Chasing Waterfalls: Returning to Waimano Falls

This week has been super rainy!  It was the last week of school for my older son, and then it was rainy all over the island almost everyday.  So instead of being stuck inside moping about, we decided to go chase a waterfall that we had gone to once before, but was almost bone dry the first time around.  The main characteristic of this trail is what most hikers have affectionately nicknamed, "Cardiac Hill", and when the falls isn't flowing, it makes it hard to justify putting oneself through such torture.  However, with all the rain during the week, I knew it should be flowing well, especially since the night before there was an hour of considerably heavy rain.

Lower pool last time we hiked, when it was pretty dried up

 We got up fairly early, as the forecast was calling for afternoon rain, and started to get ready.  Since starting to hike with Buddha, I've noticed a considerable difference in the way that I hike.  Getting used to the added weight in the pack, adjusting for center of gravity, etc. has been crucial to my hiking success and safety with the added weight.  I decided to weigh Buddha today, and he weighs 10.8 pounds, so a significant difference from my pack before.  My older son asked me if he could carry some of the water on our hike so that my pack wouldn't be so heavy.  He has never hiked with a pack, so I got his school bag out, and gave him a Gatorade, juice, and a small bottle of water.  He was very excited about it, and very happy that he could help carry the load.  My youngest son also wanted in on the helping Mommy shoulder the weight of the pack, so he used a small backpack to carry our sandwiches and a small bottle of water as well.  Such helpful boys!

Waimano Falls is accessed through the Manana Trail system, which is at the end of Komo Mai in Pearl City.  Parking is on the street, so make sure that you are courteous to the residents and don't block driveways or mailboxes.  We ended up parking a couple blocks down because of how busy the trail was that day.

The connector trail starts out as an access road for a water tank, so it is paved, and not very rough for the first little bit.  Once you reach the water tank though, the trail turns into just a regular Hawaii trail of packed earth and tree roots.  This trail in particular has a TON of tree roots.  Having hiked this before with my boys, they knew the way and we headed up the trail with no sidetracking.  The only spot where people tend to get confused is where the trail splits from Manana Trail.  There is a brown sign that is in the beginning of the forested area of the trail, go left for Manana Ridge Trail, go right, and downhill for Waimano Falls. 

Anyway, after "Cardiac Hill" the trail narrows, follow the markers over a bunch of rocks and you will eventually get to the dead end of the trail, go left!  It'll seem like you chose the wrong path, but I promise that is the way you want to go.  There are three pools to Waimano Falls.  When you first get there, you can repel down a rock wall a little bit to the first pool, or if you are feeling more adventurous, you can swing into it on the rope that is installed above.  Last time we hiked down, we repelled down this section and ate our snacks here.  This time however, we decided to turn to the left and followed that trail all the way up to the top of the waterfall.  We sat a bit upstream and ate our sandwiches, took some pictures from the top of the impressive waterfall, and then we took the path back about halfway, turned left again, and repelled down a section to the top pool.

The top pool is fairly shallow, only reaching halfway up my thighs, I didn't wade all the way over to the falls, so it could get slightly deeper, but it doesn't seem that deep.  The middle pool is a bit deeper, but is very small, the bottom pool is deep enough to jump into and swim about.  It was naturally the most busy of the three pools while we were there, so we stuck to the top pool with the waterfall and played around, took pictures with Buddha, and rested for a little while.

 When it was time to leave, I helped push the boys up the rock wall we had descended, luckily there is a rope that was very stable and a few decent foot holds.  Then we headed back up the trail.  Just like the old Tom Jones' song says, "What goes up, must come down," or in this case, what goes down, must go up! ( I often have this song stuck in my head on repeat while hiking)  Having done this trail once before, I knew what to expect.  Also, having taken Buddha on a few longer trails than this I knew the length of the trail wasn't going to be an issue with fatigue for the weight of my pack.  But I was seriously dreading going back up "Cardiac Hill"

Last time we hiked it, I had to stop on the way up more times than I am proud of to make it up "Cardiac Hill" just the ascent to the base of that section of trail had been super strenuous for me and took me a few minutes to recover from while prepping to continue up the trail.  So, this time I set out with my children in the lead to keep a slower pace, and made sure that I took water breaks as needed, and got out of the way to let people pass in both directions, because we were definitely the slowest party on the trail that day.  To my surprise, I wasn't nearly as tired when we reached the bottom of "Cardiac Hill" as I had been the last time.  We took a brief pause to drink some water, and then we set up the hill.  We didn't take a single break on the way up the hill, and finished it much faster than I remembered it being last time.  In my mind "Cardiac Hill" was this gargantuan beast that needed to be treated with respect to survive, because last time it kicked my butt!  And this time, while slightly winded at the top, I was not nearly as exhausted as I had been the previous time.  We paused again at the top to drink some more water and catch our breath, and then continued up the trail, which from this point is pretty easy.

 

I will say that it was nice to go back and complete a trail that had seemed to be more work than reward the first time we went.  It's all about picking the right trail at the right time, and this rain definitely made this the right trail.  While I didn't get to spend time in solitude to meditate on this hike, since there were so many other hikers on the trail, I did learn a valuable lesson on this hike.  Things that were hard for you once, or seemed nearly impossible to accomplish get easier with time and practice.  Since I hiked Waimano the first time, I have completed much more difficult hikes, but Waimano still stood out in my mind as one of the hardest hikes on the island.  The first time I went it was just trying to check hikes off a list, and thought I should tackle this one, even though I was early on into hiking, and still fairly out of shape.  This time it was much more manageable and a better overall experience because I was prepared, mentally and physically for the trail.

I know I will pick trails in the future that are probably beyond my reach at that point in time, but it is always worth going back to a trail that kicked your butt the first time when you've gained more experience, and conquer it like a boss!  Same thing in life, just because something knocked you down once, doesn't mean it can't be conquered in the future.  Make sure you prepare yourself the best that you can, make sure you are ready mentally, physically, and spiritually!  Surround yourself with people who will help carry the load.  My children were those people for me on this hike, taking some of the weight of water and other drinks and snacks out of my pack.  While it definitely wasn't a huge amount of weight, it was enough to lighten the load and make the distance more manageable.  Prepare yourself appropriately for your challenges, and keep company with those who will support and enable you to complete your tasks.

Until the next hike...

Starting Out on a Rocky Path and Finishing with Serenity: Pu'u o Hulu and Wa'ahila Ridge to Mt Olympus

This week was a fun week for The Hiking Buddha.  Having been stuck at home for more than a week due to a new tattoo placed in a sensitive area, we were ready to get out and hit the trails.  There is a hike on the West Side of Oahu named Pu'u o Hulu.  It is a short steep climb that eventually leads to 5 different bunkers left over from WWII.  Definitely an interesting hike worth the time.  One of our neighbors has mentioned this as her favorite hike on island, and I've seen it pop up every now and then as an activity in the various hiking groups I follow on Facebook.  So, feeling like this would be a great little jaunt out of the house with the kids, I looked up directions in my trusty "Hiker's Guide to Oahu" and we set out. 

The West Side of Oahu is hot!  Having only done one other hike on this side of the island, I don't have much experience with the elements and what to expect on this side.  We parked on Kaukama Rd by the 9th street lamp and walked back to the trailhead, which is between the 7th and 8th street lamps.  This hike is straight up.  Following blue and pink ribbons over small rock formations up, and up, and up!  The boys were doing a great job scrambling up each section, I on the other hand, being the pack horse of the group, was struggling a bit.  So we took some breaks along the way for water and just to look out over the valley.  Every time we stopped, the boys would exclaim how beautiful the world is, and how much bigger they were getting than the valley below.  We kept going on until we got to a narrow section of trail with steep drops on either side that abutted an 8-10ft rock wall that needed to be climbed vertically.  Deciding that it was probably unsafe for me, alone, with my two boys to attempt this rock wall, we stopped here.  Posed for pictures with The Hiking Buddha and Little Brother Buddha, and carefully made our way back down the mountain to our car. 

When I got home, my neighbor, two doors down, who said this was one of her favorite hikes was outside, so I told her about our experience, to which she informed me that there is an easier trail a bit further up the road that takes you to the bunkers.  That is the trail that most people use.  So, for anyone wanting to do this hike, make sure you go on the easier trail if your children are with you, and feel free to do the harder trail when you are able to hike and only have to worry about you. ( I'm planning on heading to the easier trail sometime this week for a sunset hike, so stay tuned and I'll let you know how it goes.)

Feeling a bit disheartened, as the last three hikes I had attempted with Buddha ended up with turning around before reaching the final destinations, I started to verify plans for my weekend hike with my neighbor.  This hike was going to be the one to break my unlucky streak of not completing the length of the trails I was attempting.  My next door neighbor assured me she was definitely in on the hike, so we made plans to meet early and get on the trail so we weren't out in the heat of the day.

A quick side note about trail lengths in Hawaii.  I like to do my research before attempting any hike, check hiker blogs, hiking pages on facebook, guide books that I've purchased etc.  So the weekend hike I decided on is Mt. Olympus via Wa'ahila Ridge (you can get there from Kolowalu, which is a shorter leader trail, but ends up being pretty much straight up for a mile, and I was not in the mood for that kind of calf work). Having hiked Wa'ahila Ridge before, I knew where to go, and that the trail is only about 2.3 miles one way, the guide book that I use "Hiker's Guide to Oahu" says that the Olympus trail is 6 miles round trip, and talks about hiking it starting at Wa'ahila Ridge.  So, not knowing if that meant 6 miles total, or an additional 6 miles on top of the almost 5 for Wa'ahila, I packed a moderate amount of water and an abundance of snacks.  However, I will say that there are a few trails here on island that have many differing mileages depending on where you look.  I've found the best bet for an accurate answer is to ask people who've hiked it in person or through Facebook.

So, we reached Wa'ahila Ridge State Park at 0600 and parked outside the gate by someone's driveway, because the gate is locked until 0700, grabbed our packs and set out up the road.  When you get into the park, the trail is fairly obvious, you just keep going straight onto a wide dirt path.  The path is mainly uphill for this first little bit, then you come to a fork in the path with a sign pointing to the left.  For some reason many hikers continue going straight, which will still get you to where you need to go, it just takes a little meandering and wondering if you are lost.  So go left, which is downhill.  You'll follow the trail through pine covered tree roots still continuing down, then you'll come to the dirt path that you will follow the rest of the day.  Wa'ahila has a lot of up and down and a few boulder sections that need to be climbed over.  The steepest section has a side trail that is less difficult to the right.  There are a few trails that branch off, I'm not really sure where any of them go, just keep heading straight and eventually you will come to a large grassy clearing overlooking Honolulu and Diamondhead.  This was our first stop to put on our micro spikes and have a quick snack.  The first part of the trail from the car took us a little over an hour.

From here we kept going up the trail until we reached the "Don't go any farther" sign.  Here the path you take is directly behind the sign to the right.  The trail to the left is the other feeder trail, Kolowalu.  This is where the trail really started to get fun.  There are muddy sections that require you to use the help of ropes, or for us micro spikes (seriously the greatest purchase I've ever made).  There are a few rock formations that are a bit large that have to be climbed up and down along the way.  At one such section, I threw my hiking stick that I found with my sister on our hike up Haleakala two weeks ago, thinking it would stay on the trail below for me to retrieve when I safely got down. The stick, however, decided to jump right off the trail into the highly forested, extremely steep drop-off.  Well, apparently my neighbor is my best friend ever, as she spider monkey perched herself off the trail dangling over the drop-off to retrieve my walking stick, which we affectionately ended up naming Harry.

After that bit of shenanigans, we continued on the trail.  The up and downs start to give way to mainly up sections of trails.  The path is so well worn in places that there are "trench stairs" that you can attempt to climb up, or generally avoid by taking a side path.  There are also a few lovely grassy clearings along the way, each one giving more beautiful views than the last.
As we continued on, the wind started to pick up quite drastically, at times it was so strong that it pushed me slightly off balance.  Luckily, in my opinion, Mt Olympus is one of the less scary ridge trails (take this with a grain of salt as so far I've only hiked 3 or 4 ridges), so we didn't feel uneasy about the blustering winds. 

The last big obstacle on the trail before reaching the summit clearing (a small clearing just before the true summit that most people use as their stopping point) is a super muddy, long, rather steep section of trail.  There are 3 different approaches on this section of trail, and 3 different ropes (two of which are actually tied together at the top, so please be careful if you are on the smaller two ropes, you don't want to over burden them and have them snap on you.  Also, always ALWAYS check the ropes before you trust them, and even if you deem them safe, try and keep most of your weight off the rope.)  We chose the left side, which had some worn in trench stairs, and continued up into the clouds.  When we reached the clearing at the false summit, the clouds were whipping over the side of the Ko'olau so quickly, it was unlike anything I've seen before.  On a clear day, Mt Olympus gives you 360' views of the island, from Kaneohe Bay on the windward side, to Honolulu, and all the way out to the tip of the island on the West Side.  Today was not a clear day, however the whispy, fast moving clouds, and gale force wind made it an equally amazing experience.  We stopped at the top for nearly an hour, eating snacks, taking pictures, venturing down the trail leading to the true summit a little bit, but finding that with the wind and the narrowness of parts of the trail that it was best left for a different day, and ultimately taking some time to meditate.

My favorite thing in the world right now is meditating after reaching the summit or turning point of a trail. Hiking is a fun activity that most people can do, however when you reach the top of a trail that has taken you hours of scrambling, slipping, climbing, trusting ropes, and many, many breaks to stop and rehydrate and give your calves a rest so you don't get the world's worst "Charlie Horse", you feel a certain sense of accomplishment and euphoria.  Or at least I know I do.  I call this the "Hiker's High" a term I've heard used by many before, and it truly is one of the most amazing feelings in the world.  Couple that with the majesty of the view and the elements and it creates the perfect moment for reflection. 

I asked my neighbor to sit comfortably and explained that the best meditation for the day would be one of new beginnings.  The full moon is this weekend, and with that comes closing of old paths and the opening of new ones.  So, for this meditation we focused on releasing the stresses that are holding us back currently, and focusing some self-love and compassion while we head forward.  We sat silently focusing on our breathing in the gray cloud cover while Buddha sat watching us for 4.5 minutes.  I'm not sure what thoughts my neighbor had, however I can attest that this was one of the most positive experiences I've ever had.  While I sat there I focused on my breath with new beginnings in mind and just let my emotions and drifting thoughts wash over me.  For the first time ever, I was comfortable sitting in silence with someone else during this moment of quiet, not worrying about if she thought I was a total fruit cake or whatever.  I also had extremely positive, affirming thoughts about myself, and my current struggles and goals.  It was a well needed moment of reflection.  For the last 30 seconds of our meditation, the sun lit up the clouds, not truly breaking through them, but causing a bright glow to settle around us, pushing the gray out and leaving only bright and pure white light everywhere.  When the timer finally chimed and we opened our eyes, what had been gray and windy with slight moments of rain before, was aglow with refreshment.  What a wonderful manifestation of the exact thing we were focusing on, pushing out the negative, gray clouds, and replacing them with love and positivity, the white glow. 

Feeling refreshed and ready to head back down, we put Buddha safely away in my pack and started back down the trail.  By the time we reached the pine covered tree roots at the beginning of the Wa'ahila trail, we were both walking numb.  It was a long day, up to that point it had been just over 7 hours of hiking (we also took a long break at the top of the mountain and a few breathers during steep sections of the trail), and when we finally reached the car I pulled my hiking shoes off in pure joy!  I love my hiking boots, but 7 hours and 45 minutes of walking will make anyone want to spend the rest of the day barefoot. 

Overall, according to my Fitbit, the trail from just before the gate at the Wa'ahila Ridge State Park is 11.11 miles.  So, be prepared for a full day of hiking when attempting Mt. Olympus.  We also did 222 flights of stairs (not actual stairs, just what my Fitbit counted) and it took us 7hrs 44mins.  I'm sure most people could do it faster, but I enjoy the journey and my time in nature, not racing to the end and back.

So, the lesson I took from this week of hiking with Buddha, take your time in reaching the destination, and even if you are feeling down or discouraged love yourself.  You'll be amazed at what you can accomplish when you just are kind with how you treat yourself in action and in thought.  There were many times where I just wanted to turn around and say, "that's it, 7 miles is good enough."  There were times on the way back down the trail where I wanted to sit and not get up again, but then I would be stranded.  The journey will be long, hard, and unknown many, many times in your life.  Love yourself!  Life is too short to rush through it just to reach the end. Also, taking the wrong path doesn't mean you are a failure.  The paths will still be there, there will be another day, love yourself and your journey now!

Until the next hiking adventure...

Learning to Enjoy the Journey Despite Changes: Pu'u Haleakala, Kalawhine to Konahuanui, Byodo-In Temple and Bellows Beach

The greatest lessons can be learned only through experience.  As was the case with The Hiking Buddha's adventures this weekend.  My sister came in town to visit, and we decided we were going to hike as much as we could.
First up was a planned sunset hike for Pu'u Haleakala.  After researching exhaustively online, reading a few different blog posts, and asking for help in planning the route through a Facebook hiking group, we decided that going the shorter trail from the North West ridge across from the West Side Pavilion would be our best bet to reach the top by sunset.  This hike is actually the one that inspired The Hiking Buddha idea in the first place, as there was once a Buddha statue at the summit that has sadly been removed.  The original plan for my Buddha was to use it to replace the one that had been stolen.  However, after purchasing it and going through the logistics of the work it would take to cement/secure the Buddha in place as to prevent it from being stolen, carrying The Hiking Buddha on my back everywhere I go seemed a better alternative.

 We got there a bit later than expected, with only 2 hours until sunset and started up the trail.  The main problem was that we couldn't find a discernable trail and ended up forging our way through tall grasses, loose rocks, over some rock climbing sections and through thorny trees that cut up our arms a bit.  Luckily we found some perfect walking sticks on the way up, that helped a ton with our little trail blazing adventure.

 By the time the sun set, we hadn't made it up to the top of the first false peak.  So, we decided to regroup for a moment and descend back the way we had come.  After carefully navigating our way back down a rock face we had climbed in the dwindling light, (thank goodness for headlamps), we decided to meditate.  Sitting peacefully in the dark of night with only a sliver of a golden moon and a slight breeze, made for a great moment of reflection on the current predicament and how it holds true to plans in life.  When we finished our brief meditation, we both noticed a small light coming from the ridgeline that had, up to that point, been so elusive.  We decided to traverse over to the ridge and go down to the light.  Someone had placed a solar powered garden light on the trail, I'm assuming to help guide hikers like ourselves who have lost their way on the uncertain trail.  From there it definitely wasn't easy going, but I was less nervous about where we were headed and what we needed to do to get safely back to the car.

 The next morning, we got a bit of a late start yet again.  Being slightly uncertain about whether or not we should do the planned hike up Konahuanui, since I was definitely tired from our evening of lost adventure.  After a quick breakfast, we decided that Konahuanui still felt like the right trail, and off we went.  We reached the beginning of Kalawahine (our connector trail) around 11am, and set out with our packs and our walking sticks from the night before.  Personally, Kalawahine is one of my favorite jungle trails, it has nice views, great vegetation, and is a fun little trail.  We turned left at the Puaoa Flats junction and proceeded through all the tree roots, and the bamboo forest to the Puaoa Flats lookout above where the Lulumahu trail is located. We took a moment here to eat a snack, and grab some pics with The Hiking Buddha.  We also strapped on some micro spikes, as it was cloudy and misty on the mountain, and the last time I hiked up Konahuanui I wished I had better grip.

Off we set, and the burning in my calves was immediate.  I started having a hard time catching my breath, even though this was a trail I was familiar with, today was a different day with different circumstances. We opted to take the contour trail at the split instead of the ridgeline trail for the whole, since that was the trail I had hiked on my last trip up K2. The trail was in good condition, only a few spots that had drops you had to jump over, and they were obvious, so no danger of a missed step.  As we got higher and higher, the screaming in my calves subsided and we hit our hiking stride.

  When we reached the connection with the split ridgeline, the mist and cloud cover we had been hiking under started to turn into a soft rain.  We kept along the ridgeline, which is well worn in places with narrow trenches creating worn in steps.  Off to the left we could hear a waterfall, and when it came into view I was surprised to see a two tier beauty across the valley.  It hadn't been flowing as heavily the last time I was here, and it was a really cool find. 

 As we started climbing up another well worn stairs section, both of my calves started to cramp with a vengeance, and I couldn't continue any further.  We came upon the first clearing on the ridgeline and decided to take a food break and rest there to see if my calves would stop hurting.  As we sat and refueled, I pulled The Hiking Buddha out of my backpack yet again, and took a few pictures.  We decided it would be a good spot to take a moment and do another brief meditation.  As we began to meditate, the sky opened up and the rain started pelting down at an angle with a stiff wind.  When we opened our eyes, the cloud cover had come even closer to our current location, and there was a glow from the sun illuminating the contour trail and leaving the rest of the valley and stormy dimness.  We decided that while we would love to soldier on, heading down the trail was the right decision, and we started back down.

When we reached the lookout bench on Kalawahine, we took another moment to reflect on our experiences with a guided meditation. It was a wonderful way to spend Mother's Day and to bring closure to the hiking plans for our weekend.

 The next day we decided it was time to recharge and we spent the morning at Byodo-In Temple, feeding the Koi and paying our respects to Buddha.

  Then we went and frolicked in the beach on a wonderfully cloudy, yet not rainy day, at Bellows.

  Overall it was a great weekend with lots of activity and a perfect time of reflection and recharging.

 The lesson I learned from these two hikes is that sometimes even despite your best preparation and efforts, things just don't work out the way you had hoped.  Both trails didn't go as planned, both trails were left unfinished.  At first I had a very hard time with this, finishing and reaching the goals of the day is what I do.  However, despite the hikes not being complete, we still had a wonderful adventure filled with beauty.  The sunset and the new moon on Pu'u Haleakala was the most beautiful sunset I've seen since moving to the island.  The moon and the stars were so bright and vibrant, a rare sight out in the super populated area we live.  On Konahuanui, the beauty of the hidden waterfall I hadn't seen before, and the wonderfully refreshing and restorative rain during our meditation was what I needed to help me relax and accept that sometimes things don't workout how you planned, but they do work out how you needed.

Until the next hiking adventure...