Finding Makaua Falls in the Rain

-

Makaua - December 22, 2015

It was raining, Doppler radar showed heavy showers on the windward side of the island. This seemed like an opportunity to do Makaua (Hidden Valley) Falls. I was hesitant, but went for it. I would go alone today. As I passed the fire station, I could see two tiers flowing, so I drove back to Swanzy Beach Park. 

I parked at Swanzy Beach and made my way up the road past the fire station. The trail was ribboned well because HTMC just cleared it a few days ago. As the trail started to cross the stream, I put on my microspikes. In a few minutes, I notice myself slipping. I checked my spikes, it was broken. Apparently, it had been broken for a while now, I forgot to fix it. 

I went on with just one spike. I then hit the lower falls, it was flowing pretty well today way more than the last time I went years ago. I had some trouble going up the falls, but focused and got through it. 

The falls was pumping. It was amazing! The second tier wasn't flowing as much, so next time I have to come when both the second and third tier are flowing.  I spent a good 20 minutes there taking pictures and admiring the falls before heading back. 

The waterfall obstacle was much easier going down. I'm not sure if I was able to remember all the holds, but I seem to be able to do it. After the obstacle I seen two tourist. The guy asked, "how's the view". I told him, "your in the valley, there is a waterfall, but no view". He asked, "am I going to get wet". I told him yeah, "sure thing". Tourist, they have no idea. 

I finished the hike, drove home, and made a turkey pesto sandwich. I still have to master making pesto.


Double Tier Makaua Falls

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Exploring a hike in Mililani

-
Image
Waikakalaua Stream – November 23, 2012 We didn’t find the tunnels today, but that’s okay. A few months back, I scouted possible access points to get down towards Waikakalaua Stream. Today, along with Erik, we would find what we were looking for. Erik has lived in Wahiawa his whole life and I have lived in Mililani most of my life. This hike, albeit an exploration hike would make a lot of sense. Waikakalaua stream separates Wahiawa from Mililani. The hike is described in Stuart Ball’s original book, though I don’t have that book, it wouldn’t matter today as we were going to explore a different route.        Our goal was to find the pool and tunnels. We would allot ourselves 2 hours in and 2 hours out, for a total of 4 hours. Erik and I met at the Park & Ride, and immediately we drove up the road. We took a left on the road across Mililani Ike and followed it till its end. After getting out of our vehicles, we immediately tried to find a trail going ...
Read more

Kipapa Trail to Schofield-Waikane

-
Image
  Kipapa to Schofield-Waikane – June 14,15 2013 First of all, the initial plan was to get to Papali-Uka, but that didn’t happen. It is apparent that this route was for the grinders. Knowing what we know now, starting from Manana and getting to Papali would have been a three day thing or a two full day excursion. What we experienced was two 10+ hour hiking days and it was a hard 10+ hours for both days.  The plan today was to start on Manana drop into the valley towards Iliahi ridge, then drop into the valley towards Waiawa, and drop into the valley again towards Kipapa. From Kipapa, we would make the long hike up to the Ko’olau Summit, then to Waiahole Uka, crossover to Waikane, and then all the way to the Poamoho Cabin where we would set up camp. In the morning, we would make the long traverse to Papali Uka. The plan seemed ambitious, it was. But with ambition comes character building and gained experience which makes us into better hikers. To be a good hiker, you have to pus...
Read more

Getting to the Waimalu Meadow

-
Image
Waimano-Meadow - February 4, 2017 This hike was going to be a grinder no matter what way you cut it up. The overall goal was to hike Waimano-Aiea with backup plan #1 Waimano-Meadow back to Waimano or backup plan #2 Waimano-Waimalu Middle. After doing Waimalu Ditch last week, I had a feeling that the Middle Ridge trail would be in bad condition to hike. This led me to the assumption that going down Waimalu Middle would be a bad idea and we would only  go down as a last resort.  I predicted a 12-13 hour hike. Sarah wanted to invite her boyfriend Uhi and friend from Japan Jena. I said ok, but they probably wouldn't be her friend after the hike. Going on the hike today was the overnight crew; Darren, Erik, Aprille, Bernice, and Sarah. Also Darren's girlfriend Jana would be coming.  I met Erik & Aprille in front of the Aiea gate at about 4:30am to stage a car. From there, I drove us to the Waimano trailhead. A lot of hunting trucks were in the area. We started the hike a l...
Read more