Hiking Makaleha

Panorama of Makaleha Ridge & Valley

I went with some friends - Jon, Sam and Paul - on an adventurous hike today on the Makaleha "trail."  Trail is in quotes because the path we attempted to follow is not maintained, crisscrossing the river several times before finally disappearing into the river, leaving the hiker to now rock hop... not that we complained!

Hiking on the Makaleha Trail... when there was one!

Bring a guide/guidebook and look for these (mostly helpful) pink ties

To get there we drove to the end of Kaiwahau Road in Kapahi, up from Kealia Beach north of Kapa'a.  We parked in a dirt lot next to the water tower and were the only car there (this isn't a popular hike due to the lack of trail maintenance/ownership).  I thought I had locked the doors...

A small dam along Kealia Stream

The trail begins as a dirt road but quickly gets confusing at an old dam.  We eventually crossed the river and then made our way through a really cool bamboo forest.  I thought a picture really wouldn't do it justice, so check out the video below the picture.

Hiking Up "Bamboo Mountain"

After hiking up into the bamboo forest, along a ridge and then back down, you come across a freakin' awesome rock, perfect for bouldering!

Makaleha in Hawaiian means "eyes that glance upward" and refers to the towering, amphitheater- like ridge that was all around us as we hiked.  Winding our way through little bits and pieces of trail around and through the river, we eventually arrived to an open area with spectacular views of two or three tributaries all coming together.

Turtling in Makaleha Valley

Per the guidebook's suggestion (I don't suggest going without one, by the way, or someone who knows the way well), we ventured up the fork furthest to the right.  The valley became a narrow, almost slot canyon, until we reached an incredible, three tiered waterfall.  Check out the pictures below! 

Sam, Jon and Evans (planking/turtling) on rock

A glimpse of 3 tiers of Makaleha Falls

Our own private waterfall, Makaleha Falls

We had fun rock-hopping our way back, only trying to pick up the trail when it became too cumbersome to rock hop!

Paul takes a rock hop

We also came across some cool remnants of when the valley was used for sugar cane production, including what looked like canals and other irrigation-like ditches.

Simply beautiful: the stream, the moss, the rocks, the trees...

As we were getting back to the car, a car drove off and other car with two young local guys was parked next to ours.  They apparently got out to pee but it seemed a little odd to me at the time.  I unlocked the car but apparently the passenger door was unlocked.  Later I discovered they had stolen my wallet, including $300 cash, my ID and some credit cards, which they used to purchase gas and some apps on the Google Play store!  Not very fun, and a poignant reminder to leave no valuables in your car!  It also didn't help that we were the only car in a remote lot on a very lightly used trail.

You live, you learn, and you try to earn a living.

Ancient (100 years?) irrigation canal from sugar cane days