Waimea Canyon Trail (II)

Today I did the Canyon Trail through to the end (3 miles one way) and then some with a nice early start at the trail head a little after seven. I did blow a lot of time going off trail and wandering in the woods but recovered and was back in town by 3pm.

On the right is the canyon view from the parking lot where the trail head is - the hike itself is all on the left side. After crossing a side valley (out of view) the Canyon Trail heads out over the dry cliffs at the very left - lighter color with horizontal dark bands - proceeding along the top of that and then down over the far edge to cross over the Waipo'o waterfall (not much water, and can't see the big drop from the trail anyway). From there the trail leads around and up to the ridge atop the second darker mass (Ka'ou) on the left there coming out on the peak there are proceeding left off camera. 

Pink Tape

Near the water there was a spiny-back Asian spider on the trail - with an early start, I hit the webs all the way. I made the mistake of crossing the stream that feels the waterfall upstream and then took a really sketchy looking trail - the best I could find - and proceeded up what became a steep ascent. I was just about to turn around when I saw pink tape trail markers so I continued on. Eventually the pink tape no longer appeared and I was clearly on animal trails, if that. The GPS track was useful (a) determining I was well off the trail, and (b) back-tracking to the water which I managed more easily than expected. The very steep parts were trickier going down of course, and actually I never saw the pink tape on the way back. No idea why someone marked that as a trail, but that pink tape should be removed!

In the murky water I spied a fresh water shrimp.

The actual Canyon Trail

Back at the water I went back to the trail and crossed downstream, just above where the water goes over the cliff (but not so close as to be dangerous at all). The area where the trail crosses the water has several paths that are hard to figure out - I recall being turned around there before.

I also recall from a previous hike a section of trail that really is only passable on foot. Earlier out hiking I have seen 4WD get surprisingly far on a trail, and ATV really cover ground that looks impassible, but this place I think motorized vehicles would be stymied. The photo at right is a little hard to tell, but the trail is rain-carved chute about shoulder width across and from two to four feet high on the sides. Maybe you could straddle that with ATV but it would not be easy. Then for good measure a good sized tree has fallen over this path, so you have to duck under the tree as it lies over the chute. Short of a tank, I don't think you can get through any other way.

Speaking of tanks, the helicopters in the canyon were nearly as load it seemed. I don't know if they were out in number for some reason or what but from 8am nearly all day long they were buzzing the canyon one after another. This one if the angle was better I could have read the tail number - which I think means it was way too low. The quiet of this remote place is an important part of the experience. In the woods you hear a buzz of insects, bird songs, the wind in the trees ... all completely drowned out by engine noise.

At the turn around was a nice grassy glade so I took a break, rested, and did yoga - it fits with hiking surprisingly well and is much nicer outside that on a mat.