Tantalus Ramble III - April 7 Loop

On April 7, 2012 I headed up Tantalus for another ramble and a nice 5.41 miles loop in the hills above Makiki. I started on the Manoa Cliffs trail, up the Pu`u `Ohi`a Trail, down the old telephone road from Pu`u `Ohi`a, down the Nahuina Trail, accross the Makiki Valley Trail, and finally up the Moleka Trail back to the start of the loop at the Manoa Cliffs trailhead.

I quickly made my up the Manoa Cliffs trail and past my 1995 Eagle Scout project.

The Ko`olau at the back of Manoa Valley was clouded over, but still pretty.

At the Pu`u `Ohi`a junction I headed left up to the top of the Tantalus crater. The State has cleared a large section of bamboo that had previously lined the trail.

I headed down the old Telephone Road to the Kalawahine trail head.

Headed across and down the road to the Nahuina Trail.

The Nahuina Trail is short and leads to the junction of the Makiki Valley Trail and Kaneaole Trail (which leads down to the Nature Conservancy in Makiki).

Cross a little bridge and before you know it you're at the junction of the Makiki Valley, Maunalaha and Ualaka`a Trails.

Continued on the Makiki Valley Trail until it reached the Moleka Trail junction. Headed up the Moleka Trail, through some bamboo, under some nice homes, and back to my car at the Manoa Cliffs trail head.

GPX available here:

Rest of the pictures here:

Tantalus Ramble Part II

On March 31 2012 I headed up Maunalaha Trail and connected to the `Ualaka`a Trail and topped out at the Pu`u `Ualaka`a State Wayside and lookout. Maunalaha is relatively uninteresting. It's a moderately steep climb to the `Ualaka`a Trail junction.

 

 The trail offers virtually no views or scenic lookouts.

 

At the end of the trail there is a junction with the Makiki Valley Trail and the `Ualaka`a Trail. I headed right on the Makiki Valley trail which connects further down the trail to the `Ualaka`a Trail.

 

 

 The Makiki Valley Trail crosses Tantalus Drive then descends to Pu`u `Ualaka`a Park and the lookout.

 

Along the was a swing setup. The swing had a beautiful view of Diamond Head.

 

The trail to Pu`u `Ualaka`a Park was lined with tall trees.

   

At the park the views of Manoa, Kaimuki, Waikiki, McCully and Diamond Head were magnificent.

 

 I returned to Maunalaha Trail on the `Ualaka`a Trail. I passed this interesting skirt on one of the tall pine trees.

 

From there it was back to the Makiki Valley/Maunalaha Trail junction, down Maunalaha Trail and back to my car.

Rest of the pictures here:

Hamama Falls - March 24, 2012

Another Saturday, another hike with Kai and the girls. Today Kai, Anale`a, `Olena and I headed up Waihe`e Valley to Hamama Falls. Hamama Falls is located in a restricted watershed area, and access is technically restricted. Despite warnings of no trespass, the Falls and the dirt/gravel road leading to the falls are well trodden and quite a popular hike/walk. Due to recent rains the road to the falls was pitted and stripped away at points, with large pot holes and boulders strewn on the path.

A few minutes into the hike there's a popular swimming hole. Just past the swimming hole is the entrance to the Board of Water Supply's Waihe`e Tunnel. More about the tunnels and the 5 millions gallons of water that flow through this dike tunnel can be found here.

Once past the Waihe`e Tunnel it's only a few more minutes to Hamama Falls.

At the base of the falls is a large pipe, which you can hear the rushing torrent of water flow through. A little spigot leaked some of the pressurized water.

We stopped to rest and take some pictures. The girls loved the spray of the cold water and the excitement of the falls.

Top of Hamama Falls

We soon started back after enjoying the beauty of Hamama Falls. Despite a brief downpour of rain on our way to the falls, no other chutes were flowing that day.

Here's a video of our hike:

A timelapse video of us at the falls:

Rest of the pics here:

Map of the hike: