Waimano Falls via Manana Trail  – February 12, 2011 

Manana Trail to Waimano falls was a hike I did with Shell about 7 years ago.  Seven years later, I wanted to visit it again. It was a Saturday and I decided very early in the morning to hike this trail. At the end of the trail is a 30 foot waterfall. The previous day was pouring in Pearl City, and this prompted me to visit the Manana Trail because its waterfall can get dry when there is no rain. Jared and I took the drive up Komo Mai Drive till the end of the road and parked by a house near the trail.  

The first part of the trail was simple, just your basic hiking trail, though it was slippery and muddy as hell. About 25 minutes into the trail  comes a fork, 7 years ago I took the right, so this time I did the same. If you go straight, you'll probably do Manana Ridge. About 3 minutes later, you hit what is known as CARDIAC HILL, some people call it heart attack hill. Believe me going down on a wet day is just as bad as going up. Jared had difficulties doing this and I don’t recommend doing this hike with children especially on a wet day, but it can be done. CARDIAC HILL took around 12 minutes to complete. We fell a few times, but with no serious injury; Jared cried and whined throughout the trek down the hill. He was scared. 

We arrived at the falls in 1 ½ hours going mostly downhill. For most people, it would take about 1 hour. The falls was gushing on this day and a swim would have been great. Jared posed for a nice picture near the falls and we spent 15 minutes admiring the falls from a tiny slippery ledge.  Although damp, the ambiance by the waterfall was perfect for a wet day.  It reminded me of  Aihualama Falls last February. The waterfall was greatly flowing, the air smelled wet, and there was a constant mist hitting us (for some reason). 

On the way back it started pouring and Jared started freaking out. I got him to focus and he did a great job coming back up the mountain. We got to CARDIAC HILL and Jared shined. He took it as a challenge and climbed that hill with no regrets. It actually only took us 12 minutes to go up the hill, the same time it took going down the hill. I looked at Jared and his wet hair, wet shirt, and muddy shoes and told him that I was proud of him. His facial expression looked proud and pitiful at the same time.  The total hiking time was 2 hours and 47 minutes. We were exhausted and wet, so no eating, we just went home to take a shower.