Despite trying to convince the crew to go tubing today, everyone (Katie, Ryan, Amanda, Will and Tango the adventurous cattle dog) wanted to chase waterfalls. With the incoming storm from the northeast, I had to admit that there would be a ton of waterfalls going off around the island. Although usually virtually absent of any water, choosing to go to Makaua Gulch resulted in seeing one of the largest waterfalls on Oahu from up close…

I’ve only come to this gulch to access the Kahekili ridge trail, and have been wanting visit Makaua Falls in it’s entirety for several years now.

However, I every time we tried to do it, the gulch was too dry to create any waterfalls… so I put it off for a while.

Today was different, and with the heavy downpours common in the wet season this year (November – April), there would be several inclement falls forming here on the windward side of Oahu.

Without any trail leading to the falls, we jumped into the stream bed and hopped along the exposed rocks and boulders.

All of our crew had cleated, felt-bottomed tabis, we purchased from Hanapa‘a Fishing Supply,

… Making hiking on this specific type of terrain much safer. Rubber soled shoes while rock-hopping can make for pretty slick footing in Hawaiian Streams.

Further back into the gulch narrowed,

…and several waterfalls formed along the walls.

In < 45 minutes, we encountered our first obstacle.
Not a very difficult climb (with grippy footwear), but a little challenging for Tango-dog.

We ended up positioning ourselves at even intervals up the falls, so we could make sure to have a hold of his leash/harness at all times as he scrambled up the slick rock.

I didn’t have any good photo-documenting of Tango-dog’s climb, but I can vouch that he is a pretty incredible creature. hehe. 😉

Soon after passing the obstacle, we could faintly see our final destination.

Still, there were many deep / murky pools to wade cross… many of which had hidden rocks / branches in them.

The wind picked up as we approached the base of the falls,

…which may be more and more apparent by all the water on my lens in the following photos.

It’s a good thing I had my outex waterproof housing with me,

…definitely not a place for DSLRs or bulky, plastic waterproof housings.

Taking photos upward was even more difficult as the intense wind generated by the falls kept misting water everywhere in addition to the rain and waterfall spray falling already. I can’t complain though, since there’s no easy way to take photos under such conditions, with the water just coming from all directions.

Wish I had a better photo of the crew, but Katie ran away from the wind/cold within 10 minutes. Got a sweet shot of Tango-dog and his awesome family, Will and Amanda though! EPIC times!

As with any hike or outdoor adventure here in the islands, please properly prepare yourself, hiking with others who are capable and who you can trust. Be sure to check the weather forecast for heavy rain or inclement alerts. Hiking in narrow gulches during high rainfall is highly discouraged, even though it may seem we are doing otherwise. The watershed / drainage here is much smaller than others in the state, and it takes frequent and intense rain for large volumes to be created. Although potentially dangerous, our activities this day were perfectly within our comfort zone… however, please know when you are not within yours and when to turn back. If attempting, stay safe out there and have fun!

Aloha and mahalo nui for visiting… Come back again soon!