I hike fairly often.
But I tend to avoid hikes that cause me physical pain.
Don’t get me wrong: I like a challenge. But I don’t need to hike a trail that requires any more gear than a bottle of water and a few Band-Aids.
So when my friends invited me to hike down to the Waimano pools off the Manana Trail in Aiea, I quickly agreed.
This is a fairly easy 3-mile trail that leads down into the lush Waimano Valley. Your reward: two swimming holes at the end of the descending hike. The payback, though: you have to walk back up the hill. And it’s a bitch.
It’s a beautiful hike through a eucalyptus forest and groves of strawberry guava trees. Just challenging enough to burn calories and rev my appetite.
And I have an appetite!
So the deal was this: we go on this hike, we nearly die on the way back up, and we get shave ice at Ice Garden in Aiea.
I thought that was completely reasonable.
Here’s what our adventure looked like:
16 Comments
AH ha! so that’s your achilles heel! hills…as in uphill! never heard u swear before. Anyways,love eucalyptus! clears the sinus’ and gives just an overall sense of well being.Many great purposes! ……hmmm….and a shave ice flavor, maybe?
Eucalyptus shave ice????? Hmm. I might have to pass!
Now that is living sistah. My favorite hike on Oahu is likely now off limits because it is inside the military base. you can hike up to this plateau on the North Shore and picnic overlooking the Pacific, really high up. I think post 9/11 you can’t go there. My second has always been the Pali to Waimanalo trek. It is about 11 miles and goes close to Mt. Olomana. Anything is made better with friends for real 🙂
Which hike are you talking about? Never hiked on a military base… Would be interesting, though. I may have to look into that……..
Thanks for sharing. We haven’t tried this one yet, so this is great info!
It’s not a terribly hard hike, but that one section is tough. Just take it slow. We had people with us who think the paved path up Makapuu is a workout. So you can do it!
Hello Cat,
Fuud pixs Friday!?
That up hill part looks difficult if you are not in shape.
It was a fuud PLUS adventure Friday 🙂
Beautiful, and I knew there would be FUUD in those pics, and there was.
There’s FUUD in every moment of my life 🙂
next time you should be adventurous and complete the hike to the ridge! haha
I’ve heard that hike is BRUTAL. Have you done it?
Oatmeal and shaved ice…. that is an interesting combination for sure.
Yeah, not really for me. But my friend who ate it said he doesn’t even like oatmeal — but he likes it in shave ice. Weird!
Wow. Haven’t been there in years.
Good one.
Gotta go!