Ko'olaupoko Chutes

On Saturday August 10 I was really jittery and wanted to see all kinds of waterfalls, I just didn't know which one.  Tropical storm Gil was going to pass by the island throwing bands of showers across all of the main Hawaiian islands. I was frothing for some waterfall action. 

Many waterfalls seem to appear out of no where on the windward side of the island when heavy rains hit so I decided to check it out.  When Katie and I were driving over the Pali we saw plenty waterfalls, town side had some that was flowing, and coming out of the tunnel looking towards the saddles there were some thin ribbons of water coming down. 

Baron texted us early in the morning.  He knew where there were going to be some waterfalls that rarely ever flow.  I knew the spot as well and wanted to see it as well.  A year ago I ventured to the same waterfall we were going to, solo, luckily I had some company this time and wouldn't have to face the Cat's Claw alone.  With us was Cory, Baron, Katie, Agnes, Dave, and myself.  I had been to two the last time I came but this time we went to four!

When we parked we saw all four chutes flowing and it was POURING!  We slowly got our rainy gear stuff ready.  I opted for a warm Rip Curl top and some board shorts for I knew we were going to be wet the entire duration of the hike.  I bagged up my DSLR in a waterproof bag with my snacks and just a little bit of water.  We started hiking around 8 that morning. 

Our journey to the first waterfall was the worse.  We had to battle Cat's Claw a few times to get to the first chute.  If you don't know what that is it's this nasty vine with RAZOR sharp thorns.  It'll go through your pants, your shorts, even your shirt if you aren't careful.  If you get caught and you tug on it for it to release you from it's grasp it'll leave you with some major cuts.  The best thing to do is keep your eyes open look for it and avoid it at all cost.  If its in your way grab another stick and move it out of the way.  Gloves help as well but it'll go through your glove and cut up your fingers if you aren't careful. 

When we arrived at the first waterfall my jaw dropped.  From the first time I saw it to this time, it completely changed.  It was massive raw power that I had never seen on this island ever!  I seen a few outer island but nothing like it that I saw on Oahu up close.  I cannot describe to you on how many hundreds of thousands of gallons was flowing off of this thing, it was INCREDIBLE to say the least.  A lot of my friends were having trouble with their camera's because they weren't waterproof and would fog up.  Luckily I had my gopro.  The spray from the waterfall would fog up everyone's lenses or leave water drops all over the lens.  The gopro was great and all my shots and videos turned out pretty good. 

The second falls was a two tiered one.  We stood back and shot away with our cameras.  The third was cool.  It reminded me of Hamama falls but a lot taller.  We stood under this one for it wasn't as powerful as the first one and took a bunch of pictures.  At this time the rain let up a little and the clouds were dissipating.

The third falls was going to round out our trip but I begged to see the fourth chute even though none of us have been to it.  We didn't know how long it was going to take or how badly overgrown it was.  We followed the fourth stream up, contoured a waterfall on the left side and five minutes later we were at the fourth one.  This one had a nice canopy before it and was very picturesque because it wasn't as windy and misty as the other ones.  This is the only falls we could all set up our tripods and shoot long shutter speeds. 

This was probably the most excited I've been all year for waterfalls besides the previous blog post.  I've never seen anything like it on Oahu and I'm definitely going back when there's another heavy rain. 

 

This was take one year ago.  

The day of the heavy rains.  

Massive amounts of water was being dropped that day! 

The fourth waterfall slow shutter speed.  

Left to right: Baron, Katie, and Cory