Aihualama Trail: Connector of Mountains

Rainy day delights usually include warm Pho, an episode or a hundred of Friends, or reading the latest Bravo Housewives Memoir.  Last week, the rainy day delight was hiking.  Marina, Sarah and I hiked in the rain.  We did not intend to hike in the rain.  We drove to town with sunny skies surrounding us. We were happy to finally see blue overhead.  And then we arrived at our hiking destination in Manoa, only to find the one rainy spot on the island was exactly where our Tuesday Trail was leading us...

We have all done the usual Manoa Falls Trail.  Recently we three also embarked on a failed journey to find another lesser known waterfall in Manoa and we had fun on that adventure despite not having found the secret waterfall.  But this trip we weren't looking for a new to us waterfall (but we did get to take in Manoa Falls).  We were headed to another trail off of a trail situation.  Aihualama Trail is located off of the Manoa Falls Trail in Manoa OR via Pauoa Flats Trail which you can reach from several other trails in the Tantalus system of trails.

I didn't learn about this hike from a book or the internet or even word of mouth, I learned of it from hiking Pauoa Flats on several occasions and seeing the entrance to the trail with my own two eyes.  I stored the information away and literally saved it for a rainy day.  Thank goodness Marina and Sarah were willing rainy day participants.  We quickly hiked a little under a mile in to Manoa Falls.  We stopped for a few at the waterfall and then took the Aihualama Trail to the left (when facing the falls)---our adventure was beginning.

Aihualama Trail was muddy (to be expected due to recent rains).  It was a series of gradual uphill switchbacks (from the direction we started).  There were a couple of spots along the way where had the weather been better, we would have had a view.  Unfortunately for us, this was not the case.  The trail was thick with greenery and heavily shaded, we were even a little cold due to the lack of sun and constant drizzle/rain.

There were very large banyan trees, large leaves (type unknown to me), birds chirping, and maybe even pigs (although we didn't get lucky enough to see any).  We climbed and climbed, reached a bamboo forest, a path of thick roots, and then we reached the end of Aihualama Trail---the junction with Pauoa Flats Trail (an old favorite).

I was very happy to have checked another new to me trail off of my ever growing trail list.  There's nothing too exciting about this connector trail and it is easy enough for kids to do, just be prepared to get a little dirty if it has recently rained.  There are no real hazards that I can think of, unless you count mud.  Overall, it is a straightforward, lightly trafficked trail.  It was cool to be on a trail that connects Manoa to Tantalus and the Nu'uanu area.  If you are looking for something new, a change of pace from Manoa Falls, this is the hike for you.  You could even continue on from Aihualama on to Pauoa Flats which could lead you to Pu'u Ohia or Nu'uanu or Manoa Cliff or Kalawahine Trails.  The possibilities are endless!