Waimea Falls "Hike"

Welcome to my third installment of Haole Hiking.  This post will cover the scenic Waimea Falls "Hike."  I put hike in quotes because it is more of a leisurely walk along a paved path through a botanical garden that ends in a waterfall.

Waimea Falls sits in Waimea Valley, the botanical garden that sits across the street from Waimea Bay, home of epic surfing in the winter and epic rock jumping fails during the summer.  This is a paid attraction, which is different than most hikes on the island.  It's not unusual for hikes to charge for parking, but I can't think of another that charges an admission fee.

So the entrance charge combined with the long drive almost kept me away.  I'm glad it didn't, because this place is worth the price of admission.  However, a confluence of unfortunate circumstances made this particular trip less pleasant than it could have been. 


Here are my lessons learned:
1) leave the kids at home
2) check the weather report (Isn't it always sunny and warm in Hawaii?)
3) bring bug spray
4) leave the kids at home
5) bring swim gear
6) arrive early
7) don't leave the snacks in the car
8) leave the kids at home

OK, this hike is actually really kid-friendly.  But, as those of you with small kids already know, there are good days and bad days.  Some days the kids are troopers and put up with more than you thought they could.  Other days, even the most kid-friendly locations can be ardruous affars.  While admiring the below scenic pictures, imagine an infant screaming and a toddler whining.  In fact, most of these pictures were hurriedly snapped as my infant started crying literally 1 second after the stroller stopped.  EVERY. SINGLE.  TIME.

I think the kids would have had a good time on another day.

So, on to the hike.  As I mentioned, this is more of a botanical garden with a waterfall at the end.  There are many types of flowers, trees, and critters from Hawaii and beyond.  There are even some huts and sites erected to educate the visitors about the ancient Hawaiians. 

There is a main paved path that takes you directly to the waterfall if you like.  It roughly follows a meandering stream for about 3/4 mile.  There are many offshoot trails that lead you through scenic flora. 
Unfortunately, this flora also attracts mosquitoes by the droves.  So, bug spray is a must.

So we finally arrived at the waterfall.  It was pretty amazing that such a pretty waterfall is so easily accessible.
 

They allow people to swim up and touch the waterfall.  So there were many people swimming out there to get their pics next to the water.  It makes for a good time, but not so good pictures.
Regardless, I was able to get some nice people-free pics.  Next time, I will get there early enough that I won't have to deal with too many people.

We stayed at the waterfall until it started to rain.  Hard.  So we had to hurry and rush the kids back to the entrance before they got too wet and cranky.  My daughter seemed to love the rain at first.  She was smiling and laughing at everyone that we passed.  My son, on the other hand, was miserable sitting in the stroller.

So I am geeked out that I figured out how to upload a GPS file and post a map of my hike.  For your viewing pleasure...


View Waimea Valley Falls in a larger map



I am also geeked out that I got to play with the polarizing filter.  Check out the difference...

Before I adjusted the filter

After I adjusted the filter

Quite a difference, right?


And I will leave you with some more pics from the hike...