Laie Falls
Laie Falls - June 6, 2011
Erik S. and I did this trail last August (2010) and the result was disappointment. Add to that, I didn't document the hike and so the experience only exist in our minds. I vaguely remember going up hills and stopping a little over an hour into the hike because it appeared we were going nowhere. Regardless of how it went, we didn't get to see Laie Falls. I reread the Laie Trail chapter in Stuart Ball's Book, The Hiker's Guide to Oahu to gain a better understanding of the Laie Falls Trail. Based on what information I gathered, it seemed that Erik and I missed the critical junction that goes down to Laie Falls during the August 2010 hike.
I started heading down to the North Shore at about 8:15am. Can you believe it took 60 minutes to get to Laie from Kapolei. I guess people from the mainland who are reading this are laughing right now. But, yes a 60 minute drive on Oahu is a long one.
Most people, I'm assuming don't get a permit. I didn't have a permit last time I went and wasn't caught. This time I wanted to get a permit. I ended up at the Hawaii Reserves Inc. in Laie Shopping Center to get a permit so I can access the Laie Trail. I think this company owns the land which the Laie Trail is on. After getting my temporary permit, I headed towards Laie park.
I parked at Laie Park and went towards the trailhead. There are farm lands along the way to the trailhead and by the looks of the signs at the front gates, they don't want visitors there at all. The trail is wide and there are ribbons along the way. It is a simple trail and anyone in good shape can fly this trail.
It took about 1 hour to get to the cook pines. The trail veers to the left and starts to narrow. Trees cover the trail from overhead and it seems your in a long flowing tree tunnel. Follow the ribbons, it will guide you in the right direction. The trail appears to go on forever, doubt crept in my mind again. But I've learn to stay true to my hiking instincts and knew that something was about to come. Low and behold the trail starts to split and a sign appears. I did not remember this sign last time we came. Going straight is to Laie Summit and going right is to Laie Falls. I told myself that I finally did it. So I descended down the mountain. The trail going down was narrow and wet. I was careful not to fall. There is some climbing and a novice hiker could struggle on this part. Its not too hard, so it will depend on how good a hiker you are.
I got to Laie Falls in about 1 hour and 40 minutes. Since it rained the last 3 days, the falls was greatly flowing. I was kind of excited. I had Laie Falls all to myself. There are two falls in the area. Laie Falls is the two tiered waterfall. Just below Laie Falls is a double waterfall. Laie Falls is about 25 feet high, the other waterfall is about 15 feet high. There are a few trails in the area. I took a trail that contoured Laie Falls. The trail led to the top of Laie falls. I sat there for a while and ate my snack. It felt great. I went up the stream a little further hoping to find another waterfall, but it lead to nothing. I read Joshua Serrano's Blog 808 Goonies that the Laie stream produces 18 waterfalls. Maybe one day I'll look for all of them, but today will suffice.
I headed back toward the trail. Since the trail was fairly simple to walk on, I decided to run. What took me about 1 hour & 40 minutes going, only took me 1 hour & 25 minutes back. After about 20 minutes of running, my legs started getting tired and I ended up completing the trail by walking at a brisk pace.
Since I was in Laie, I decided to eat Kahuku Shrimp. With so much shrimp trucks in the area, I ended up choosing Fumi's Shrimp Truck. To me they are all the same. The shrimp is good, not excellent and the price is expensive. Shrimp Plate Lunches run $12 per plate. Ridiculous Right! Looks like some great profiteering.
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