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.

NEED TO HIKE

Ugh, I am super frustrated that with working, no hiking schedule is being set, i work most weekends and am so tired after I don't feel like moving, this needs to change, I miss hiking, and have SO many hikes i want to do, so here are a few that I have planned so far!!

Crouching lion, it looks to be totally gorgeous!
Ma'akua Gulch, I don't know why i like to do closed hikes, maybe its just the thrill of doing it! but it looks gorgeous
Mount Olympus, which me and Matt may try to do Tuesday
Stairway to heaven, which we plan to do when his brother comes in January
Maunawili Falls, because I love waterfall :)
Wai'oma'o Falls and the hiking around it, there are three waterfalls around there that I would love to see! 




I need to get this figured out, hell maybe even quit my job :) HAHA

Wa'ahila Ridge Trail to Kolowalu Trail - December 4th, 2010

Matthew and I on the Kolowalu side of the trail

So, I just started my new job at Starbucks this past Friday, and Matt mentioned to me a hike he wanted to do on Saturday for work to do some land navigation, to see if it was doable for 50+ people. So, as we know I can't turn down a hike, so I agreed to go with him and one of the guys he works with named Cole, who also happened to bring his 5 month old puppy!!! So cute!!

These roots in the beginning of the Wa'ahila trail are slippery!

We started the trail at about 9:45 a.m., with Matt already doing the Wa'ahila Ridge Trail twice and me doing it once, we got through the 1.2 miles in about 45 minutes, which I don't know seemed to be pretty quick, with the rocky climbs up and down, and not to mention the insane winds that were going on AGAIN today, did I mention we had a dog with us too? He was such a cutie, he trucked along pretty well, way better than Matthew and I thought he would, we only had to stop a few times to give the little guy water, he did beg a few times to be carried, which since he was only 5 months old wasn't to big of a deal for Cole. The Wa'ahila Ridge Trail is fairly simple I'd rate it as being easy to moderate, and the only reason I would say moderate is because of the rock climbs which aren't crazy but they do make for difficulties especially if you have short legs, also the slippery roots, since it's so densely crowded with trees sunlight rarely gets to some parts, and rain most definitely gets to all parts! Which means those roots are SLIPPERY! I bit the dust once, my feet just totally flew out but I managed to catch myself, Matthew bit the dust 2 times, but also both times managed to catch himself, Cole I'm pretty sure fell once also.

Pretty rainbow from the first time we did the hike!

So, as I said after 45 minutes we made it to the junction of the Kolowalu Trail,, when we went on this hike back in October we started down this trail for a few minutes and stopped at a open grassy area, and then turned back to head towards the car, but this time we hiked it all the way down to the trail head, with an elevation climb up and down of 1100 feet each way, it made certain parts rather tricky, especially when trees are down, and rocks are slippery! That's why they rate this trail as intermediate to strenuous, and this was no joke, it was steep going down and steep going up, taking us 51 minutes to go down, and 53 minutes to go up, I was impressed with our time, since I most definitely had to stop more than once to catch my breath and make my heart stop feeling like it was going to explode!!

These awesome roots made things better and harder at times!

Onto the trail, I have found that I love hiking Na Ala Hele hikes, they maintain and mark their trails very well, it was nice not having to worry about getting lost or literally starting the trail at the wrong spot. This side of the trail was tricky, plenty of slippery rocks and clay looking mud, along with a very root filled walk, some of my pictures don't show how crazy the roots actually are, helpful most times in catching your footing and hellish when it comes to watching your step when you really don't need them. I literally thought the trail going back up was NEVER going to end, I was more than relieved when we finally made it back up.

It's true, I love these trees!

After it was all said and done, I was happy I made it the whole way, the total hike was only 3.5 miles (which definitely seemed a lot longer than that), but it took us just over 3 hours to complete. Definitely it a good day for a hike, with the nice breezes and the tree coverings!

Elevation: -Wa'ahila Ridge Trail- 500 fee -Kolowalu Trail- 1100 feet

Distance: -Wa'ahila Ridge Trail- 2.4 in and out -Kolowalu Trail- 1 mile in and out  

That'd be me and Rocky (the cutie) in the backround!

Difficulty: -Wa'ahila Ridge Trail- Easy to Moderate -Kolowalu Trail- Intermediate

Directions from when you get into Honolulu!!                                                                                                                                                  

Makapu'u Lighthouse - December 1st, 2010

Jenna and I

So, I'm not really sure if this is referred to as a hike, but since we made it a little more interesting than just the paved trail to the top of the lighthouse, I will consider it a hike! My BFF and hiking partner Jenna invited me to come along on the hike with her and her mom. I started my day at 5:30 A.M. with once again getting Matthew off to work, and then lounging around until about 8:30 which is when I set off for the Makapu'u Lighthouse, traffic this particular day was TERRIBLE! Two traffic jams, which I expected once I hit the downtown Honolulu area! It seems when it rains in Hawaii, people forget how to drive!  After 1 1/2 hours of driving I finally arrived at the trail.

Turtle and Rabbit Island

At 10:30 A.M. we started our little 1 mile hike to the top, stopping to take pictures at all the lookouts along the way, the views were gorgeous!! The wind on the other hand was something to be desired, I would say there had to be 25+ MPH winds! The paved trail to the top was nice to say the least, it made it a really easy hike, almost to easy.

Makapu'u Lighthouse

The views of the lighthouse were also gorgeous, there were a few different areas to get some really awesome pictures of the lighthouse from all directions, also views of Rabbit and Turtle island, the Sea Life Park, and KoKo Head, so once we made it to the top, we decided why not go up the mountain on the side, where the winds showed their ugly face again! To the point where if you didn't take a stance and lower your center of gravity you might just get taken off the mountain! It was worth it though,  we had a great time, and unfortunately we didn't wear any sunscreen and got pretty fried, not to sure what we were thinking!

All in all it's an easy family friendly hike, that has awesome views, and at 2.0 miles from the top to the bottom it's provides a little workout! We burned about 600 calories!

Difficulty: Easy
Distance: 2.0 Miles
Elevation: 550 Ft.

Map and Directions