Maunawili Falls Trail 

& 

relaxing island cruise around Oahu…

I'm heading North on Pali Highway. (Pali means cliff.) It's a beautiful drive through the mountains. You pass through tunnels and have no shortage of awesome sights while on this stretch of road. We are headed to hike Maunawili Falls Trail in Kailua, here on Oahu. Grab your bug spray and appropriate foot wear; and let's go!

The trail is located on the Mauka (mountain or inland) side of Kalaniana 'ole Highay. It is not too difficult and is just over a mile long (one way).

Maunawili means twisted mountain.










As I was beginning the hike, I saw a few pairs of abandoned and extremely mud covered shoes lining the trail. It was a bit muddy, but I knew it was likely way worse up ahead. I chose to wear my Keen's because they are hiking/water shoes and very comfortable. I knew we would have to cross the stream several times. When I cross shallow streams, I tend to walk in the water as opposed to the rocks. Wet rocks can be very slippery, plus the water feels good!

And we're off….

  

I love the tropics!! Lush, prehistoric plants everywhere! Check out this tree! It has some weird exoskeleton looking business going on. This trail had an exceptional number of banana plants, guava trees and we even saw some coffee plants. 

The trail became very, very muddy. If you prepare yourself for this, it is no big deal. Walking in mud, in mud covered shoes can get slippery! This trail had a lot of opportunities to get your feet wet and rinse            off some of the mud.

       Be careful! I think IT may be hiding in there!

               

 

There are convenient steps built in throughout the hike in steep areas. Awesome to have when it's muddy. 

We crossed the stream in a few places on this hike.

Today, I decided to wear my swimsuit top, but ha jean shorts on. The bottoms were left in the car. It was my loss. I missed out on the great swim I could have had (too many people around in a small space to go nudie). I did wade and splash around a bit and the water felt great!

Check out that water fall and swimming hole!!

The water wasn't as cold as I was expecting. It wasn't very deep and there a lot of rocks at the bottom. What a great spot for a dip!

It rained off and on a few times while we were hiking. It wasn't a real problem, but we did want to get out cameras into a waterproof bag. The tree canopy shielded a lot of the rain.

After finishing the hike, I took this picture before getting into the car. 

Beautiful!! You can see the rain up in the mountains beyond this huge Cook pine.

These trees are all over the islands. I see fewer of them here on Oahu than I did on Kauai. The botanists  on Captain Cook's second voyage cultivated these trees wherever they traveled to. Cook pines grow really fast, and strait. They were the perfect tree for the travelers of that time. If a ship's mass was broken en rout, it could be easily replaced by wood from the cook pine. 

                                                                     

We were pretty hungry after that hike. We are on our way to The Shack in Kailua. 

The Shack has a full bar and serves bar food. The selection for vegan and veggie choices are kinda slim. They have great salads, but the dressing selection is really poor. They serve some local favorites, Portuguese sausage, kalbi, chicken katsu, and even mac salad! I took my diet off road today, had some mac salad and a chicken wing. If you are a veggie head like me; the wings were good, but not worth an off road diet trip. They have all kinds of hot dogs and other deep fried choices. The salad was HUGE, it was only $10, and full of fresh vegetables. The prices here are great. 

Headed off to Kaiona Beach Park on Kalaniana'ole Highway. Kaiona is the name of the goddess who is said to inhabit the Wai'anae Montains. She offers protection to travelers in need. This area is beautiful…

We have arrived at the beach park. I really wanted to get some snorkeling done today, but it's 4pm already and the air is chilly. This is a good opportunity to take some pictures. The view at this park is really great!

  

You can see Rabbit Island in this last pic. The clouds were amazing today, the view is stellar! I like this beach park a lot. It has bathroom and shower facilities, and picnic tables. The beach is nice and clean. There is reef out here, making it a good place to snorkel.

Well, that's my day!! Time to take a scenic cruise home, gotta go to work in a few hours. I had a wonderful time today and I hope you enjoyed reading. Love you!

P.S. please leave comments, follow and share the experience with others, Mahalo!!