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Hike: Kalauao |
Time Started: 3:50 PM |
Party: Wayne Shibata & Alex Okihara | |
The trail starts off at the upper parking lot of the Keaiwa Heiau State Recreation
Area. The beginning of the trail is the same as the 'Aiea Loop Trail.
We veered left off of the 'Aiea Loop Trail, and headed down to Kalauao Stream.
The trail descended slowly, until we reached the mango tree. From there, the trail
was a steep descent to the valley floor. The stream was dry at the time of our
visit.
After 20 minutes or so, we reached the the place where the waterfall should be.
It was bone dry. There was, however, a pool of stagnant water at the bottom. Halfway
up the top was a rope tied to a tree limb. It looked like fun, and I had to go
for a swing!
Here is a shot from the top of the dry waterfall, looking downstream. After
some pictures and being feasted upon by mosquitoes, we turned back to reach our
car.
The Story:
If you've got an itch, you've got to scratch it, and today, I was itching to go on a hike. I just couldn't wait until the weekend. So after finishing work at 3:15 PM, Wayne and I headed out to Keaiwa Heiau State Recreation Area (open 7:00 AM until 6:45 PM) in search of the Aiea Loop Trail which leads to a waterfall along the Kalauao Stream. The directions, as given by Stuart Ball, are pretty straightforward.
At 3:50 PM, we started our hike onto the Aiea Loop Trail. The initial part of the hike, before reaching the mango tree at the junction (point C in Ball's book), is pretty mellow and fairly level with an occasional gradual climb or dip.
While walking through one of the long stretches of strawberry guava, I accidentally swallowed a tiny moth while talking to Wayne. There were many moth-like bugs flying in the forest, and I guess it was just a matter of time before one decided to fly into my mouth. I had to take a short break to wash the little bugger down with some water.
After a little while further, we reached the mango tree. After turning right onto the narrow trail, the hike descended very steeply.
At the bottom, we found a dry stream bed. We continued upstream. Along the way, there were several pools of stagnant water. Inside the pools were the hugest prawns that I've ever seen. In the first pool that we encountered, there must have been over 15 huge prawns dashing around, searching for a good hiding place from us humans.
After an hour, we reached the very dry waterfall and the swimming hole. It was very nice and peaceful, but there were many mosquitoes buzzing about. I tried not to eat another insect.
It was getting late, and we didn't want to be locked in (since the park closes at 6:45 PM), so we started to head back after 10 minutes of cruising at the dry waterfall.
The climb back up was pretty killer. It was very steep, and seemed much more longer going up than it was coming down. What a workout!
At 6:16 PM, we arrived back at my car, promising ourselves to return one day after a heavy rain.
Notes: The views on this trail are mostly obscured by the tall trees on the ridge. There are many cool looking trees along the way: knotted pine, paper trees, etc.