Well, I was out my Favorite Chinese Buddy for the weekend, so I needed to get my Hiking fix in somehow. I figured why not get some of the college students to, ummm, plan an event. Oh you want to do a hike? Well, what type of a hike? A waterfall one you say? I have a few suggestions.
You can see how that went. Suffice to say they "picked" a hike that, lo and behold, I've never done before. And I must admit that it turned out to be a good choice for the group that I was trucking up the mountain. I know they had a good time.
There's not too much to report here for this hike, basically it's like a carbon copy of Laie Falls. You park at the same baseball field, walk the same road, until you get to the Laie Falls sign. Then you stay on the road some more until you get to a big blue Private Property sign, then go through the gate on your left. The hike reminds me of the same thing we did for Laie Falls: up the mountain towards the the main junction, encounter big stretches of dirt patches, go through the ironwoods, past Uluhe ferns, and choke Strawberry Guavas. Even the view is almost the same, just one ridge over.
The biggest difference is the path down to the falls. It's waaay longer and more treacherous than Laie. You need to be vigilant going down the mountain and maintain focus. But the reward at the bottom is pretty damn awesome. A multi-tiered waterfall to the right, and a big beauty to the left. The water was cold and a little murky, but a welcome reprieve nonetheless.
I was very happy for the students because they got the chance to get to a waterfall that was working! (Read Kalauao to find out what I'm talking about) They really like the hikes we've picked for them. Not that strenuous, but still a challenge, with a great reward at the end. I might need to change the scheduled hike out to Kaena Point with them and take them on another adventure like the previous two. Or I might not, I'm not sure yet, because I really like Kaena.
Malaekahana Falls? It was alright, it made you work hard to get to it, but not unattainable. I don't know if I would do this one again, maybe if I was on that side of the island, and I got sick of Laie Falls. I think both hikes are very similar, but at least I get to say that I did both of those waterfall hikes. Put another feather in the cap!
Oh, you guys probably figured out that I'm not a picture taking type of guy, but I will try to get some of the students pics that they have. I'll say something like we need them to file a report on the activity, or something like that. Honestly, I love this group of students I'm working with. They are hella cool!
The Hike up to Malaekahana Falls
The Coastline View
Brother Dan about to jump from the upper falls
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