Ka'Au Crater Hike

Paul was going to do the Ka'Au Crater Hike with the boys scouts, and wanted to pre-hike it with us to get an idea of what they were in for. The day we went the ground was very muddy and slippery, so we only made it to the first small waterfall before heading back. If you continue on through, you can see several HUGE waterfalls and the hike along the rim of one of the craters where the volcanoes had originally formed Oahu. Sometime Paul and I might do this hike on our own, I'd love to see it for myself.

To start the hike, we had to use ropes to climb down the rocky edge. It was hard to do with kids, but we figured it out. And the kids were excited so they helped out a lot.  Sully had to be carried over lots of the areas, but he didn't mind.

We got really muddy along the way, and were excited to get to the water and splash and play and clean up (even though we had to go right back through the mud on the way out).

The kids worked on building a little dam and we all had snacks. The mosquitos weren't very thick, but there were a few.

The kids found some interesting flowers and leaves. These big yellow leaves were Matix's favorites.

Wherever there were ginger flowers, the air was thick with it's sweet scent.  It was hard to remember to walk as we stood there just breathing.

The climb out was easier than the climb in. We were already muddy, so it didn't matter if we got our clothes dirty sliding around on the rocks.  The kids did a great job using the rope to climb out with.

Group shot. We did it!

On the way to the car, we met a friendly cat, who REALLY wanted to come home with us. He didn't though.

And the video from the day. It was a fun and challenging and very muddy hike.