Another week of rain kept me off the mountains again. That is why I found myself in the Pali lookout with Chris, Jose and Thessa to go waterfall hunting. Waipuilani Falls to be exact. Thanks to Ryan for the idea, who unfortunately had to go to work instead of playing in the forest.

Feed me?

One of the stray cats looking for a handout in the parking lot. You would think with all the chickens strutting around. . .?

Waipuilani Falls

Walking on the Pali Highway, we caught a brief glimpse of the falls.

Spartan flashbacks

We forgot our keys, so we had to jump the fence.

Nuuanu forest

Walking on the jeep road with no jeep.

Bamboo forest

We soon left the jeep road behind us as we headed deeper into the forest.

Tie a pink ribbon

The trail was pretty much defined, reinforced with pink and orange ribbons.

Follow the stream

We soon hit the stream and followed it to the source.

Trickling

Group photo left to right: Chris, myself, Thessa and Jose. The falls on the left are usually dry, but we had some flow due to the heavy rains from yesterday. We were expecting thunderstorm weather which would have fueled the waterfalls. Where is Guy Hagi when you need him?

Tunnel

We climbed between the waterfalls to check out the grotto looking tunnel. The only thing standing between us and the tunnel was a spider web. Guess who prevailed?

Rat!

Heading into the tunnel, I saw a small rodent aka rat, drop from the tunnel ceiling and scurry into the pipe. At least he didn’t land on my head.

End of the tunnel

The tunnel ran for about 50 feet before it ended. Shucks, I thought we were going to pop out somewhere in Manoa.

Somebody has been here

Walking towards the light.

Orchids

On the way back, sometimes you have to stop and smell the orchids.

Whose wall?

Remnants of a time long ago.

Spider #1

Checking out the numerous spiders that make their home on the edge of the Pali Highway.

Spider #2

Too bad we don’t have man-made spider webs to catch all the rubbish that people seem to throw from their cars. That’s right, we do. It’s called a garbage can. Chris started picking up the rubbish as we made our way back to the Pali Lookout. The rest of us started to pitch in, but we barely made a dent.

Spider #3

Spider snacking on his lunch.

Hitchhikers

Nobody picked us up. Guess we weren’t showing enough skin.

Kalihi Saddle

Walking down the Old Pali Road, looking at Kalihi Saddle, one of the hardest hikes I’ve done to date. Still have to complete the Bowman side. Just waiting for the weather to dry out.

Pali falls

I heard there is a plane wreckage above these falls. Have to check it out one day.

From the old to the new

Looking at the falls cascading down from the Old Pali Road to the current Pali Highway.

GPS Tracks

Despite the no-show of thunderstorm activity that would have greatly enhanced our waterfall viewing pleasure, it was a short and fun four mile hike.