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.

Allison and I flew to the Big Island for a weekend of well-planned waterfalls. Greg picked us up at the airport where we were whisked to his house, met up with the rest of the group and got treated to a home cooked meal. No local breakfast wouldn’t be complete without Portuguese sausage.

Upper Piihonua Bridge

We parked on Piihonua Road and walked over the bridge built in 1976 to check out the double tiered waterfall.

Trailhead

This must be the trailhead. Just follow the sign. No guessing needed.

Trail

Ascending the Earth to climb a waterfall or something close to that.

Four Falls

Allison wanted to get to the bottom of the non-existent falls, but we left as there was no water to play in.

Reservoir Road

The sound of music filled the air as we walked down the dirt road to see more waterfalls.

A Bridge Too Far

Some of us headed up the road while the others peeled away towards the waterfalls. We soon turned around after seeing Wailuku River coursing its way under the bridge but not another dam thing.

Trail

Making our way over the fallen tree that was blocking the trail. Photo by Tina Ray.

Trail

Catching our first glimpse of the waterfalls ahead of us.

Narnia

Setting foot in the waterfalls of Narnia as Mother Nature is a much better author than CS Lewis.

Narnia

Cody blending in with the waterfalls. Photo by Tina Ray.

Narnia

Walking across the wardrobe dam to see the lion and the witch.

Narnia

Heading towards the front falls where a lot of jumping and splashing were going on.

Narnia

Enjoying the peace and tranquility while it lasted. Photo by Allison Banks.

Narnia

The herd slowly migrated to the back falls so we exchanged spots.

Narnia

Greg, Michael, Cody and Tina all took advantage of the now vacated falls to make their splash.

Narnia

Leaving the waterfalls as it started raining and some of us didn’t want to get wet.

Narnia

The rain stopped, so we rounded the corner to check out more waterfalls.

Narnia

Talk of climbing the waterfalls to the bridge quickly dissipated due to lack of webbing and interest.

Narnia

Checking out a potential jumping spot on our way back. You first. Photo by Allison Banks.

Narnia

Allison testing the waters with background encouragement. Photo by Greg Ventura.

Narnia

Group photo left to right: Greg, Anna, Allison, Tina, Cody and Michael in the back.

Trail

Michael jumping over the blowdown as he wanted to make like a tree and leave.

All pau

Spotty cell reception didn’t prevent Greg from phoning in our lunch order as we walked back to our cars.

Saucy Dogs

We had the best sausage filled buns South of Hank’s Haute Dogs and then walked down memory lane to Sugar Coast Candy.

Wailuku River

Making our way down the hillside dotted with new homes that seems to want to keep the river to themselves. We left our air mattresses behind as the original plan to hike and swim up the river and float our way back down dissolved due to lack of time. Besides there was that old saying about don’t go swimming after eating.

Wailuku River

Walking along the longest river in the islands.

Wailuku River

One has to rock hop before one can swim.

Wailuku River

The secondary plan was making our way to the chutes, that makes Maunawili Moss Slides look pathetic I was told, eventually got swept away as well due to lack of time. We fell back to frolicking in the water.

Floater

We thought there was a dead body in the river, but it was just Allison trying to float. Photo by Tina Ray.

Rope Swing

Lacking any built in flotation devices, I swam over to the other side hoping to catch some air. No such luck. Straight to the drink. The other guys fared much better. Photo by Allison Banks.

Wailuku River

Anna and Greg decided to swim down the river while the rest of us raced them back to the trailhead on the river bank.

Landlubbers

Back on dry land with squishy shoes.

Reeds Island Bridge

Crossing back over the wooden bridge that was built back in 1899, closed in 2013 and reopened in 2014. Total mileage for the day came to a little over three miles with many waterfalls and water time between our shoes.

All pau

Catching the sunset on our way back. The rest of the group drove to Kailua-Kona to pet the sea monkeys or swim with manta rays or something to do with marine life. I chose to chill at the Lucas house, watched the History Channel and had my fill of not so great beef stew from Kozmic Cones. Should’ve got the ice cream instead. Photo by Allison Banks.

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.