Hiking the old Pali Highway and
then down to Likeke Falls
(Feb. 14, 1999)
Today the Sierra Club had a hike from the Pali lookout to Likeke Falls. Rather than joining them at the lookout, I parked down and the hairpin turn and hiked alone up the trail and old road to meet the gang at the top. Today was a perfect day for hiking; overcast, cool, and with an occasional slight mist in the air. Just enough to cool a person off
I took LOTS of digital pictures, but trimmed the batch down to just a few I think folks might be interested in.
This marks the start of the trail.
After passing the sign, you wind your way up through moss-covered rocks and the Strawberry Guava forest.
Within a few minutes, you come to a junction. The trail straight ahead winds through the foothills above Maunawili and eventually winds up in Waimanalo (about 9 miles). Today I'm taking the steps to the right which will start me towards the Pali Lookout.
At this point I'm getting close. The lookout is just around the corner and up a little more incline.
Here's part of the gang. There must have been around 30 altogether. That's Adam wearing the brown hat - he was the leader for this trip.
The gang is lined up to cross under the freeway now. Bottleneck on the trail! That's Bob on the left, Suzan in the foreground, and Reese (carrying Alice) with the bandana.
Here they struggle down some homemade steps, prior to climbing under the active highway on the left edge of the picture. Note the graffitti painted on the highway support. The area right here was littered with empty cans of spray paint and it reminded me of an urban version of the stories I've heard about oxygen bottles littering Mt. Everest.
That's Mount Olomana in the background! Check my other pictures for shots of my hike up there last year.
The reward at the end!! This is Likeke Falls! We lingered here for quite a while, allowing those who wished an opportunity to play around in the falls for a while. Afterwards, we cut back down the trail, split off to join the old Pali Highway further down, and then walked up the highway to a junction point where the rest of the group went right and returned to their car while I turned left and resumed my solo hike back to the car.
Hope you enjoyed the pictures!
2/14/99