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