On our third day of the backpacking trip we said goodbye to Waimanu Valley.

We made our way back to Waipio Valley on the Muliwai Trail.

The return hike, in my opinion is much harder than the hike in. The section of the Muliwai Trail that takes you out of the valley is steeper and more rugged than the Z-Trail. It’s a serious thigh burner and cardio killer. By the time you get to the top of it you’re pretty tired and you still have 8 more miles to go.

But, that might just be me. Now that I think of it, most of the group powered through the hike and looked pretty fresh-faced afterwards. So, your experience may be much different than mine.

Getting out of Waimanu Valley involved a bit more effort than just the hike though. First, we had to cross a stream that had grown significantly from heavy rain the night before.

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By David,
Unreal Hawaii

By Kaleo,
Island Trails

By Justin,
Justin U. on Vimeo

By Ryan,
Ryan Chang on Vimeo

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We came back from Waimanu with a lot of footage. For a couple of weeks after the trip, you would see videos come out one by one. Each person captured the trip in a different way.

We produced four videos in total, all with a different vibe.

The Waimanu Series

This is the final post in a five-part series on Waimanu. See more:

• PART 1: Waimanu Valley via the Muliwai Trail
• PART 2: Waimanu Valley Waterfalls
• PART 3: Waimanu Valley Camping
  
• PART 4: Waimanu Valley to Waipio Valley
  

Shelter.

The beach.

Fishing.

Eating.

There are 9 campsites in Waimanu Valley. They sit just off a beautiful black sand beach that spans the opening of the valley. Rock walls (about a couple feet high) outline each site.

Camping in Waimanu Valley is different for everyone. Your experience all depends on what you bring. Those that kayak over will have much more luxuries than backpackers. But even if you backpack to Waimanu Valley like we did, I’d encourage you to bring some treats for yourself. It’s well worth the extra weight in your pack.

In this post I’ll show you what you can see and do around the campsites in Waimanu Valley.

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On the second day of our backpacking trip to Waimanu Valley, we set off to check out some waterfalls. We found two.

Wai’ilikahi Falls, with its enormous swimming pool.

And Kaka’auki Falls, with a smaller enclosed pool.

All of the falls in Waimanu Valley are huge as they start a couple thousand feet up from the top of the valley walls. Some are broken up into multiple drops however, so you can’t always see the full height. If you stick to the West valley wall, you should theoretically hit four main falls, in this order: Wai’ilikahi Falls, Kaka’auki Falls, Lahomene Falls and then Waihulu Falls. (See details on the World Waterfall Database.)

But finding the falls past Wai’ilikahi Falls could be a challenge. Once you get past Wai’ilikai Falls, the trail gets faint and is very poorly marked. Some of the trails we followed may have even been pig trails. If you have time and determination though, you may be able to see them all. Just be prepared for some rugged hiking and have enough food and drink in case you get lost.

If nothing else though, you must go to the very accessible Wai’ilikahi Falls. It’s amazing.

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Start here.

Hike 9 miles.

End here.

This is Waimanu Valley. A lesser known camping spot on the Hamakua Coast of Hawaii’s Big Island. It’s another one of those magical places where you can get away and have an adventure.

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Shortly after returning from a backpacking trip to Kalalau (which involved hiking 22 miles along the Na Pali Coast of Kauai), I get Facebook message from Kaleo Lancaster. And it’s about a backpacking trip involving hiking 18 miles along the northern coast of the Big Island. He’s got a permit and there’s a bunch of open spaces available. Now, I didn’t know Kaleo personally at the time but as you may know, I’m a huge fan of his blog Island Trails. And in fact, it was his blog that got me into hiking.

Getting a message from him was pretty cool but, I had just done Kalalau less than two weeks ago. My knees were still recovering, I was still enjoying the feel of sleeping in my bed, still loving the feeling of pooping like a modern human (on a toilet, in a bathroom) and hiking was pretty much the last thing on my mind. While this would be a great opportunity to meet a fellow hiker/blogger, I was just not in the mood to rough it. So, what to do? The answer was obvious. It was time to chat with Cory.

Before this trip, I actually had never heard of Waimanu. It’s a lesser known camping spot with just a small fraction of the amount of camping space as Kalalau. But that’s part of the draw. Cory knew about Waimanu and when I told him about this trip, his response was basically this: “Brah, the hike is supposed to be way harder than Kalalau. It’s going to be really hard. But we should all go.”

And so we went. I figured that while I was still recovering from the Kalalau trip, in a few weeks I would be ready to backpack again. As it turns out, the 9 mile hike from Waipio Valley to Waimanu Valley wasn’t all that bad. But, the return hike … now that was a different story. And I’ll discuss that in a later post.

A backpacking trip to Waimanu Valley starts by flying to the Big Island, driving to Waipio Valley and hiking along the Muliwai Trail …

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Strong winds during the day form lines in the sand.

During the winter months, huge waves crash against the cliffs. The ocean engulfs the beach and carves caves into the young rock. In the summer, the caves offer shelter from the sun and wind.

Walk along the Na Pali Coast to the end of the beach for an amazing view.

But, don’t do what Cory’s doing here … you’ll give your friends a heart attack.

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When I got back from Kalalau I went to get a haircut. I told Hayleen, the lady that cuts my hair, about my trip and she said that Kalalau was one of her favorite places. She didn’t do the hike but she was able to see the Na Pali Coast from a cruise ship. She told me that when the ship got to Kalalau it slowed down and did a U-turn. Then they told everyone to go out on the observation deck. When Kalalau came into view the entire boat went silent. There was not a peep out of the couple thousand passengers on the deck. She said that even the babies were quiet. And then, after a few seconds passed, all you could hear was a barrage of *click-click-clicks* from cameras.

As you walk down the beach in Kalalau you feel like you’re in a different world. This was my favorite part of the trip. We walked the beach both days we were in Kalalau. We tried to soak it in as much as possible knowing that it would be quite some time before we would ever return.

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