is a pretty good look at what the steps are made of, and how steep they can be.
This is the other bunker on the way up, where they used to house the pulley system that pulled up small 'trains' of equipment and people.
The pulley system, very rusty now.
Here is everyone in the hiking group we went with, except me and Scottie.
Our group with everyone but me.
About 2/3 of the way down, you can see the highway below us, and the clouds above us.
This was the steepest section. Sure I was going to die.
This is at the very bottom, when we had passed the guard, and were hiking back down to our cars. you can faintly see the line of stairs going straight up the mountain-
the Stairway to Heaven!
