Back at it again, this time Pueo Falls

Pueo Falls - March 29, 2015

Back at it again! Last week, we did Pear Gulch in Makaha. This week we were going to do the elusive Pueo Falls. I've been wanting to do this hike for years now, today it would all come to fruition. I've been enamored with Pueo Falls since I read Nate Yuen's write up of it a few years back. At that time, I thought it was the highest waterfall on Oahu. I was wrong, but the falls is massive. 

Baron invited the OAG's on this hike today. Joining Baron was Darren, Erik, and I. We had an early meet up time, 6am at Sport Authority. The planned route today was to hike Pueo falls and back out. On the way there, we would help Baron find 2 junctions 1) Kumaipo trail 2) King Kong trail. We expected to be out there at least 8 hours. 

Baron has this thing about bypassing the Board of Water Supply service road. So we took the H4 and Gigi trail to bypass the road. Eventually we hit the Kan Aii Heiau and continued on the other service road passing a few gauging stations. Someone told Baron that there were cameras on the gauging stations, so tried our best to avoid it via a bypass trail. 

After the gauging stations, we continued on a wide open trail, the Pueo trail is marked with pink and/or yellow ribbons. We passed a few junctions on the left thinking that any one of them could be the King Kong Junction. We weren't sure. The Pueo trail gradually went up the mountain until we hit Banana Falls. This waterfall was on the way to Pueo Falls. The waterfall is named Banana because there is a banana tree at the falls. The falls itself isn't too impressive, maybe 20 feet in height. I tried to take silk, which somewhat turned out. 

Banana Falls

After Banana Falls, it was still a long ass hike to Pueo Falls, over an hour or so. Pueo Falls is at the southern end of Makaha Valley. It spills from the massive Ka'ala Bog. It appears to have 2 tiers totaling to almost 1000 feet in height. The lower falls is a few hundred feet in height. We continued to follow the yellow ribbons losing it from time to time and going astray because of the multiple side trails. I tried to mark the correct path on my backcountry app. As we neared the falls, the trail got more wild and narrow. We had to do some climbing and scrambling on some loose dirt. Finally at under 4 hours, we saw the majestic Pueo Falls, the waterfall that has eluded me for 4 years. I'd never thought I get to see it, but things happen. You hook up with the right people, have patience, and things happen. It started to rain heavily, so Erik and I's silk shots did not come out. It also got cold. I put my jacket on. Side note, probably better to put my jacket on before I'm freezing my ass off. We stayed about 45 minutes at the waterfall admiring its beauty. Because it kept on raining, the flow got full and water gushed over the lip of the falls down to the bottom. Baron loved it!!! 

Pueo Falls (P.C. Erik)

We headed back the same way we came. Since we were making good time, we took a junction that took us to another gulch up stream. Baron said we were looking for Kahuna Falls. I read a write up that Kahuna Falls was much larger than Pueo Falls. After about 30 minutes into the gulch we hit a thin strip waterfall. There were steps cut out from the rock and we climbed up one by one aided by a rope. After that climb, we saw another thin strip waterfall. Near the waterfall appeared to be a cave, 2 big boudlers were wedged making it appear like a cave. Baron said this was our terminus. There was a rope dangling from a tree. Darren the adventurous one decided to climb the waterfall. There wasn't too many holds and he had minor difficulties, but was fine. He looked into the cave, but said there was no way to get to the top from inside the cave. 

After backtracking the way we came, Baron guided us more downstream in the gulch. We had to rock hop. Both Baron and Erik didn't bring spikes. Although they could easily handle, they would pay the price for it requires more balance on slippery rocks and uses more muscles. After what seemed like 1 hour in the gulch, we found a trail that led us back to the Pueo trail and the Kumaipo junction. What are the odds right that those trails intersect? Waianae Steve & Makaha Gene know their stuff. 

We hiked it back fast, really fast. Baron wanted to stop at the icy pond to cool down. To be honest, we were freezing our ass off hiking in the rain, so none of us went into the icy pond. We continued our torrent pace passing a few families who were on their way to the icy pond. Baron took us on some bypass trails so we would know how to avoid Board of Water Supply. 

I waited. Pueo falls was amazing, not the biggest waterfall on the island, but still impressive nonetheless.