Tubing in the Wahiawa Hills

 North Kaukonahua Stream (Tubing) - July 17, 2014

I've already been here...just last week, we did the Wahiawa Hills. Today Erik was taking his cousins tubing. The route consist of hiking 1+ hours on the Wahiawa Hills trail and getting to Kaukonahua Stream (north fork). From there, we would inflate our tubes and float down the stream for about 3 hours till we hit the ridge taking us back up to the Wahiawa Hills junction. 

We met at the trailhead and off we went with no chatter. Although it took us 1 1/2 hours, it felt fast. Getting down to the stream was steep, but we blitzed it. We spent only 20 minutes to inflate our tubes. Unfortunately, I had a slow leak and would need Erik's pump the rest of the way. Tubing is actually an unbelievable experience! Its like a lazy river experience, the one you get at the water park, but much better. Water levels weren't too high today, about 2.10 feet. Usually 2.5-3.0 feet are ideal conditions. However, it rained throughout our entire trip and levels started to increase the more we floated down stream. Since my tube had a slow leak, I was in the back. There, I floated down the stream very slowly. When water levels got too shallow, we had to pick up our tubes and walk over the rocks. There were some parts where the stream would pick up and we would float faster. Those times were fun. It actually did take us three hours to finish. I wasn't too cold, but Erik said the stream can get much colder. Everyone deflated their tubes. Erik and I figured out the problem with my slow leak, apparently the boston valve wasn't on correctly. Hopefully next time that problem can get fixed. 

We hiked it back up the hill and exited the Wahiawa Hills. This was my first experience tubing. It was fun! Next time, I would like to try it when water levels are just right. The youtube video link is here.