Catch Fire and Get Lost on the Manoa Falls Trail

After my successful hike to Diamond Head, I was totally ready for Manoa Trail hiking. Sounding do-able, it was way harder than I expected. Mostly because of my multiple sclerosis (MS), since other people seemed fine hiking the Manoa Falls trail. Find out what to expect and get tips for rocking this hike, even if you are out of shape or get lost.

Rewritten and updated for 2022.

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Manoa Falls Trail Hiking

The Manoa Falls Trail is a 1.6 mile trail (round trip) that is a part of the Honolulu Makau Trail System (with 17 other trails close by). The trail is in the Manoa Valley. Manoa Falls is a 150-foot (50 meters) is a beautiful waterfall that empties into a small pool of water.

Rainbow Valley

Because of its frequent rainbows, the Manoa Valley also is called “Rainbow Valley”. The trail winds through a tropical rainforest so the climate is very humid with frequent rain showers. Thanks to these, there are many plants and an abundance of wild life. Not surprising, also thanks to these, the trail is usually damp and muddy.

Our Manoa Trail Hiking Started Easy…

That morning, our hike started out just fine. Using my trusty hiking poles (to help with my balance issues), I was totally ready for this MS-challenge. Thoroughly enjoying the tropical rain forest around us, we saw huge plants, beautiful flowers, and breathed the humid, sweet smelling air. Hiking along through the jungle, we heard many birds but didn’t see any yet.

The scenery reminded me of the TreeTop Walk in Singapore, which I attempted and couldn’t do, so that should have forewarned me 🙂 At least there weren’t any scary monkeys here, unlike Singapore.

For now I was still confident about my capabilities and enjoying the hike, expecting to reach the water fall at the end. As always, I was the eternal optimist about my plans.

During the Manoa Trail Hike

In addition to lots of steps on this Manoa trail hike, we got beautiful views and fabulous nature. And of course, we relished that we were hiking in a rain forest on Hawai’i! Instead of being home in the snow. Enjoying every step. Slowly getting tired and hot, we still kept going on. Some parts of the trail were really easy and flat. The uphill parts were harder but still doable.

Jurassic Park: Beware The T-Rex!

Some hikers told us that part of the Jurassic Park movie were filmed here. Very cool! The jungle indeed did look like a T-rex could surprise us any moment. Although the trail was getting harder, I was not ready to give up. Yet.

In addition to Jurassic Park, other movies used the Manoa Valley. For example Tears of the Sun, which is about a special-Ops commander and his team in the Nigerian jungle.

Looking around me, I easily could imagine being in Africa. Or Asia, like in the movie Holdout, based on the true story of a Japanese WWII Lieutenant. After getting left behind on an island in South East Asia, he was living there for the next 30 years, not knowing that the war had ended.

Catching Fire

If you have seen the movie Catching Fire from the Hunger Games, you got a good peek into this valley and trail. Imagining that I was Katniss, a Hunger Games participant, added a whole new dimension to this Manoa trail hike. As you can tell, I easily amuse myself :).

Lost

Not a movie, but a popular television series, some of the scenes in Lost were right here on the Manoa trail hike. Maybe you remember “All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues” with the banyan trees? You can see these during your hike.

Things are Going Down Uphill…

All this upbeat (and uphill) Manoa Falls trail hiking was just fine and dandy, until suddenly it wasn’t anymore. My energy and walking ability rapidly decreasing, I started questioning people who were on the way down.

Hoping for a “Sure, you’re almost there!” but instead getting mostly “It’s getting steeper and harder and you’re not even halfway and there be dragons!” And T’rexes!

Darn! I was so convinced I would make it up. Instead, MS reality was staring me in the face. Time to remind myself that it’s not about the destination but about the journey. Remembering that not even trying would be the real failure. But still, darn!

Taking a deep breath, whispering “Carpe Diem” to myself, I grudgingly accepted that my ability doesn’t always match up with my desires. So I told Tom he should go up to the waterfall, while I slowly started making my way down Manoa trail.

Reaching The Manoa Falls. Or Not…

Continuing the hike, Tom did make his way up to the Manoa Falls. He took beautiful pictures so that I could live vicariously through them. According to him, the trail was muddy and slippery and not easy at all, so I am glad that I turned around when I did.

Meanwhile I just wanted my body to catch up with my plans. Waiting for no spectators when I went down stairs sitting down, because I knew people would think I was weird. And a loser. Which might be true, but I didn’t want “people” to know 🙂 The stories we tell ourselves might not always be true, but still strong.

Birds on the Manoa Trail (Alien Invaders!)

After a while I made it to a more open part of the trail where I decided to switch from beating myself up to bird watching. Blissfully unknowing back then that all those “Hawaiian” birds were actually invasive species…

I sat, meditated, and observed. Becoming a living breathing part of the tropical rain forest, my frustrations melted away to nothingness. Grounding myself in reality, I was ok after all.

I rested, relaxed, took pictures, and celebrated my version of Manoa trail hiking. With abundant nature and many birds around me. Flowers everywhere. How much better could life get?

How Hard is it to Get to the Manoa Falls?

Tom came back down and told me all about his Manoa trail hiking. Even for him, it was quite intense. After watching birds together for a spell, we made our way back down to the trailhead.

Down in the parking lot, we called an Uber to get back to the hotel. Although hiking the Manoa Falls trail was much harder than expected, it was fabulous. So glad we did it and that I got to watch many birds. In conclusion, I chose to call this MS-challenge a success, even if I didn’t make it up to the falls.

Conclusion Manoa Trail Hiking

Use your common sense hiking practice. Most of the tips for hiking Diamond Head apply on the Manoa trail hiking trail. Bring water, use sunscreen, wear a hat and be prepared for rain and mud. This is not a trail for flip-flops. Most people should be able to finish it in one to two hours.

Have you hiked the Manoa Falls trail? Do you have other favorite hikes in Hawaii? Or other good water fall hikes anywhere? Please let me know in the comments.

Don’t Miss Pearl Harbor!

• What to expect during a Visit to Pearl Harbor;
• Five interesting facts about Ford Island. Do you know why the missionaries renamed it?
• Where the Second World War ended! Visit USS Missouri. Now with historic video footage of the Japanese surrender.
• Not all Japanese were our enemy. Some brave ones fought for us! The story of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team;

Other Things to Do on Oahu

• Hiking Diamond Head in Hawai’i: ten tips to help you succeed at this iconic hike; Even if you are out of shape or live with a chronic illness;
• Makapu’u Lighthouse Trail: Whales for the Win; Check out this relatively easy, but with amazing views! The trail is fully paved, so wheel chair and stroller accessible;
• Snorkeling and Dolphin Watching in Honolulu: for me, swimming is way easier than hiking;
• Surfing at Waikiki Beach Go surf at the Birth Place of Surfing! Great teachers available at Dave’s Big Waves!
• Beginners Birding Guide to Hawai’i. Discover how most of these pretty birds are actually invasive pests!

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