Ka'iwa Ridge aka Lanikai Pillboxes - June 10, 2011

Start of the hike!

Girls hike day!

I love hiking with Jenna, we pretty much have the best time ever, can stop and take as many pictures as we want, and just chill without having the guys waiting ahead for us!! We were deciding between a few different hikes, I mentioned this one, then was thinking it was going to be boring, not realizing the trail had actually gone past the pillboxes. 

Going up to the first pillboxes

The short, steep hike to the “pillboxes” offering views of the Mokolua Islands and Koolua Mountains. It is unclear how many were actually constructed, but it is known that both the Lanikai and Diamond Head pillboxes were part of the island’s defensive system. They reportedly were observation posts built between World Wars I and II, which could alert shore artillery batteries to any approaching enemy ships. Eventually they were stripped out and left abandoned by the military.

Small climb down some rocks

So, this hike is very popular, parking was pretty hard, but thankfully driving a VW Beetle allows for easier parking! We begin our trek, seeing a lot of people, tourists, locals, and families, I believe it was the second couple we saw, this older asian couple, they were friendly said hi, I turn around and look and all of a sudden the lady just took a HUGE digger, legs up in the air and all, I'm not going to lie I laughed (I am not a mean person HAHA), the initial climb to the pillboxes was pretty steep, making me realize that I need to 1. start hiking more and 2. frikin work out more! This will happen when I finally quit my job and can focus on things that are important to me, instead of always being TIRED!

Jenna @ the point where it loops back to the ocean

Just past the pillboxes start the Ka'iwa Ridge hike, which basically just leads down and around to the area south of the pillboxes, it wasn't a hard hike, but there were some up and down hills, and few rocks to be climbed down, and a MASSIVE hill at the end! We weren't sure how far we would actually go on this trail, just because we were not sure of what to expect.

Anyway, we were leading ahead of a few people who also decided to take the loop around, it was SO windy, like extremely, and there were parts that were just dead heat, which seemed to be when we were going up hill at the hardest parts! Overall, it wasn't hard, I'd say the hardest spot was the going down, which I'll explain in a few. The trail was pretty over grown, actually really over grown, watching your step was important a few steps were not on flat ground and falling would of put a rock in a place you did not want a rock to go, and the bees, I HATE BEES! we made it up and down, and around to the finally area, where in the beginning of the trail we saw a trail leading down from where the pillboxes were, and this is the trail we were finally at, lets just say it was STEEP!!

We began going down, and immediately I gave it and just slid on the the rocks trying to to get one in a place I did not want one placed! There were lots of cactus plants, which were picky, we got them in our legs, which wasn't exactly a pleasure. So we kept on slowly making our way down, when we saw what we thought was a bum, HAHA, but it was a lady who had a husky, the husky obviously NOT the best dog for this climate, was probably about 1 or 2 years old, and was over heating on the mountain, she asked us before I saw the dog if we had any water, I said no just my camelback, until she mentioned the dog and I couldn't get the water out fast enough for the poor dog! This might say something about which I care for more, and it will always be the animal, these people had no idea what they were doing, dog sitting and bringing up a dog a VERY rocky, steep, and dry hike, I could not believe it. We fed the dog water, and continued, just wanting to GET OUT, finally made it down, it was about 2 hours when we popped out of the trail in the residential area, and had about a 1/2 mile walk back to the car. Awesome hike as always! Hoping for a few more girl hikes soon! Or at least some more hikes in general!!

Elevation: 600 feet

Distance: 2 miles

Difficulty: Easy

Calorie burn: 1800

Directions: Trail Head

Kuliouou Ridge Trail - April 22, 2011

Koko Head from the trail

I was super excited to hear Jenna had the day off of work for her bosses birthday/good friday, so we decided why not go for a hike, the hike we both wanted to do for awhile, but our husbands have been pretty busy and not able or exactly wanting to do it when we did, not to mention they are way faster than us. Jenna got to my house around 10:45 A.M., since I had to work until 9:30, on a particular busy day, wait everyday is busy, what am I talking about. Well, we left had to go back because I had forgot my heart rate monitor or course, grabbed that, then we were on our way. We arrived at the trail i think around 11:30, the hike began in Hawaii Kai, a gorgeous area just outside of Honolulu, the area was residential and rather hard to park, as always Jenna's driving scared me, but we parked and packed up for the hike, P.S. my camelback WAS HELLA HEAVY, I guess Matt put more water in it then i knew...

Me on the top :)

On to the hike, we start along, seems OK, we get to a turning point, Kuliouou Ridge Trail, or Kuliouou Valley hike, there were some people chilling at the sign who mentioned that we wanted to go on the ridge hike, that, that was were the views were, and then we thought about it, yeah that was the one we wanted.

Starting up the ridge trail, they people said, Oh, the lady who told just went up said it's about 45 minutes up, we were excited, then started thinking, SERIOUSLY, no way! It took us 1 hour and 15 minutes to get up, it was pretty much straight up, in about 1.5 miles it's an elevation climb of 1,700 feet, including, some rocks, some of those awful cook pine needles, which Jenna took a digger on, I was kinda scared she was gonna take a digger of the side of the mountain, if she did thankfully she wouldn't of literally fallen to her death, but none the less it was scary, and those needles are no joke, they are SO slippery.

Love the trees :)

Less than a half a mile in you can get some awesome views of Hawaii kai, including the ocean, and the Koolau mountains, continuing up the mountains, about almost 1 mile you reach a little picnic table, which I gladly sat at, to empty some of my EXTREMELY, full camelback that was already hurting my shoulders. So we sat, emptied, and continued, up and around more pine needles, through some awesome trees, and also to a little sitting area, which was nice to sit at again, since I seem to sweat WAY more than normal. The trees we passed through were awesome, like little tree people or something, the trees in Hawaii are crazy, really weird roots that's for sure. Further up the trail to the right you start to see Haumana Bay and Koko head, we then started to see stairs, thinking there were only a couple stairs, no that was a lie, more than I'd like to have climbed after already being exhausted.

Jenna and I

SO, we finally made it to the top, we passed a few people along the way which felt pretty good, but the top was gorgeous, nice views, rather windy and we were freezing after sweating a good way of the hike. We sat up there for a bit took some pictures and headed down, where it was the same as up, although going down kind of sucked, most of the way actually we just wanted to be done, where we slipped up and tripped more than we'd like to of done, BUT we had gone to the cupcake place after, it was delish! Fun hike for sure, love doing girl hikes without having to deal with the guys waiting for us!!!

Elevation: 1,929 feet
Distance: 2.5 miles round trip
Difficulty: Intermediate
Calorie burn: 1600 Calories

Directions Kuliouou Ridge

Kealia Trail - March 19th, 2011

Kealia trail

Kealia "salt encrustation"

So, I was kind of annoyed, we had planned to go hiking, and it was all nasty raining outside on our side of the island, I then looked up the forecast to the west of us, and it was sunny, YAY, good hiking day! Well, of course, I have to work every WEEKEND! It makes it hard to spend time with Matt, so if anything is going to get done, it will require me to do something after working, and being up at 3:30, no bueno. I am totally tired from work, but I can usually deal with it. Anyway, I got off of work at 10:30, got home, threw some beach clothes and workout clothes on, and decided this hike would be ok to not wear my boots, that went over terribly! Anyway, about 40 minutes later we end up on the western point of the island at a place called Dillingham Airfield.

View from the middle of the mountain

We suited up, and started out on the hike, knowing this hike is 7 miles round trip, I was worried that I was going to be exhausted, from the lack of sleep, food, and motivation, well it sort of was true, but I did ok I guess! To start this trail, we were on a paved road, until we reached a chain link fence, and proceeded on a well marked trail, I was worried with the amount of flies, I HATE FLIES, but they disappeared quickly, the trail was well maintained for the most part, a downed tree was the only real problem, besides all the rocks from the mountain obviously, they weren't kidding when they said rocks fall often. On this trail there are 19 switchbacks, which  is basically just a zig zag pattern going up the mountain, you climb an elevation of about 1,000 feet, some parts were slippery, some were a little steep, but the views from the climb up were gorgeous, you see anything from sky divers, parasailors, to glider planes, alone with spectacular views of the north shore!

We made it through the 19 switchbacks, and still had about another 1,000 feet in elevation to climb, we didn't look up the trail as well as we should of because we definitely took the wrong turn and ended up in some weird hunting area, we then headed back up and got back on the right track, where it then started raining pretty decent on us, which was weird because it was only raining in one small area, we then made our way down a 4x4 trail and also is a hunting trail, it was kind of boring during this part, in the end it was nothing but a dirt road that climbed up the mountain, and that thing was STEEP, it wasn't extremely terrible, but it worked up a good sweat, and pretty much made my calves and feet burn like crazy! We made it to the end of the trail where it did continue on, but we opted to make it our turn around point, there were some nice views of the Waianae mountain range, similar views to the ones we saw when we did a short little hike on Schofield Barracks, up the kolekole pass, but none the less the views were gorgeous. I love having clear hiking days, so glad summer is near, and the rain should be less, allowing for better views, I definitely want to do the Haiku Stairs again in hopes for a better view!

Crazy rocks

We then started our way back down, and let me tell you, I think I would rather go up than down, especially since it was hard to judge how slippery parts were, and once ya started moving there was no stopping, and my shoes were not cooperating in the least, my toes kept jamming into the front of the shoes, causing HUGE amounts of pain, and the switch backs on the way down sucked, due to the fact that my shoes weren't made for traction, I made my way down like the nervous nancy that I am, pretty sure Matt was getting annoyed at me, but what can ya do, I'd rather not fly off the end of the mountain on a normal day! This was a good work out hike most definitely, and pretty sure I'll do it again, if it's not to hot, for there is NO shade from the sun on this hike!

Elevation: 2000 feet
Distance: 7 miles round trip
Difficulty: Intermediate
Calorie Burn: 1900!!! Insane!!

Directions: Dillingham Airfield

Koko Head - Waimea Falls - Diamond Head (Tourist hikes)

So, not that I'm not a tourist half the time when it comes to knowing culture and ways of life in Hawaii, but I guess I am not due to the fact that I live and work here, granted in many ways I most definitely am a tourist in my naive ways of culture and nature, although I am learning! Just out of boredom of not blogging about hikes in so long, again due to work, rain, and my parents visiting for two weeks, hiking again has been hard to come by, I am blogging these tourist hikes.

Koko Head - Located on the southeastern side of Oahu, in Hawaii Kai, this is definitely a lung buster/leg killer/brutal workout! I think it's worth it, most people would probably beg to differ, just because it is so strenuous, and that it is, it definitely takes it out of you going up, and takes a large amount of patients going down, these are old railroad track ties, the "steps" are actually part of an abandoned railroad track that was once used by the military to transport supplies to a lookout shelter at the top, So there are most definitely not any handrails, which would be nice if there were! I believe there are about 1500 steps on this fantastic hike, which are marked on the railroad tracks going up. It's so awesome that the steps are so uneven and the holes dug in the dirt, everything is SO uneven, if you are afraid of heights, this is not for you, not to mention the awesome bridge you have to cross, that always seems to be SWARMING with bees, I literally almost started sprinting down the bridge which would of ended very terribly for me, and maybe a couple other people! Anyway to rap this up, the hike is pretty hard, the views from the top are gorgeous, it is usually a pretty busy place, speaking of when we were there this guy went up like 5 times!! It gets better, on the way down he'd run down it backwards!

Diamond Head Crater - By far the most popular tourist hike on the island, diamond head was built as a part of the oahu coast defense system, after being formed by various eruptions of the ko'olau volacano, and   according to wikipedia (aka my bff),  Diamond Head is estimated to be about 150,000 years old and the volcano being extinct for just aslong. At 1.5 miles round trip, the common person would take about 1 1/2 hours about, I don't know the first time I did this hike, the first hike we did when we got to the island, I was struggling, wow I was so out of shape, this time when I did it with my parents who were bound and determined to do this hike, which I did have doubts about, since we managed to go right when the noon sun was at it's hottest! This last time I was running it, my mom on the other hand, was about to throw herself over the edge I believe, LOL, and my step dad, well he managed to hold his own for the most part! All in all iw as super proud of them, anyway, a bit about the hike, there are about 200 stairs, and a lot of unpaved, uneven, rocky switch backs going up to the top, easily room to bust an ankle if you aren't paying attention! At the top you reach an old coastal artillery observation platform built in the 1900's, and above that is more viewing areas of Waikiki, Honolulu, and of course the Pacific Ocean. A fun family hike i'd say.

Waimea Falls - So we visited here, when my parents were visiting also, mom wanted to see a waterfall, and I wanted to show her one that wasn't going to kill her getting to! This tourist attraction is nice, minus the amount you have to pay to get in! $8 for us military each, and my parents had to pay $13 dollars to get it, kind of steep, but at least the parking was free. So, we stopped here before we were going to the Polynesian Culture Center Luau, and it was raining, gladly it stopped, this area also has a botanical garden which was pretty neat, never been to one yet since getting on the island. Although, I'm not a big flower person, but whatever. The paved trail is about 1.5 miles round trip, PAVED trail, it's excellent when this happens, I hate getting dirty. Nothing to really blog about this hike, it's easy, family oriented, pretty falls at the end, where they offer a lifeguard and life jackets if you aren't a good swimmer. 

Waimano Falls - February 13th, 2011

Waimano Falls

Two hikes in one week! It felt good to get out there on the trails two times in one week, since I was going on a month since we did the Haiku Stairs. Originally, we were looking at doing the Wahiawa Hills, but with needing a permit, and the parking being kind of weird, we decided to not, so I was looking up hikes (that were actually not over an hour drive away) in my awesome book "The Hikers Guide to O'ahu, by Staurt Ball, JR., I love it! I use that, and I also the internet a lot to research all the hikes I do and want to do, kaleolancaster.blogspot.com, is AMAZING, he's my secret boyfriend, HAHA, also the Hawaii Trail & Mountain club is a good resource!

So our hike today consisted of Matthew, Jenna, and I, glad to have her along for sure! Matthew goes so fast, and my little legs and heart can't keep up!!! I decided I did not want to wake up early today, so we met at the trail at 10:45 A.M., it worked out nice, since it wasn't SUPER hot, and wasn't raining which is always a plus!! We started at the top of Komo Mai Drive, in Pearl City, and the trail start the Na Ala Hele maintains a trail called the Manana Trail, it's a 12 mile ridge hike, and then there is also the Waimano Pools hike that braches of to the right.

Awful roots!!

Alright to begin, we weren't really sure what to expect, so unfortunately we did not go down to the right where it was a little easier to navigate, we went straight in for the crazy slippery, wet, and kind of muddy hill! By the time I realized we could just go to the right it was to late, we were already in the middle of the craziness! Matt had already made it down the hill, Jenna and I were a bit more cautious, so he just went off on his own, we just did our own thing. Now, I was not expecting what I got from this trail, the whole "cardiac hill" was no lie, I'm not sure why it didn't register in my head that it was going to be pretty rough. A constant straight down hike to the bottom to reach the falls, and a straight up hike on the way back, there weren't many flat traveling areas. Watch your stepping and take your time, that's my advice, I did both!! It is not easy to get lost, as long as you pay attention, there were a few spots before we got on the actual trail that we weren't sure of, even after reading my book I still couldn't figure it right away!

Ko'olau Mountain range

The water fall was gorgeous, it's said that in the summer it's dried up, so this hike is best to do between the months of November and April, the falls were flowing nicely, the water was a bit cloudy, but looked inviting, not that inviting though, still get a little bit weirded out by the diseases present in the water, especially one called, Leptospirosis, it's a bacterial disease that is found in freshwater ponds, and streams that is contaminated by small animals, from urine and feces, GROSS! Anyway on to the falls, the water flow was nice, there are two smaller pools that form after the falls, we climbed a rope down to the bottom of the falls, and sat for awhile of course took some pictures, before we headed back out, while leaving the smell of weed was so strong, these people that were there were having a bbq and just living it up I guess! Another reason I don't go  in the water is the super uncomfortable walk back! To finish this blog, this hike is awesome, the views are great, the workout is good, mosquitoes are crappy, the mud actually was minimal compared to some I have been on recently, and in about 2 1/2 hours we were in and out of the trail and on our way home!

The Waimano Pools

Elevation : 700 feet
Distance : 3 mile round trip
Difficulty : Intermediate (due to the climbing) Easy (for someone in decent shape)
Calorie burn : 1700 calories!! (CRAZY)

Directions : Wahiawa to Komo Mai Drive

Maunawili Falls - February 9th, 2011

Maunawili Falls

Lovely start to my day today, lets start with that for a heading! I woke up at 6 A.M., and had to leave the house by 7 A.M., at the latest, well of course I had been falling more and more behind getting motivated and ready for the day, I left at 7 A.M., of course the Army had started their damn PT already and were running down the middle of the damn road! So, half way down the road I realized I forgot my wedding rings, so I go back, leave again, get ALL the way down to the gate, and realize I forgot my hiking boots, I had to go back AGAIN! So finally, I get on H-2 freeway, and of course happens?!?! THERE IS A TON OF TRAFFIC! Not sure how after sitting in traffic, getting on the road 13 minutes late, I arrived only 5 minutes after I said I would. Unfortunately, the girls who were going to hike with Denise and I were also running late, even more late than I was, so therefore we had to start on the trail without them, I felt bad, but not much I could do, things had to be done.

Stream #1

The trail was easy to find, the directions given by the internet were very accurate, note the end of the blog for hiking directions! We parked in a little parking lot along side Kelewina Street in Kailua, and walked a few blocks down to the gate on the left that would lead us onto the Maunawili Falls trail.

Well to start, the trail started off fairly nice, a bit muddy, but rather clear of debris, and things were not at all clearly marked, I had to pull up on my phone how many and where we had to cross streams, which ended in a total of three streams, to start, the streams name is Maunawili stream, which I guess is fitting, HAHA, crossing the stream again for a second time heading up along the trail, and then head to the right, finally after hoping over a small channel and crossing over the stream for you guessed it! A THIRD TIME, which all three of these times included slippery rocks!

Shortly after you reach the sign that will indicate that the official start of the Maunawili Falls trail has begun, and you were now at the end of the Waimanalo Forest Reserve. Now the fun part begins, since neither me nor Denise are a fan of steps especially uneven steps, having short legs SUCKS! Up stairs, and going over trees that were fallen on the trail, we reached the top where it was level at about 450 feet in elevations, at this point there were awesome views of the Ko'olau Mountain Range, the views were amazing, you then continue to head Mauka (inland), I'm working on my Hawaiian, slow but surely!! So anyway, we headed DOWN stairs, lovely! I was sweating so ridiculously bad, by the time we reached the falls I was literally STEAMING! I had STEAM coming off of me! HAHA!  After heading back down the stairs, there is another sign stating that Maunawili Falls was straight ahead, we crossed over some MORE ROCKS, that were also slippery, up a little hill and back down to reach the falls, the water was FREEZING, and the smells weren't all that great, but we chilled for a few, got some pictures, the girls that were suppose to come with us, met up with us about 15 minutes after we got there, we chatted for a few, took some pictures, then headed back! A few notes about the falls, the fall itself is about 20 feet high, there are rocks that you can jump off of, but check the water first, definitely don't want to land on rocks! leptospirosis bacteria, is common in these waters, so keep your mouth closed, HAHA, unless you enjoy being SUPER sick!

Me and Denise!

A few points on the way back, Denise took a digger, it was funny! More sweat had built up, we saw a ton more people on the trail on our way back, I guess we just started super early for most people I guess!! There were some pretty exhausted people that's for sure! We had fun, lots of laughs, and girl talk, which is never lacking with Denise and I! I love that girl! She cracks me up!! HAHA!! We were in and out of the trail in about 2 1/2 hours!!

Elevation : 450 Feet
Distance : 3 miles round trip
Difficulty : Easy
Calorie Burn : 1500 Calories!! WOWZA!
Directions Via Wahiawa : Wahiawa to Maunawili Falls parking

The Haiku Stairs - "The Stairway to Heaven" - January 16th, 2011

Looking down on H-3

One word, AMAZING! We have been wanting to do this hike for awhile, actually since I've heard about it probably around last July, since we had just gotten to the island in May. This is an absolutely amazing hike, there are no words to explain the 3,922 stair hike to the top of the Ko'olau mountains, upon further studying of how these stairs and the naval radio tour were formed is absolutely amazing, two men and a handful of volunteers, who were called "high scalers of haiku", literally climbed up this mountain using stakes and ropes, falling multiple times to which should of led to their death, but after 20+ days, they had finally reached the top. The stairs which were originally built for maintaining radio communications with other countries, after communications were no longer needed from this radio tour, the stairs became unmaintained and terribly dangerous, and were closed to the public in 1987, when vandals dismantled a large section of the stairs, and in 2002 the stairs were completely repaired, costing the city an estimated $875,000. Although they were repaired, they still remain closed to public access, not that this stops hikers from doing this hike, especially today with the 30+ people who were on this trail, which is way more than is normally seen on a Sunday, they started but by the time we reached the first stop most had turned back.

View of Kaneohe at night

Me and Matthew at the top

To start, we woke up today at 3:30 A.M., Matt's brother is still in town and I wanted to take him on this hike, to show him the best of what Oahu has to offer, our other hiking pals of course included Zach and Jenna, they met us here at our place around 4:20 A.M., we then packed up the truck and headed on out to Haiku Valley, I drove, of course, haha, we found a parking spot which happens to be in a residential area, so if you do this hike, just try to be respectful, it wasn't hard to find the beginning of the trail since there were SO many other people there! We walked down a old road, which I'm going to guess had something to do with the Old Pali Highway, but I'm not sure, so it was about 5:10 A.M., (you have to beat the gate guard who gets there around 6 A.M. if you want to attempt this hike), so anyway we actually started our climb on the stairs, it was still pitch dark out, so I didn't really notice the incline we made on the first section of these stairs, it was rough, I'm not even going to candy coat that one, I did stop a few times, met some SUPER awesome people on the way, after I made it to the first platform, I was told it got better, which it did, there were still some steep inclines but NOTHING like the first section.

Second platform was reached, it was a old building that housed a crank that was used as a sort of ski lift to lift the military personnel up to the top, how these people built these stairs or lift is beyond me, just reading how they made it up to the top using what they did, makes my stomach drop into my bum! We sat around for a couple, took some pictures and continued up, I still was behind everyone, again not bothering me, as I made some friends on the way up and we joked, after the third platform it was only about 15 minutes to the top, and that included waiting for people to come down, which was annoying, as the stairs are only wide enough to house 1 person at a time, and pushing people faster than they are willing to go, is stressful, so I waited, finally made it to the top, where the view wasn't what I was hoping for, but still gorgeous, the clouds separated for a while we got some good pictures of the H-3, and the city of Kaneohe, along with the Ko'olau mountains, this was a big feat for me, my endurance compared to most isn't the best, so finishing and getting to the top was awesome, but that didn't compare to the scary situation of going BACK DOWN!

Ko'olau mountains and H-3

So going down went pretty fast, BUT if you try to go to fast, which I tried to do, to keep up with the guys, proved to not work, I slipped and THANK GOD, I caught myself on the railing, it hurt my arm, but better than hurting god knows what! It was starting to mist out on the way back to which made everything slippery, and the stairs that turned into a ladder didn't help with making things easier in the rain, Jenna kicked me in the head on accident,which caused me to roar in laughter, thinking this is not the best time to be laughing, I tried to compose myself!!! We were having problem catching our grip, Matt nearly took himself out on a stair, and over all it was just sucky, but we made it down, it only took us a total of 3 hours hiking time and about 1 hour of sight seeing and chilling out on top, the guards were cool, which made it awesome, they asked us if were the last ones, and we said no, there were at least 20 more people up there, which definitely seemed to shock them, as they also didn't expect to see that many people out that day either, they then said "hmm, maybe we should turn on the escalator!" HAHAHA

Totally exhausted, and legs weak, we drove back home, and got back around 10 A.M. overall an awesome day, and and awesome hike, I love Hawaii!!!

A few pointers!
-Always have extra water
-Bring a flash light
-Never trust any of the stairs or railings
-VERY slippery with even the smallest amount of moisture
-Do NOT draw attention to yourself!



Elevation: 2,120 Feet
Distance: 4 Miles in and out
Difficulty: Experienced
Calorie Burn: 1800-2000 (I was rushed out of the truck and forgot part of my heart rate monitor! so I'm going off of Jenna's total)

Directions: Makena St and Kuneki Street through the gate where the two roads intersect!

Likeke Falls - January 13th, 2011

Likeke Falls

Lets say it all together! HALLELUJAH! We finally got to get out and do a hike! It has been since December 4th, that I was able to get out and do one. Matt went a week later for a work training day, but it seems that since I started my job, and this crappy weather Hawaii has been experiencing, things have been hard to plan, and it seemed regardless something got in the way from any hiking happening!

So, Matt's brother came in to town, at the best time ever! The two days we got CRAZY rain! Even with the rain though, come hell or high water (literally) we were going to go hiking today, so we didn't feel like his brother was missing out on experiencing Hawaii. Whatever, not a big deal since I wanted to hike so bad anyway, I looked up some waterfall hikes that were doable even in the rain, and Likeke came up, sounded fun and so I decided on that, found some directions from a few write ups that people had done on this particular hike, a bit confusing, but I tend to confuse easily and get lost even easier. This day turned out no different!

Maunawili Trail view of the Ko'olau Mountains

Well, I had to work at 4:30 A.M., which was a pain in the ass, but who wants to be up at 3:30 A.M. on their own will anyway, unless you have yet to go to sleep, and in that case, well I don't know, it just sucks! I started by going to the gas station on base, and realizing I didn't have my Military I.D., which is more important and needed more than my drivers license it seems! THANK THE LORD, the guy working was kind enough to sell me my sugar-free redbull and cigarettes, for if I didn't have them, I very well might hurt someone! No lie...Okay, on with things, I got done with work, headed home, where Matt met me at the gate with my  I.D. card, thank god, anyway I ate got dressed, and watched Teen Mom 2, while Matt and his brother went to the commissary, they got back we suited up and left.

We reached Pali Lookout at around 12:50 P.M., where of course it was windy and overcast, but it wasn't terrible, I again read directions to the trail, but of course we went the wrong way, the CORRECT way was to go through the gate to the right of the Pali Lookout viewing area, past the signs that say "falling rocks" and "do not enter", we entered of course!

As for the trail, here we go, the first .75 miles of the hike were on the Old Pali Highway,  here is a brief history of the Old Pali Highway, of which I found on Wikipedia, of course!

Waterfall that appears on the Old Pali Rd
 from heavy rains

"The current Pali Highway is actually the third roadway to be built here. The original Pali "highway" went along much of the same route and portions of the old road still exist, although closed to vehicular traffic. When the current Pali Highway and its tunnels opened, the original roadway was closed and is now used by hikers. The "Old Pali Highway", as it is now called, is noted in the popular culture of Hawaii for being a place with strong spiritual connections. Many ghost stories have settings along this old highway. A large portion of the old highway was built over the ancient Hawaiian foot paths that traversed the famous Pali pass, which was the most easily accessible route to take from the Windward to Honolulu side. This was because much of the Koʻolau range on the Windward side has steep cliffs that make it nearly impossible to traverse over safely."


I found also that if it rains heavy there is a pretty awesome waterfall that you can see while you are walking on your way to either Likeke Falls or the Maunawili trail, it was amazingly beautiful, along with all the waterfalls you can see on H-3 when it rains heavily!

Me and the husband :)

Well of course from the directions I was reading we missed the "hairpin" turn to the left which would lead us to the Likeke falls trail, so instead we continued on the Maunawili Trail, which we went down for about 2 miles, until I realized, Hmm, I don't think think this is the Maunawili Falls hike, knowing there are two different hikes, it just wasn't adding up in my head at the time! We saw a few neat little waterfalls and streams though, thank gosh, I thought about it, and decided to look it up on the handy www.hawaiitrails.org site,and found out it was a 10 mile hike each way! We then turned around, and did find the Likeke falls trail.

Wally climbing up the side of the falls

To start down the trail you will have to go UNDER the Pali Highway, there is a ladder there for assistance otherwise you would definitely be hurting if ya jumped, maybe, no I know I'd be hurting! LOL! You then follow down the trail and for a little while you will be walking underneath Pali, it then turns into a road again, pretty easy, but it was slippery. We came to a road junction where we found the trail, which was off to the left. During the first part, there were like at least 5 switchbacks, which were nice otherwise it would of been straight up, it was pretty slippery, mostly just the rocks, we all nearly took a digger a few times, but none of us did, which was surprising, so then we came to a four way junction, you head straight from here, after going a while down there, through more thick canopy, you reach a rock looking road where you will turn left, you will arrive at the falls in a little less than 10 minutes. I'd suggest going after a rainfall, the pictures from when they were gushing and in the summer are nothing to compare, it was gorgeous. 

We climbed up some slippery rocks to get closer to the actually water fall, the water was well, FREEZING COLD! Matt decided he was going in, so then I did, which we both kind of regretted after, since the walk back sucked, and our clothes were dripping wet, along with our boots, it was super uncomfortable! I had shoes and gym clothes to change into at least, not going to the gym when I was suppose to paid off! :) Maybe not...


We drove home, and then feasted on jack in the box :) it was delicious!!! Also cost us $40 about, pretty much ridiculous!! Well worth it, my not so hot shower after the guys were done showering, not so great, but better than the temperature of that waterfall!!!










Elevation - 600 ft

Pretty flower :)

Distance - 4 miles total from the Pali Lookout parking lot
Difficulty-Easy


Directions from Wahiawa to Pali Lookout!
Wahiawa to Pali Lookout




I also got a new heart rate monitor from Matthew for Christmas, which is a total awesome piece of equipment, with all our getting lost and total hiking time being 4 1/2 hours, i managed to burn a total of about 1800 calories, I can't remember than exact amount.