Basil is headed back to California tomorrow. I got off of work at 2:15pm and decided to take a hike to Waimano Falls in Pacific Palisades. Beginner hike? Fuck no. We got to the trailhead a little before 3pm. This hike has a hill aptly named "cardiac hill," and consists of a shitload of roots and colored with red dirt. I couldn't believe the descent of this hill to the stream. It was steep and long, and even after that descent, there was still more descending, this time on a trail made of rocks and dirt. The trail started off on a paved road and then eventually became dirt. Then came the hills, then the rock descents, and then came a fork to two trails. I didn't follow the directions in the hiking guide too well. We ended up taking a right side trail off the fork and was on an overgrown trail. As the trail ended we ended up in an eerie camping site with a tarp set up and two fire pits. The camp was situated under a pretty large tree. There were no trails anywhere beyond this point so we turned around and decided to just hike back to the trailhead. It was 4:15pm, and we rested just below a rock cliff. After resting we immediately changed our minds and took back to the trail, this time taking the left fork. We reached the end of the trail at Waimano Falls, but the stream and waterfall were dried up. I'll remember to check this place out after a nice rainfall. I've seen pictures of this place, and it looks unreal when the waterfall is gushing. The trip back up was the most tiring part of the hike. "Cardiac hill" is the perfect name for the rooty red-dirt hill that we had to scale. There is no way in hell someone can hike up the hill if they are out-of-shape or obese. After reaching the top my tanktop was completely soaked. We got to our car around 5:15pm. Lesson learned: Wait for rain next time and be prepared to fucking sweat cause cardiac hill will decrease your waistline by two sizes. This hike ain't beginner; it's more of an intermediate hike. Basil took some pictures.
The trailhead.
Walking the initial stretch.
Big landslide on the left. See a face in the dirt?
This is the top of "cardiac hill." I'm descending on the
bottom right.
This is me descending cardiac hill. I wonder if the name
represents the veiny roots on the ground or how hellish
the descent and ascent is?
At the bottom of the red dirt section.
Thumbs up, thinking it was over. We were only halfway
down the hill. The rocks were next.
Level section before the rocky portion of
the hill.
Start of the next descent of the hill.
Ducking.
Rope at a steep section.
This is the side trail we took to the
makeshift camp. It got completely
overgrown after this part
for a little while.
The campsite.
Firepit at the campsite.
Waimano Falls is in there.
The water tank on the walk back to our car.
4 comments:
i wish i read this before i went on the hike yesterday lmao...lets just say i dont recall the last time i officially "worked out" ive been on trails before but nothing like this one...my friends were like hey lets go on a hike...so of course i went...good gawd i didnt kno about this cardiac hill...if i knew about it...i probably wouldvent have gone...lmao and the
"There is no way in hell someone can hike up the hill if they are out-of-shape or obese."
lets just say i survived and i fit in that category...but i just about died hahaha...i can laugh about it now but at the time i thought i was going to pass out...when i got home i took a long hot shower n stretched out my legs took advil and crashed...today my legs are redic sore lmao
Hi, I came across your page while searching for my next hiking adventure. I did the Waimano Falls trail about 3 weeks ago and was wandering if you could give me your opinion on difficulty. I really want to do the Laie Falls hike this week but if its close in difficulty as the Waimano Fall trail... I'm going to have to think twice!
the laie falls trail is longer. it is a bit strenuous if you're new to hiking, but there isn't a steep hill like the one to waimano falls. check out the laie falls write-up in the archive. i did it in march 2009. aloha...
I hiked this trail last week. I am considered obese and I made it no problem. It wasn't the hardest trail I have ever done... I was a little afraid going down that I wouldn't make it back up but it was a lot easier to get back up than I thought. I felt great after this hike! Beautiful water fall and a nice place to go for a swim!
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