oahu_canyoneer
12-06-2012, 01:52 PM
This past weekend we set out to tackle Pueo Falls on the west side of Oahu. It's a 1,000ft tiered waterfall that starts at the highest point on the island, Mt Ka'ala (4,026' elevation).
We started the hike up at about 8:30am and got to Mt Ka'ala at about 11ish. Not an easy hike by any means as the angle of the incline is severe for the duration of the hike, and we were lugging all the ropes and gear up. We brought along two ropes...a 350' and a 400'.
From the top we had to bushwhack along a ridgeline for a bit to get to Pueo. We then used webbing and down-climbed our way into the bigger drops. The first drop we reached that we had to rappel turned out to be well under 100' but good fun nonetheless...
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After that it was a quick hike along the stream to the first of the big drops...close to 200'. From here you could see all the way out and made for some incredible views...
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We ran into a bit of a snag on this one. I was last down and when i got about halfway down I realized that the lines had moved as I rappelled and wedged themselves into a crack. I was on a bit of a ledge so I tested the pull and discovered that the ropes weren't gonna be coming down while still wedged in the crack. After fruitlessly "flicking" the rope for 5 mins I realized I was gonna have to climb back up. We had ascenders with us so I ascended the 100' or so back up to the top to unwedge the ropes. Much more of a workout than I wanted but we were good to go again.
In the meantime, the clouds had started rolling in. By the time I had gotten back down and we had retrieved the ropes, we had been totally encompassed by the clouds.
It was another short hike down to the last and biggest rappel. We weren't sure how big it was exactly. We had seen pics of it from the bottom and 1 from our group had hiked to the bottom before to see it and we estimated it was a little under 300' (it turned out to be around 320'-330'). Because of the cloud cover, visibility was terrible so we couldn't see the bottom from above. We just saw the lip open up into a foggy abyss...
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We tied both ropes together, threw them over, and sent the first down into the abyss. A while later he came through on the walkie talkie and said he was at the bottom. We were good to go! I went down next and it was definitely one of the funnest rappels I've had. Looking around everywhere, you couldn't see a thing, and when I got down 100ft or so I couldn't see the bottom or the top. Just the rope going into nothingness below me, and above me.
61771
We all got down without any problems and basked in our successful first descent! We were still above 3,000' so we had quite the hike out still ahead of us but we were done with the rappels and the "unknowns." We made it back to the car around 7:30pm and stuffed our faces at a nearby Outback Steakhouse. Mission Accomplished!
Our last group shot from the bottom of the waterfall, taken while the last in our group is coming down...
61770
We started the hike up at about 8:30am and got to Mt Ka'ala at about 11ish. Not an easy hike by any means as the angle of the incline is severe for the duration of the hike, and we were lugging all the ropes and gear up. We brought along two ropes...a 350' and a 400'.
From the top we had to bushwhack along a ridgeline for a bit to get to Pueo. We then used webbing and down-climbed our way into the bigger drops. The first drop we reached that we had to rappel turned out to be well under 100' but good fun nonetheless...
61762
61764
After that it was a quick hike along the stream to the first of the big drops...close to 200'. From here you could see all the way out and made for some incredible views...
61765
61766
61767
61768
We ran into a bit of a snag on this one. I was last down and when i got about halfway down I realized that the lines had moved as I rappelled and wedged themselves into a crack. I was on a bit of a ledge so I tested the pull and discovered that the ropes weren't gonna be coming down while still wedged in the crack. After fruitlessly "flicking" the rope for 5 mins I realized I was gonna have to climb back up. We had ascenders with us so I ascended the 100' or so back up to the top to unwedge the ropes. Much more of a workout than I wanted but we were good to go again.
In the meantime, the clouds had started rolling in. By the time I had gotten back down and we had retrieved the ropes, we had been totally encompassed by the clouds.
It was another short hike down to the last and biggest rappel. We weren't sure how big it was exactly. We had seen pics of it from the bottom and 1 from our group had hiked to the bottom before to see it and we estimated it was a little under 300' (it turned out to be around 320'-330'). Because of the cloud cover, visibility was terrible so we couldn't see the bottom from above. We just saw the lip open up into a foggy abyss...
61769
We tied both ropes together, threw them over, and sent the first down into the abyss. A while later he came through on the walkie talkie and said he was at the bottom. We were good to go! I went down next and it was definitely one of the funnest rappels I've had. Looking around everywhere, you couldn't see a thing, and when I got down 100ft or so I couldn't see the bottom or the top. Just the rope going into nothingness below me, and above me.
61771
We all got down without any problems and basked in our successful first descent! We were still above 3,000' so we had quite the hike out still ahead of us but we were done with the rappels and the "unknowns." We made it back to the car around 7:30pm and stuffed our faces at a nearby Outback Steakhouse. Mission Accomplished!
Our last group shot from the bottom of the waterfall, taken while the last in our group is coming down...
61770