But enough about the video games. Recently, I did the seven falls again with Maxx. He wanted to do some kind of hike before he had to go back to school so we opted to do the falls over the stairs. At 5:00 in the morning on Sept 11 we set out on the dark road into the falls and although i packed everything i even thought we needed, i forgot a flashlight. I keep one in my car though...but that one died a couple minutes in. We went pretty slow on the manoa falls trail and by the time we got to the falls, the sun had already risen.
After we got to the first fall, we went through the same trail along the side, which was easier because we had put ribbons there the previous time. The only difference in the trail was that someone stole the rope we laid out. I expected to see it later on in the trail, but our rope was nowhere to be found. We were curious as to what was above the seventh fall, so went up over it to see what was there. Contrary to the other falls where there was always running water and a pool, it was pretty dry up there and there were a bunch of huge boulders scattered among a small forest of thin trees. The water only trickled down from this area to the rest of the falls. Was this finally the end we wanted to see? I set my phone to track us and it as it turns out, no. We were only about half the distance to the peak, which, in this case, is Konahuanui. When we were atop the seventh fall, we were hungry so we turned the bunch of boulders into a restaurant in the mountains. The rocks are flat enough to sit on and they were perfect for eating our meals on as well.
That was about it for the falls. We decided to turn back and i figured i would go with Kevin and Dewey to see the very end of the falls in the future.
Anyway, its been a while since we did the stairs too, and the most recent time i can remember was when we went up at night to try to see a meteor shower. Were gonna try go up again this weekend either at night or early morning.
It was about a month ago. At 10:00 in the dark of the night Me, Maxx, Dewey, and Clarissa were at the entrance and it was drizzling pretty hard. Still, we continued on up. The clouds and the rain foiled our plans of seeing any meteors, however, and we only made it to the first lookout after an hour. When we shined the flashlight up the mountain, it was instantly swallowed up by the darkness and the clouds so we decided to turn back cuz we wouldnt see anything anyway, and just in time because once we got to the area where Kevin and Laredo sit, it started to pour like hell. We bum rushed it back to the cars and finally got in, but not without getting soaked first. And of course, the tradition is to always follow up with Wailana after a haiku stairs hike, so we made our way over to that 24 hour restaurant down in waikiki. We walked in around midnight, soaked, and slightly muddy, attracting the stares of all the other customers in the restaurant. Everyone ordered the pancake special and had their fill. After conversing about the ups and downs of the hike, we agreed we should try it again on a clearer night. It would be lots of fun to chill at the building up top and observe the scenery.
I guess i didnt realize that i actually did more hikes than i thought. Dewey, Sarah and I did the Waʻahila trail hike on sept 18 around 12:30-1. We were on a deadline because the gate to the parking area was to be locked at 6:45 and i read the hike would take around 4-6 hours. The trail is your typical Koʻolau trail, with you hiking up the mountain, then along a ridge to one of the many peaks. This trail is kinda like Kulepeamoa because it's overflowing with strawberry guavas. The difficulty isnt as high though; it isnt like kulepeamoa where you gain a lot of altitude while you dont travel very far horizontally. The altitude gain is gradual and you get a sort of hea start because the trail entrance is at the top of st louis heights, so it's like wiliwilinui as well. We grabbed as many healthy looking strawberry guavas as we could and took them home to eat. I might try to make a jelly with them but i dont know if i picked enough. With all the picking, we almost forgot about our deadline, but dont worry we made it to the peak too. We came back through where we entered and back to the cars. We checked the time-only 5:00. The hike is good exercise and there are uluhe ferns along the climb to the peak. There is a sign that lets you know that the trail past the sign isnt maintained and past that sign is where the uluhes start. If you dont want the irritation from the ferns scratching your legs and want to see the summit, pack some long pants. Also, be prepared for mud if you go past the sign.
Those are the recent hikes i've done and kevin has a pretty big list of hikes he wants to do as well as skydiving, so when we get time, we're gonna do the fun hikes and dive in the sky.
I know, I just wasted a bunch of time writing this, but i had fun doing it, and when i come back to read about it, it'll be worth it.
Until next time.
Oh, and here's the only picture i took when Maxx and i went to seven falls:
Can you see maxx?
The fisheye makes him seem further from the camera than he is, but he still made it out there pretty far.
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