White Road Hike

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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

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

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.

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

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

Looking back into the valley.

A massive trickling waterfall.

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.

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

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

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.

Drone view showing the pipe over the overgrown gully.

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

Group photo on top of the water pipe.

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

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.

Roseann leaving the trail for the ditch.

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.

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

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

Going up a shorter flume to check out more tunnels.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

Missed it by that much.

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

This is not Mission Impossible. Abort mission.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

Natural skylight through the tunnel.

Exiting the tunnel to the water pipe.

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

Hiking out towards the now cloud covered Waipio Valley.

Family tree. See the resemblance?

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.

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.

Tagged as: boiling pots, kohala forest reserve, rainbow falls, waipio valley, white road