Koloa Gulch in Flash Flood, Turn Around Don't Drown

Koloa Gulch – May 28, 2013

 

I’ve wanted to do this hike for so long. But after today, it becomes a storied hike. Oahu was on a flash flood advisory early this morning, but the weather services canceled it at 7:15am. Great right! Not really.

 

I woke up at my normal time and drove to Laie at about 6:15am. I figured that getting to H3 would mean traffic, so I went the Wahiawa way. Good thing I did as there was an accident on H3. The drive towards the North Shore was long. Note to self (again), the drive to North Shore appears to be longer. It took over 1 hour to get to Laie. The meeting place as always for Kaipapa’u and Koloa hikes was at Kokololio Beach Park. We all said our hellos, meeting up for the hike today were OAG members Erik, Daniel, me, Aprille (who just got in from Seattle the previous night). Darren’s friend Kristy, Sarah, and John.  

 

From the beach park, we headed north on Kamehameha and made a left on a dirt road through some farmlands. The hike on the road is about a quarter mile before hitting the ridge. Koloa ridge is well define and is very scenic. The ridge extends uka, but we took the junction down towards the gulch. We could hear the stream raging. It was. We took out our microspikes and put them on. Although not raining, the stream was going strong. We assumed that it was still raining at the summit. The first stream crossing was hard. The water level was thigh high. We tried to avoid the most dangerous parts of the stream, all the while keeping our balance in high waters. We tried to rock hop, but that would proved to be a bad judgment as fording the stream would be a better decision.

Daniel Hwanging it

 

We crossed the raging stream many times. Each time the water was above thigh high or even waist high. It was a dangerous situation. The groups’ demeanor as a whole was calm. I never had been part of a group that was so calm. It was a sight to behold. Add to that, everyone helped each other across the stream. Erik and Darren led most of the way making it safe for everyone. I felt at ease throughout, though the conditions were dangerous.

Raging stream

 

After about 15 crossings, the hike became difficult. We put up rope on one crossing because it was too difficult to ford it by oneself. After about 25 crossings, we got to a point where it was too dangerous to further progress and decided to turn around. It was a good decision.

 

Because it wasn’t raining very much, we thought the water would recede. That would not be the case as the stream got higher in some places. There were some crossings that the rocks were totally submerged and the current was very strong. We took out the rope again and crossed a certain section of the stream.

 

After a very strong effort from all of us, we were able to finish the hike. What an experience! I’ve never done a hike that required so much attention. It was actually great in its own unique way. My body was sore, maybe it was all this great hiking the past 3 days.

 

After the hike, we drove Daniel home to change and I had a chance to get Daniel’s first born mango. I felt so honored. After that, Daniel hopped in my car and we drove to Tita’s Grill where the food there was excellent. I ate the legendary Pastrami Sandwich. Daniel told a great story about Tita’s legendary Pastrami Sandwich. The story goes. Tita’s Grill catered the BYU vs. UH football game a year or two ago. But only that game. Someone from the Honolulu Advertiser was at that game and ate the pastrami sandwich. He/she wrote about it in a column for the Honolulu Advertiser. In the article, it mentioned that the pastrami sandwich at the UH game was excellent. Game after game passed by, people went to the game looking for the pastrami sandwich, but it was not there. Little did they know that Tita’s Grill only catered for the BYU vs. UH football game and not any game after that. The legend grew; everyone was looking for this pastrami sandwich, even Daniel was asked questions about how good the sandwich was. The sandwich was really good, but not healthy though.