Waimanu Valley Trail - December 2016
Summary
Waimanu Valley Trail is on the big island of Hawaii. It offers many views of waterfalls, steep climbs and descents and is an out-and-back style hike with the valley being the end destination and campground. Once at the campground, it is first-come-first-serve for sites, and there are great views of a black sand beach and the valley itself. Once in the valley, you can do day hikes/exploration to see some of the large waterfalls that the valley is known for. This is a popular helicopter tour location as well.
Logistics
This trail is challenging just to get to the trail head. Before you can start your hike, you either need to walk or drive down the steepest road in the United States. It is so steep (and wet) that there is a checkpoint prior to allowing any vehicles down the road, where you need to verify your vehicle is in four wheel drive in order to proceed. On the way down, we decided we would walk the extra distance in order to take in some of the views and not have to worry about leaving our rental car down by the beach. This was a great idea, the views were incredible, and walking downhill on pavement was not very challenging. Our next obstacle, just to get to the traihead, was forging a river. We knew we would be getting wet on this hike, but we didn’t think we would be soaked before the start! Below is a clip of what this looked like. Once on the trail, we immediately ascended out of the valley and into the rainforest, which we remained in for a number of waterfall crossings, until we reached Waimanu Valley and descended down to our destination.
This picture was taken after our river crossing looking back at the beach that day tourists were using.
Hiking
The hiking for this trail was pretty strenuous. The biggest challenges were the steep ascent and descent, and the challenges faced with a very muddy/rainy environment. Thankfully the weather was very welcoming to the rainy conditions (mid 80s during the day), but had we needed to stay in these conditions for more than a few days, the consistent damp clothing could have become an unpleasant experience. We hiked into the valley on Day 1, did some day hiking on Day 2 exploring deeper into the valley and looking for some of the massive waterfalls, and then on Day 3 we hiked back the way we came.
Side Note: it was on this trip that I completely left hammock camping. You can see in the photos below that our hammock setup didn’t quite work out as planned. After spending the two nights on the ground without the proper sleeping system, I decided moving forward, I would rather have a tent, prepare to sleep on the ground, and build comfort in this situation vs. rely on the likelihood there are good trees to hang my hammock. I am glad I made this transition and that the weather supported this error not having any major consequences.
Photos
Knowing this would be a rainy/muddy trail, I made the mistake of using an old phone on this hike which I now regret. I used my old iPhone 4, while I had my new iPhone 7 with my luggage on Oahu. Therefore, I apologize for the low picture quality, and unfortunately cannot capture this experience quite like I remember it! Nonetheless, the views here were incredible and this is a trip that stands out to me today.
