Hidden Valley Hike

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 (Makaua) Hidden Valley Hike – March 3, 2012

After hiking Sacred Falls, going through the rain, we felt that Makaua and its usually dry waterfall would be flowing. I haven’t been on this hike before. After today, it becomes a lore hike, you’ll see why in a moment. According to Stuart Ball’s book, Hiking on Oahu – There is a hidden valley called Makaua that’s located right next to Ka’a’awa. There are two trails, 1) the ridge takes you to the top of a massive vertical waterfall. You can actually take the ridge all the way to Manamana as it is a connector 2) the gulch takes you to the base of the waterfall.

We parked near the end of the road, walked up near some houses and started the trailhead. Just 1 minute in, there was a junction, going left will take you to the crest of the ridge, but we remained straight and started walking towards the gulch. We started on a trail, but immediately started going through the gulch. I used my microspikes, so I wouldn’t slip. In a little bit, the trail became intermittent, hopping over rocks became imminent. Microspikes are the bomb; you don’t slip on rocks at all. We had to make a 25 foot climb up a trickling waterfall. It was slippery, but with the spikes not a problem for me. After a few more small climbs we ended up at the base of a dry waterfall.

We were stunned. Why was the waterfall so dry after a huge downpour yesterday? Overall, the Ko’olaus were raging dropping water down dry waterfall chutes, but the Hidden Makaua Valley waterfall was dry. Now this becomes a lore hike. I have to go again. The area surrounding the Hidden Valley was amazing. There are near 1000 foot high walls that are put together like an amphitheater surrounded by greenery. Helicopters flew overhead checking to see if the falls were flowing. Sorry that wasn’t going to happen today.

big walls, no flow

On the way back, we had to go down the small waterfalls, which gets me a little paranoid. It is difficult going down wet rocks. With the rope, it slowed momentum and provided some security. The microspikes also helped a great deal. We walked back sort of disappointed, but on were onto the next falls. 

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