Waiahole Ditch System

Scott invited Alex, Andrew, Matt and myself to see if we could make two ends meet today. Alas, the only thing that would meet today is our group at the starting point.

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Getting our feet wet. The theme of today.

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To climb or contour. Why hike hard, when you can hike smart?

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Running across either a dumping spot or homeless encampment. The stuff you find: a refrigerator, two-toned frogs and a bullet holder that even had some bullets in it.

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Where can I get tires, windows, engine, brakes, battery, alternator, radiator and other parts to fix up my truck?

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I think I found the place just down the road.

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The nearby hill was doing its imitation of Kilauea, with clouds replacing spewing lava fountains.

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Hiking the back roads.

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Welcome to the Jungle, with a capital J.

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All tributaries are streams, but not all streams are tributaries. So what are we looking at? Tomato. Tomatoe.

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Hugging the verdant cliff as we made our way on the irregular path.

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Traversing over a trickling waterfall on the trail.

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Navigating through one of many blowdowns in the forest.

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Our first tunnel of the day. Dry tunnel.

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Preliminary inspection of the moving and deep water seems to have prematurely dashed our exploration goals of today.

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Exiting the dry tunnel for the wet tunnel.

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Scott said this waterfall was not flowing on his last visit. While a treat for our eyes, not an opportune time to explore a tunnel filled with water.

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What’s the plan?

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Standing around the hole of death. Looks more deadly from above.

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Leaving the discharge of water as we were going to find out how far we were going to make it in the tunnel system today. A tunnel too far. The original plan was to find and exit through one of six development tunnels that were built during 1925-1935.

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Reflections. Stepping foot in this engineering marvel that was constructed during 1913-1916 to transfer water from the Windward to the Leeward side to feed the sugar industry.

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When the water’s brown, turn around?

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Finding old nails, bolts still hammered into the mountain and mineral deposits and biofilms as we churned the tunnel water.

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Passing through a section of reinforced tunnel.

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Walking through the numerous discharges of water coming from the sides of the tunnel.

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Checking out a possible exit tunnel. Dead end.

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Andrew coming down from a possible air shaft, but he could not see the light at the end of the tunnel.

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Matt checking out one of the exits that was blocked with mud and rocks.

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Well, if we get lost, at least we can dig our way out.

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Trudging in the tunnel water gave our legs a good workout. The entire ditch system is 26.5 miles long and passes underneath the Koolau Mountain Range. That’s just mind boggling to grasp that this tunnel system was built over a century ago most likely in backbreaking, dangerous and primitive conditions for the laborers that did the work. Hats off to them and then some.

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Making our way back out to natural illumination.

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Group photo in the ice cold pool.

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We retraced out steps, more or less, to get out of the jungle and the back roads.

All pau

Time to wash up and head back to our cars. Post hike meal at Waiahole Poi Factory. How fitting. Thanks to Scott and company for an amazing adventure that covered 5.35 miles today.

Photos taken by Alex Timely, Andrew Green, Matt Vidaurri, Scott Dea 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.

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