From Hawaiian Bu
Both Chinese Bu and I have been saving this hike for a while now, mostly due to the fact that we needed to included Dawn for this adventure. She's been telling us for a long time that she wanted to do it, and that we were NOT to attempt it without her. Driving out to Hau'ula, we get to to the closed down gate area, and decide to park on the main road on the mauka side of Kam Hwy. It's pretty sobering to visit something that I haven't done in over 15 years, mostly because of the Mother's Day tragedy. (For those of you not aware, Kaliuwa'a is also known as Sacred Falls). The length was not the issue for any of us: it was the mana you could feel as you began the trail, humbled by the power located within the valley walls. We even stopped off at the Ching store to get Hawaiian Salt, just in case.
The trail is a flat gravel road, following Kaluanui stream on the right. It forks, and we decided to stay on the path to the left with the stream. We finally reached the clearing before heading into the covered brush when Chinese Bu stopped us and directed us to go back. There was a truck with siren lights parked on the side of the trail. We decided that this would be the time to go rock hopping on the stream to bypass the truck. However, there was a uniformed guard posted up on a bench, right past the truck area, and we had no way to get around him without getting spotted. Luckily, he was faced the opposite way and didn't see us. We got out of there and headed back for the fork.
As we were making plans to go above and around the guy, I heard voices behind us. We looked back and it was 3 tourists, each one of them carrying yellow tickets. It seems the guard cited them for trespassing! Fortunately for them, they were at least able to visit the falls. Plus they were leaving the island in a few days, and they would not be able to attend their court date.(court date?!?) They also mentioned that another group was up on the trail and that the guard was waiting to cite them. They said the guard had seen a lot of cars parked nearby and decided to check out the falls. I guess these are the measures our wonderful state was willing to go through not to have to pay million dollar lawsuits again.
Convinced that we had no way of visiting the falls without getting caught, we left there and decided to go with a backup plan. A quick look at the trusty Blackberry, and we were on the road to Hamama Falls, a beautiful cascade located in the back of Kahalu'u. We walked past a BWS gate on a gravel road for a good few miles. Along the way we ran into several people familiar with the area. Chinese BU and I had long heard about a "secret" water hole located in the Kahalu'u area, and these people helped us find it. It's a nice little hole, but we both feel that we have experienced better places (Kahana, Waimalu Ditch, Waiakeakua, Ice Pond).
The walk up to the falls is a good test. Because of the gravel road, not every step is sure-footed, and it is a winding, twisting, maze that doesn't give any viewpoint of the destination. However, all three of us had accomplished Stairway, so this really was no comparison. The falls at the top is pretty! There is no place to swim, but it is beautiful, and the water is clean. Board of Water Supply always has the best places to visit if you like waterfalls! After the trek up to the falls, we headed back to the swimming hole to check it out and take a dip. I guess a lot of the people in the community like this place, since we seen all type of people on bikes, dirt bikes, we seen dogs, families, you name it, they were there. But they all seem to have a very healthy respect for the place, which I really like. Too many of our water resources get "pimped out" and neglected. That's why you must have our respect before we tell you where the '"secret" is and how to get there.
All in all, a pretty good day before the storm hits. Expect us to repost information from previous adventures here. There's alot to write about, and people been bugging us about when we are going to put up the stuff they were a part of. We'll get to it, we promise. For now, take care and come back and visit us soon.
Picture of Hamama Falls
Chinese BU deciding to jump from the swimming hole
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