Kulana'ahane Falls - May 26, 2014 

Out of all the times I've been in Moanalua Valley, I've never seen Kulana'ahane falls flow. Today would be the most opportunistic day as rain was in the forecast. The waterfall only spills after a good downpour. It's not from a stream or anything, just a waterfall chute. It goes off when there is rain. 

Today E was taking his friends on a hike. Joining the hike was Marcus and his girlfriend Loreece. We had a 9am start time. The hike on the road was uneventful like previous hikes. It felt like a long time today because of my upper respiratory infection which is taking the wind out of me. At about the 2 mile mark, it started to downpour, a good sign since we wanted to see the waterfall flowing. It continued to pour as we meandered throughout the valley. Marcus and Loreece didn't even bring their jackets, but they go to college in Oregon so they can handle it. I was freezing with my jacket on. The stream started to pick up, but we weren't in any danger. Moanalua Valley stream doesn't flow as hard as the other Oahu streams. 

In about 2.5 hours we got to the spur ridge. E thought we should summit, so that is what we did. It must have been a cardio crew as we got to the top in under 15 minutes. The view, like I said in my previous post, is world class. I was just here a few weeks ago for Kikaida’s final Ko'olau Summit hike.  After enjoying the view we went down the spur ridge and followed the stream to the waterfall. It was hard to rock hop as I only have 1 spike, since I lost my other one at Kawailoa. The waterfall was flowing today. It looked pretty good, it's a very tall waterfall, but only spilled a few thin strips into a very shallow pool. The view from the pool looking towards the valley is money though, a sight to behold.

After the waterfall, we blitzed it back and got back to the trailhead in less than 3 hours. We washed up and went to The Alley in Aiea Bowling Alley. I ordered the same thing as E, he ordered the fried pork chops. It was very tasty, get it with the gravy for more clogging of the arteries.