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Published: January 2nd 2010
We thought that we’d try to walk from Palolo Valley to the Koolau Range, which is probably a five hour hike, especially since we're no longer spring chickens. We thought nothing of a five hour hike -- we walk that in the Bay Area all the time. When we approached the entry down to the river, however, we questioned whether we were at the right place. We then asked ourselves whether we were doing the right thing. The entry was dark, with trees and brush shading the path. It was also narrow and steep, with a rope lining the path to prevent the hikers from slipping too far down the muddy path.
From the start, we knew that we underestimated the terrain. After we got down to the river, there was no path to speak of. The banks were muddy and steep, with overgrown brush. At times, you had to cross the river to be able to advance further. The river, on the otherhand, was full of large, mossy rocks that you had to climb through. Despite the difficult terrain, it was very beautiful and serene, with only the sound of trickling water. Surprisingly, there were no mosquitos. It's a
very unspoiled part of Hawaii and if you're traveling in a group, it's well worth the effort. After a half hour or so, we think that we made it to the first of two waterfalls. While the waterfall was a bit small, the setting was beautiful. We walked a little further, hoping that the terrain would improve. Naturally, it didn't....
We then had the wherewithal to test the cell phone coverage in the area. Unbeknownst to us, there was no signal down under. At that point, we decided that we were not quite equipped to go any further. With there being only two of us in this seemingly deserted area, and without any cell phone coverage, we didn't want to be a casualty that would require a rescue mission to find us. Further, we didn't want to be the headliner for the Honolulu Advertiser, "Two Crazy Hikers Lifted From River". Meanwhile, as we're airlifted from the valley, we look like beaten down rats, having had a field day in the mud. With that, we turned back and made the climb back out of the river. After an hour of climbing up and over the slippery rocks and slogging through
the banks of the river, our legs felt like rubber. We weren't used to using the muscles in our thighs and calves. It hurt, even to walk down a slight incline (on paved road) to get from the river back to mom's house.
On our way back, we stopped at Kawamoto’s Nursery, which had some beautifully colored orchids, in different shapes and sizes. Although we didn’t buy any, we took a lot of pictures for everyone to enjoy.
That evening, we met up with friends at Shokudo's....great food and reasonable prices. Love the colorful interior as well! We played with the camera and got some cool pictures.
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