Streams/Waterfalls

Waiakeakua Stream is one of the most scenic valley hikes in Honolulu. Rumors of there being a ridge extension beyond the falls were validated, as we (Stephanie, Kay and I) continued up the ridgeline between the two stream forks of Upper Waiakeakua. We then intersected the Koolau Summit Trail, headed north towards Konahuanui and came down Manoa Middle Ridge (adjacent ridgeline) to loop back near our starting point. An amazing combination of summmit, ridge, valley, stream and waterfalls in one compact hike. There are several entrances to Waiakeakua, but the most popular is probably access...

A bit fatigued from Warrior Dash (in head-to-toe fleece) the previous day, I was more in the mood for some leisure hiking today... Like a chapter right out of the Goonies movie, Maunawili Falls to the Maunawili Moss Slides was an adventurous but leisure hike. We started our trek at the familiar Maunawili Falls Trailhead, ...which is a well kept trail and is fairly wide up until you cross the stream. You can cross the stream to the left bank, where the trail continues, though you have to cross back to the right bank shortly. I've seen hikers just "rock-hop" directly to the trail...

Like me, you probably haven't heard of Iolekaa Falls, at least that is before this past Saturday. Apparently, there are two waterfalls in the back of Iolekaa Valley in the Waiahole Forest Reserve, just above Heeia. Using the Ulupaina trail as an initial guide, we bushwhacked through Iolekaa Valley to find one of the two waterfalls that terminate at the windward base of the Koolau Mountains. Armed with an arsenal of shears, handsaws and loppers, we (Baron Yamamoto, Joshua Serrano [808 Goonies], Jenelyn Castillo and I) set out in the early AM on the meandering contour route of Ulupaina trail...

[Part 1] [Part2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5] Another gem that we visited while in East Maui was a 35 foot natural water slide in the back of Kaukauai Gulch, Kipahulu. Unfortunately, the region is extremely inaccessible for several reasons... for one, there is no designated trailhead. Secondly, the undesignated trailhead is on private property. Moreover, the private road to the trailhead is so overgrown, you cant even tell that it is or ever was a road (above left)... and lastly, the overgrown, private road is just too far to trespass on the property to start looking for the trailhead. Like...

[Part 1] [Part2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5] Waioka Pond, aka the Venus Pool, is a deep brackish waterbody approximately 200' long x 150' wide x 30' deep (in center) and a short hike off of the Hana Highway... ...and although the faucet isn't always keeping the stream and waterfall flowing, the pool itself is always filled by the ocean... AND ESPECIALLY great for jumping!!! Launching off of the "west" wall (pictured above), lets you bomb into the deepest part of the pool. Oh, and the wall is probably > 30 feet high and vertical ALL the way to the bottom of the pool... therefore,...

[Part 1] [Part2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5] Along the Hana Highway (State Hwy 360), there are a plethora of amazing waterfalls, streams and step-pools to seek out. Despite most of the streams in East Maui being partially ("some...") or fully diverted ("no" surface water reaches the ocean during base flow) to Upcountry Maui for agricultural and for drinking purposes, there are still considerable discharges of water above the diversions... which are often near the highway itself. I'll briefly describe "just a few" of the more memorable falls below... East Wailua Iki Stream (Waikani / Three...

[Part 1] [Part2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5] Less than a week prior, I received a late night text message from fellow Lost Trailblazer, Jenelyn Castillo, "Maui for Martin Luther King weekend (14-16)? Haleakala perhaps???" Though I LOVE camping at Haleakala, I basically responded that it could drop to near freezing temperatures... as the last time I camped in the crater "during the summer," it was ~ 38 degrees at night. Consequently... East Maui Waterfall Marathon / Camping trip FOR THE WIN!!! After some accommodation coordination by Jenelyn and her Maui resident friend Miro, we were set to camp...

Much apologies for the delay for those of you who follow my blog regularly... As soon as I returned from the November California trip, I was thrown into several adventures, of which made it difficult to finish the 9 posts from Lowe Trail, Yosemite and Joshua Tree. The day after thanksgiving, I was fortunate enough to attend an amazing hike to Upper Kaluanui Stream and Valley. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Kaluanui (not Mariner's ridge) Watershed, it is a valley located in Hauula, between Punaluu and Laie. The valley is also home to Kaliuwaa, also known as Sacred Falls, which is the last...

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5] [View Gallery] Yosemite Falls is the largest two-tiered falls in North America, having a total height of 2425 feet (lower falls not shown). The upper falls is 1430 feet alone, and is the sixth largest waterfall in the world (shown above). After a cold night at camp (~33 degrees F), Luke and I started out early on the Upper Yosemite Falls Trail. You'll encounter a sign with a breakdown of several directions/destinations about 10 minutes from the trailhead. Today, we were just trying to reach the bridge just above the upper falls and would be ~ an 8 mile...

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5] [View Gallery] After setting up at Campsite 4 on Day 1, we went to the visitor center to ask the National Park Service rangers about trails in the valley (since we did little planning prior to arrival). The workers were very friendly and provided us with a wealth of information. Based on the intel, Luke and I decided to hike the Vernal and Nevada Falls Trail (see below), and the Yosemite Upper Falls Trail (See Part 4, links above), while in Yosemite. The Vernal and Nevada Falls trailhead starts near Happy Isles, in the Southeast part of the valley...