Manoa Middle to Waikeakua Falls (Annoying Church Slut’s Birthday Hike)

The Annoying Church Slut decided to have Sunday service in the mountains with some of her friends today.

We parked in the shadow of the house that bore witness to a tragic crime over two years ago and stepped foot on the seven bridges or seven falls trail.

Edgar documenting the hike as we crossed over the second bridge.

We soon plunged into the jungle as we left the bridges behind us and didn’t get to test the theory of seven out and six back in.

Group photo at the stairway to salvation.

Making our way down to the stream fed pool.

Can you see me for the trees?

The birthday girl ready for her first ascent up the ridge which was virgin territory for her.

Making our way up the initial steep climb up the rooted and roped ridge.

Are we talking about the person or the trail?

Back to our regularly scheduled program of climbing up the unrelenting ridge line infested with uluhe ferns.

I guess we’re taking a short break here.

Somebody said she knows how I think. Group photo!

Edgar against the backdrop of the wide and vast verdant valley, which has seen the area transitioned from taro patches, to coffee and sugar plantations to the current residential development.

The birthday girl leading the charge up the short and steep hill.

Aida looking back at Manoa Valley which has been settled since the 1400s and was a favorite retreat for the ruling class back in the day due to the cool climate.

The group approaching the summit of Manoa Middle.

We arrived to find out that the top was being temporarily occupied by three campers; Austin Wakinekoa, Marc Moody and Andrew Bui. They had hiked up from Manoa Middle Ridge the day earlier and were enjoying their campsite until we crashed their party. Austin even gave Allison a shot of vodka for her birthday to chase down her carrot.

I think this was a first for everybody involved, celebrating a birthday with baby carrots. Happy Birthday ACS!

Time to leave the summit as the trio were breaking down their camp and were planning on hiking back down Manoa Middle Ridge. Nice meeting the braddahs.

We soon caught up with Stefan and Kaitano? who had come up from the Kalawahine Trail and were taking a break on the trail. Allison found out from Stefan that they had descended down Waikeakua Ridge a couple of weeks ago and was sharing his stories of slipping off the ridge almost 30 times, had wanted to cry and that the descent down the waterfall was steep and barren of trees to hang onto. As somebody in our group would say, Ririii?

Let the congregational singing commence. In this particular case, congregation is defined as singular.

Allison flashing the shaka or OK sign? Let the singing continue.

Weaving our way in and out of the stand of pine trees that were smack dab in the middle of a thin ridgeline.

Now we can literally say we are out of the woods. Marked as safe and sound.

Allison balancing on the tightrope of rocks masked with vegetation. Perspective.

Contouring our way around on the Old Castle Trail, which stretches from Nu’uanu Reservoir to Ka’au Crater.

Popping out by Sedan Rock, nobody wanted to take a test drive, so we continued on the Old Castle Trail.

Edgar checking his weather app to confirm what we already knew, it was raining in the mountains.

Rounding the corner so to speak as parts of the trail were overgrown and almost lost back to the aina.

Taking a break before the start of Waikeakua Ridge, as stories of slipping off almost 30 times bounced around somebody’s head(s).

Does that count as the first slip?

Cristy on her way down.

Anticlimactic slide. Let’s try again and make it a bit more dramatic shall we. Arms flailing and screaming beyond comprehension.

The group trying not to slip off the ridge on their way down.

Taking the trampled trail.

The ridge soon leveled off a bit and became swallowed in uluhe ferns.

Spoke too soon as Allison came sliding down a steep section of the trail.

The rest of the group scrambling their way off the ridge.

Looking at the trickling upper falls.

Two can play that ChatGPT game. We all made it to the bottom of the ridge way short of 30 slips. Aloha Amen.

Following the ribbons as we paralleled the stream.

Mushrooms are nature’s recyclers as they decompose dead organic matter and turn them into nutrients.

Following the stream down, some took it literally.

Looking down at the first major drop. Is this the steep part the two hikers were talking about? Must not be, as there were a lot of surrounding trees.

We soon met up with CB who had gotten off from his part-time job and hiked up the falls to meet us.

The girls scrambling their way down the crumbly cliff.

Drone view of our first waterfall for today.

Group photo at the tallest of the waterfalls being fed by Waikeakua Stream.

Leaving the waterfall in search of more waterfalls.

The group climbing between a rock(s) and hard branches. At least we weren’t stuck.

Collective photo at the base of the second waterfalls. They seem to be getting smaller. Is that a function of gravity?

The scientific explanation is that when a denser object (rock) enters water, the kinetic energy is converted to a rapid displacement of water particles. The practical explanation is that it’s fun and visceral satisfying.

Cristy climbing down to join Allison and the others.

The rest of the group making their way down to the last waterfall. No group photo. I think somebody had to go.

When you gotta go, you gotta go.

Passing by a colony of Fairy Inkcaps.

Crossing over one of the non-countable bridges.

Paying respects at the rock memorial dedicated to the 11-year old English lad who was killed by a falling rock on a Sunday School picnic in Manoa Valley.

Exploring the two opposing irrigation tunnels consisted of squeezing my round body in a square hole. Literally.

Some of us took the high road and others took the low road to get out of the trail.

The group’s out of tune but hilarious rendition of “One Day.” Best to leave the singing to the professionals – kids. Thanks to Susan for loaning us the ukulele and everybody else for their participation.

Our birthday hike covered 4.48 miles on ridges and waterfalls. Something for everybody. Thanks to everybody that came out to hike in Allison’s Birthday Hike.

Post hike meal at the place where it takes up to 40 minutes wait for Udon Tempura and somebody can do better than that by cooking his own lunch across the street and he doesn’t pay money to that kind of *bleep* guy. Missed out on the complimentary vegetable tempura and selective free drinks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcRsmwiIuYo

Video by Edgar Gamiao of our birthday hike.

Photos/Crew taken by Aida Gordon, Aileen Agustin, Akira Suzuki, Allison Banks, Ani Lagpacan, Chris Bautista, Cristy CM, Edgar Gamiao, Kenny Lui, Marilyn Bermudez, Roger Schiffman, 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: koolau summit ridge trail, ksrt, manoa middle ridge, manoa middle summit, old castle trail, queen's bath, waikeakua falls, waikeakua ridge