We woke up in the morning after being starry-eyed last night, thanks again to Grant for the awesome tour of the CFH telescope, to drive all the way to Waimea. There is a large margin of error in the time it takes to get ready, especially when you have three guys in a room versus five girls in a room.

Picked up breakfast at McDonald’s and then somebody had to pick up their wallet back in the hotel room. Somebody ended up waiting longer. There is something called Hawaiian time and it does exist, Edgar.

White Road

Thanks to Grant for letting us park our cars in his yard. Somebody needs to work on their gluteus maximus so that they can feel their phone in their back pocket the next time and save a phone call.

White Road

We followed the speed limit and kept it under 25 mph as we exchanged pleasantries with the neighbors walking up the road.

White Road

A flock of sheep ran to the fence when they saw us coming up the road. Looking for food perhaps? No feeding of the wildlife, domesticated or otherwise. You’re baaaaad.

White Road

We paid a visit to Uncle Juni and after talking story about the Jacksons, continued down the road.

White Road

Mauna Kea with her shiny telescopes on the summit was strikingly clear in the background.

Kohala Forest Reserve

Some people were meant to climb over gates and not through them.

Kohala Forest Reserve

What are you guys doing over there? The gate is open, said the engineer.

Kohala Forest Reserve

Following the irrigation ditch as we meandered on the trail. I have read that some sources claim this trail was damaged by the 2006 Kiholo Bay earthquake and never repaired. We saw no signs of such trail damage. Maybe the menehunes fixed it at night?

Kohala Forest Reserve

Trying to find matching handprints. Like match. But for hikers.

Kohala Forest Reserve

Waiting for the rest of the group at the rather large bonsai tree. I didn’t know they made them that big.

Waipio Valley

The trail soon took us to an expansive view of the “Valley of the Kings.” Many Hawaiian Ali’i, hereditary chiefs, resided and ruled from here back in the day, including the most famous of them all, King Kamehameha I.

Waipio Valley

Photos can’t do justice to this striking and scenic valley carved from the “curved water” that has shaped its character over the years.

Waipio Valley

The slopes of Kohala mountain plunge more than 2,000′ down into the verdant valley floor.

Waipio Valley

Looking back into the valley.

Waipio Valley

A massive trickling waterfall.

Kohala Forest Reserve

The girls trying not to get their feet muddy crossing a short bridge, even though we are getting wet in the end. Things that make you go hmmm.

Kohala Forest Reserve

Carefully crossing over the slick water pipe braced by trusses for reinforcement and convenient handholds.

Kohala Forest Reserve

Drone view of the group crossing and sitting on the pipe.

Kohala Forest Reserve

When you talk so loud, it helps to have a pair of airpods. It helps even more if it’s in your ears and not at the bottom of the water pipe. Luckily, somebody could still retrieve it, bum ankle and all.

Kohala Forest Reserve

Drone view showing the pipe over the overgrown gully.

Kohala Forest Reserve

Drone view of the back side of the pipe facing out towards Waipio Valley.

Kohala Forest Reserve

Group photo on top of the water pipe.

Kohala Forest Reserve

We decided to not go through the tunnel and instead pushed our way through the overgrown trail hugging the cliff.

Kohala Forest Reserve

Building these trails so that the workers could construct the ditches was reputedly more dangerous and terrifying than building the ditch itself as the workers had to work during incessant rainstorms and landslides all along the edge of a thousand foot plus drop. Many pack mules fell to their death off these trails as it was being built.

Kohala Forest Reserve

Roseann leaving the trail for the ditch.

Kohala Forest Reserve

Grant had warned us that the area has been experiencing sparse rainfall as of late, so we were not surprised to find less than white water conditions.

Kohala Forest Reserve

Scott jumped in to check if the pool was deep enough and clear of any obstructions. He did find out it was rather cold.

Kohala Forest Reserve

I climbed up the side of the 35′ water flume to check out the irrigation tunnel on top.

Kohala Forest Reserve

Going up a shorter flume to check out more tunnels.

Kohala Forest Reserve

Standing amidst this engineering marvel that was constructed back in 1905-1906 at a cost of $650,000 using mainly 600 contract laborers from Japan overseen by Michael O’Shaughnessy, the Irish-born engineer that designed most of the water projects in the islands.

Kohala Forest Reserve

Andrew couldn’t wait for the mattress. Riding it raw.

Kohala Forest Reserve

Somebody made the sign of the cross before they pushed off. Must be the Catholic in them.

Kohala Forest Reserve

This is the last known picture of Lilyn’s sunglasses, before it disappeared in an explosion of water and sank to the bottom of the pool.

Kohala Forest Reserve

Don’t push me. I’m not ready. I need handles. Not love handles. Now I know how it feels to be a park ride operator.

Kohala Forest Reserve

Tossing down the inner tube and calling for the mattress. Thanks Andrew.

Kohala Forest Reserve

Missed it by that much.

Kohala Forest Reserve

Andrew jumping in one more time, as the water was so clear and inviting.

Kohala Forest Reserve

This is not Mission Impossible. Abort mission.

Kohala Forest Reserve

My ears were ringing loudly at the top, but it went away when I slid down to the bottom.

Kohala Forest Reserve

Aida and Tessa still got wet, the gentler version, without being slam dunked into the pool.

Kohala Forest Reserve

Trying to take our group photo from different angles. It didn’t work out well.

Kohala Forest Reserve

Enough pictures already. That’s a wet wrap. We were all freezing down to our epidermis. Time to get moving back to our cars.

Kohala Forest Reserve

We decided to go back through the tunnel, which was the more direct and shorter route.

Kohala Forest Reserve

Walking through part of the 57 tunnels collectively known as the Kohala Ditch that totaled 26 miles in length and supplied irrigation water to the sugar plantations in North Kohala until the 1970s. The ditch is still being used to supply water to the farms and communities in North Kohala and by tour companies that put paying tourists in kayaks to float through the ditches and tunnels.

Kohala Forest Reserve

Natural skylight through the tunnel.

Kohala Forest Reserve

Exiting the tunnel to the water pipe.

Kohala Forest Reserve

Some of the group chose to crawl through the pipe for the experience. Others chose the contour trail that bypassed the pipe.

Kohala Forest Reserve

Hiking out towards the now cloud covered Waipio Valley.

Kohala Forest Reserve

Family tree. See the resemblance?

White Road

On our way out, Uncle Juni wished us well and said we were welcome back anytime. Just to bring our friend, the Jacksons.

Driving back to Hilo, somebody realized that they forgot their pair of boots in the hotel room we had just checked out. Luckily, housekeeping decided it wasn’t their size.

Post hike meal at Van Vietnamese Cuisine where nothing beats a hot bowl of pho after sliding down a moss covered slope and hitting a body of semi-stagnant water. Maybe a cold Coke. Scotty picked up his boots and got dropped off at the airport to make his earlier flight.

All pau

We had time to kill before our flight, but not enough time for Narnia, so we dropped by Rainbow Falls and Boiling Pots. Swimming in the cold water under a hot sun makes one less receptive to driving their car back to civilization. Dropping the keys in the rocks doesn’t help as well. All in all, awesome weekend with fun friends.

Video by Edgar Gamiao of our hike.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ARz_asrtkk

Photos taken by Aida Gordon, Andrew Green, Edgar Gamiao, Lilyn Avendano, Quan Haberstroh, Roseann Fai, Scott Dea, Tessa Bugay and yours truly. Not necessarily in order.

Note: I have been made aware that some hikers have been using my blog as a hiking guide and getting lost on the trails. Please note that this blog was made to document the hike for the crew(s) that did it. That is why some of my comments will seem to have no relevance or meaning to anybody outside of the crew(s) that hiked that trail. My blog was never meant as a hiking guide, so please do not treat it as such. If you find inspiration and entertainment from these hikes, that is more than enough. If you plan on replicating these hikes, do so in the knowledge that you should do your own research accordingly as trail conditions, access, legalities and so forth are constantly in flux. What was current today is most likely yesterdays news. Please be prepared to accept any risks and responsibilities on your own as you should know your own limitations, experience and abilities before you even set foot on a trail, as even the “simplest” or “easiest” of trails can present potential pitfalls for even the most “experienced” hikers. One should also always let somebody know of your hiking plans in case something doesn’t go as planned, better safe than sorry.

We woke up refreshed after sleeping at a lower altitude and had breakfast at the Crater Rim Café. Subsidized eating always hits the spot.

KMC

Our stomachs full, we returned back to cabin #23 and enjoyed the crisp morning air and flowering lehua trees.

Mauna Loa Road

Matt and I drove up the tree lined road to recover his car, while everybody else got a few extra hours to pack and rest.

Mauna Loa Trailhead

The end of the road was absent of any cars or hikers.

Ke Amoku Flow

Passing through an old lava flow on our way down, that dates back before 1790 at 5,630′ elevation.

Mauna Kea Road

We drove back to KMC and swapped out cars as Matt who was still suffering from altitude sickness decided to stay and enjoy the lower elevation, while the rest of us planned to drive up to the summit of Mauna Kea and visit Lake Waiau, which at 13,020′ is the highest lake in the country.

Mauna Kea Road

Driving up the winding road which would have taken us from sea to summit in less than two hours, except we didn’t have a full tank of gas. The devil is always in the details.

Hale Pohaku

Marathon training at 9,300′ elevation.

Onizuka Center for International Astronomy

We took our group photo in the nippy air and decided to check out waterfalls since our summit drive got scrubbed.

Saddle Road

Going back down the road with rolling fog and driving rain.

Saddle Road

I think somebody wanted to continue their training and run back to Hilo.

Pe‘epe‘e Falls

We drove down to Hilo and stopped at our first waterfall. Peering around the lava rock that partially obscures the hidden falls. Photo by Cisco Quintanilla

Pe‘epe‘e Falls

Cisco standing in front of the 60’plus waterfalls that were formed as a result of lava flows from Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea that merged back in the day.

Boiling Pots

Wailuku River feeding the terraced pools that were just simmering today.

Rainbow Falls

We pulled into the parking lot for our second waterfall and walked past DLNR police questioning a truck of hippies for selling coconuts on state property. I guess no coconut water and rainbow today. Photo by Analyn Baliscao.

Wailuku River State Park

Bending over backwards to get that photo. Photo by Quan Haberstroh.

Home of Hina

Cisco standing over the cavernous lava cave as the falls flow over it. Photo by Quan Haberstroh.

Waianuenue Falls

Watching the 80′ falls as it plunged into the large pool. Photo by Cisco Quintanilla.

Rainbow Falls Connection

Got lavosh? Photo by Cisco Quintanilla

Akaka Falls State Park

Kaamaina’s get in free at the state park.

National tree of India

Monkey see, monkey do.

Banyan or Banian tree

You’re too big! Somebody was here in spirit. We went down the lower part of the park to check out the 300′ Kahuna Falls, but it was either dry or not visible to our naked eyes. Photo by Analyn Baliscao.

Akaka Falls

Go for Broke photo with the 442′ waterfall that is fed by Kolekole Stream.

Kitty litter

We didn’t see any of the endemic ‘o’opu ‘alamo’o (goby) or ‘opaekala’ole (shrimp), but we did run across a litter of feral kittens.

All pau

Met up with Matt at the end of the day at Saucy Dogs for our last meal on the Big Island. The flight back home was interrupted by the attempted smuggling of cans of Vienna sausage. Why not spam? Great week spent adventuring with good friends.

Note: I have been made aware that some hikers have been using my blog as a hiking guide and getting lost on the trails. Please note that this blog was made to document the hike for the crew(s) that did it. That is why some of my comments will seem to have no relevance or meaning to anybody outside of the crew(s) that hiked that trail. My blog was never meant as a hiking guide, so please do not treat it as such. If you find inspiration and entertainment from these hikes, that is more than enough. If you plan on replicating these hikes, do so in the knowledge that you should do your own research accordingly as trail conditions, access, legalities and so forth are constantly in flux. What was current today is most likely yesterdays news. Please be prepared to accept any risks and responsibilities on your own as you should know your own limitations, experience and abilities before you even set foot on a trail, as even the “simplest” or “easiest” of trails can present potential pitfalls for even the most “experienced” hikers.