Ka'au Crater Loop Hike
Ka'au Crater Loop - September 17, 2011
Today was a hike I highly coveted for a long time now. About 1 year ago, I tried to access the Ka'au Crater trail by walking on the private road leading towards the trailhead; however an aggressive dog came out of nowhere and chased me back to the road. That was the end of that. For about a year, I've been trying to research various ways to access the trailhead and to avoid that dog. I've been also trying to get my friends to go with me.
With my admittance into the facebook group Oahu Weekend Hikers, I now have the opportunity to join various hiking crews or individuals on hikes anywhere on the island. Members of the group post where they are going for the weekend. If interested, you drop them a line and meet up with them. With my friends extremely busy, I got impatient and wanted to do Ka'au Crater, I messaged Marcus this week to see if he wanted to do Ka'au Crater. Marcus the nice guy he is, obliged and gathered his crew. We had a nice size crew projected to come with us on the hike, but the flu bug seemed to chase most of them away. To give the hike an additional incentive, it rained nearly all week, which meant that the falls would most likely be gushing.
The first time I heard of Ka'au Crater was when I heard of the group The Ka'au Crater Boys in my early teens. The group primarily consisted of Ernie Cruz Jr. and Troy Fernandez, although John Cruz appeared in various albums as well. They had such hits as Makaha, Black Water, Tropical Hawaiian Day, Surf, Kawika, Guava Jelly, and many more. The song that I used to always play again and again was Kawika. That song is just outstanding.
Back then secret hikes were only stuff of urban legends. It gets me thinking why I set up this category in the first place. Before the invention of the internet, secret hikes remained a secret. However, now days, everyone pretty knows where these secret hikes are. Ka'au Crater was a secret hike. I didn't even know about it until a few years ago; I researched like crazy and came across a website featuring the hike. Once I reviewed the website, OMG, Ka'au Crater in my mind became a must do. I've heard that it is a physically difficult hike; it put a negative thought in my head. However with all the recent hiking I've been doing, there was no doubt that I could do this hike.
I drank a glass of wine the night before, so I had a good sleep. My alarm went off at 6a, but I was already up and prepped. I went to go get a coffee and drove to Tamura's on 10 th and Waialae to meet the hiking crew for the day. I was the first to arrive followed by Marcus and Ted. Christian, Sophia and Scott arrived shortly thereafter. Marcus and Ted were checking each other's micro spikes. After everyone said their hellos, we ended up driving onto Waiomao road and near the Zen temple.
We started the hike by entering a side trail near mailboxes. Ah ha, I thought to myself, this is the side trail we can take without going directly to the trailhead, note to self. Sophia led the crew and went at a blistering pace. So fast. Damn, I was fully drenched in sweat 25 minutes into the hike. The trail is narrow and eroded in some sections. There is also a pipe which the Board of Water Supply uses to tap water from the stream. There are also pipes not in use, they are rusty. Some time ago, Marcus walked on one of those pipes because the mud was extremely thick. The pipe broke; Marcus scraped his leg against the remnants of the broken jagged rusty pipe. It left a 6 inch gash on Marcus's calf. He showed us a picture of his accident, it was disgusting. Marcus the crazy mutha he is, finished the hike and went to the hospital later. He got like 6 staples and did two hikes the next two days. Told you, he is crazy. On one of the eroded sections, I slipped and banged my left knee on a rock. Damn that was sore. But with Marcus's story fresh in my mind, my pain did not even compare to what he experienced with his 6 inch gash. There were passing showers throughout the hike. We reached the first waterfall in 50 minutes. Beautiful! After 10 minutes of taking pictures, we took a contour trail to the right, which headed towards the second waterfall. The second waterfall was nicer than the first waterfall. There were passing showers throughout the hike. We reached the first waterfall in 50 minutes. Beautiful! After 10 minutes of taking pictures, we took a contour trail to the right, which headed towards the second waterfall. The second waterfall was nicer than the first waterfall. There were passing showers throughout the hike. We reached the first waterfall in 50 minutes. Beautiful! After 10 minutes of taking pictures, we took a contour trail to the right, which headed towards the second waterfall. The second waterfall was nicer than the first waterfall.
There is one sketchy section near the top of the second waterfall. It was narrow and eroded. But it was no problem for any of us. Maybe to a novice hiker it could pose a problem. On top of the second waterfall, we looked down and there was a steep drop. There is a plaque in memory of a hiker who died when she slipped off the second waterfall. We walked further up the mountain and got to the base of the third waterfall.
Going up the third waterfall is a priceless experience. You have to climb parallel to the third waterfall. You also have to cross the waterfall a few times. Ted had his GoPro camera strapped to his head. I can't wait to see the video when he posts it on Youtube. It should be noted that the third waterfall is not vertical, but you still have to climb it. The third waterfall takes forever to climb. It is at least 200-300 feet in height. There are rest spots, but the climb takes its toll on your body. While we neared the top, it started to pour. Aw nuts! I knew we wouldn't be able to wait and take in the beauty of the crater at the top. That's okay; I'll have to do it another time. We ended up at the base of Ka'au Crater. Beautiful!
When it rains, the water starts to build up in the crater, like filling a bowl with water. There must be a hole somewhere near the base of crater which produces Waiomao falls. I took a quick picture of the crater with some clouds rolling in. But since it was raining, we decided to go left and start the return trek of the loop. If we went right, we probably would have summited and went around the rim. That adventure will be for next time. Sophia blazed the return portion of the loop. She went so fast, that in no time we ended up at the bottom of the mountain and back near the stream. We crossed the stream a few times and ended up at the real trailhead.
Marcus told us to be quiet while we walked on the private driveway. Just then I looked left and saw the dog that chased me away one year ago. We also saw a hiking couple coming up our way. All of us were laughing in our heads as we knew what would eventually happen. Were so bad! We ended up near our cars, just then the couple came running out asking us where the trailhead was. They said the dog chased them. We laughed in our heads. Marcus showed the couple the side trail and they were off.
After the hike we ate at The Counter. It was great talking story with great hikers. If you are a hiker on Oahu, this is a hike you must truly do. The experience is priceless, especially going up the third waterfall and looking into the base of the crater.
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