Maunawili Falls

The day in Honolulu started out really rainy but the sunshine finally peeked through the clouds. We decided to invite a couple of our friends along on a hike in Maunawili. So we packed our water, apple slices and bug spray and headed out.

Let me remind you that this girl is bad with directions. We ended up a little lost but finally made our way through the small neighborhood and managed to find a parking spot near the entrance to the hike. It had been raining so we expected the trail to be a little wet and muddy. Well, that turned out to be an underestimate. The trail, better yet, the mile and a half mud puddle, was a great hike. We slipped and slided and skated along the trail and through the mud. There were four or five places in the trail that you had to cross the stream. There wasn't a bridge, a peice of wood, nothing to use but the wet rocks. Because we already had mud covered shoes, this proved to be quite difficult.  On the way there though, no one fell into the water :)

Once you get to the peak of the hike, you get one of the most spectacular views of the Ko'olaus Mountains. Every way you turned was fantastic views of mountains. This is a great place to stop and maybe a have a picnic lunch if you want to carry it along. Past the top is the stairs that lead down to the waterfall; many, many steps. The fall is about 12 feet tall. The pool at the bottom is very deep. You can climb to the top of the falls and jump into the pool. We didn't bring our bathing suits which was a real bummer. The guys jumping though said it was a great rush. I could only imagine, the drop is probably around 30 feet.

I managed the hike back pretty well. I only fell into the stream once which is really great for me because I am a little clumsy :) If you ever visit Hawaii, this is a great hike. My best advice, WEAR HIKING BOOTS OR HIKING SHOES because it is so wet and muddy. The trek is awesome though. We followed it up with a little grub from Arby's in Kailua and then headed back into Honolulu.