Hiking Mo'ole Trail, Nu'uanu, Hawaii.

This past Friday was an epic one to remember. I took the day off from work since I had my Monthly Drill Training with our National Guard Unit for Friday but didn't have to report till 5pm. I was invited by one of my friends to join their group on a hike since I told I was off for Friday morning and wanted to see if they were going to surf. We met up at the parking spot for Lulumahu trails hike and crossed the highway opposite from where we were, and went to an open gate access along the fence line. From there, we waited about an hour in the rain since two more people were going to join up with us. From then on, it was a hike totaling 3 hours or so, with stopping by 8 waterfalls along the way. The hike was fun, wet, and grueling but well worth the experience. Here are some of the photos I took while on this hike.

This is the entrance to the start of the hike. From there, you follow the trail through the wooded area that will eventually lead you to the manmade irrigation canal which is along the trail. That part was the longest for the beginning of the hike.

Posing for a photo while we waited in the rain and the two other friends. We just talked story the whole time and hoped that the weather would die down a bit (Which it didn't the whole day).

Our guide and one of my friends' friend, Ryan. He lead our group through most of the entire trail and knew how to get to all the main waterfalls, while also telling us some information on native plants, his past hiking trips and other stories. He does some crazy Hikes and even repels down waterfalls. He has one of the best jobs on the island for sure.

The first waterfall we stopped by, one of the smaller waterfalls you'll encounter along the way. From this point on, the train gets more extreme and the waterfalls become even more breathtaking to see.

Heres our group fro the first part of the hike. The two guys we waited for was, Lukas Rodriguez who is a well known photographer and DJ artist Miguel Holly, who was in Hawaii for a show at Hawaiian Brians for Friday night (Pictured in the top back). Funny thing was I didn't expect to see Holly on the same hike as us but I knew he was having a show that night. These two couldn't stay long due to Holly's performance later in the day and all the other stuff they were going to do after the hike but it was nice meeting them.

As for the rest of our group pictured (From left to right) we have, Mark, Casey, Taryn, and Ryan. I only knew of Taryn more mostly from Instagram but she would always ask me to come out on her days off to shoot photos and videos of her and her friends surfing, the only problem is id be working. I got to finally meet her and the rest of her friends. I was lucky to be here on this hike with some amazing awesome people.

Pretty much our hike was mostly filled with taking selfies despite the rainy weather and our cameras being forged up with water. Either way you always gotta have fun and make the most of a gloomy stormy hike day.

I believe this was the third or fourth waterfall we came to and to keep going along the trail you would have to scale this high cliffside with the available ropes placed there. I believe this was hardest part of the hike because I had so much gear on me, it made me take my time so I wouldn't fall or injure myself. If you seen from the previous photo, I had a RVCA Camera holding two cameras and six lenses, my tripod, and a water jug. Even with my weekly workout routines of running, swimming and hiking, this hike did get the best of me.

Every so often I would stop to bring my camera out and get some candid shots of the crew. I like to do these kinds of shots to tell a story and document my experience on anything I'm doing. It gives other people a look into whats going on and what I saw that day.

Climbing up that part of the trail with the available ropes. The rock wall we scaled was slippery as well and you had to make sure you placed your foot in the right place while gripping the ropes. Id say it was more than 30ft high.

Finally reaching the top and onto the next waterfall. We trekked through more rivers and hills. Its always going to be a wet trip no matter what. Be prepared to get wet and muddy. Bring extra clothes when you get back. Its best to go here in rain-type gear and clothing.

Just wrong move and I could've easily landed in the water with all my camera gear lol. I can tell you I slipped about 6 times with the first time in the beginning of the trail, landing on my back. The second time was coming back after finishing the hike and I lost my footing and slipped off the trail almost falling down the steep slanted valley. Luckily I landed in front of the fern bush on the side of the trail and not 100 something feet down.

This was the last stop for us on the hike, reaching the 8th known waterfall on the trail. Ryan wanted to use these floaty tubes and stage a photo with Casey and Taryn with the waterfall as the backdrop.

The kind of face you make when its Monday but you rather be out surfing or hiking.

Tell em to talk to the hand but show em some Aloha at the same time.

Ryan taking photogenic shots and showing how much fun it is to take a break from reality.

Heres my angle of the two girls at the last waterfall we stayed at.

Getting them selfie shots all day! Its always good to have a wide and fish eye lens to capture moments like these.

This is what it looks like with Ryan getting his shot. This waterfall wasn't as big as the the other two within the trail but made it perfect to contain the tubes and swim around in without falling off the next waterfall. There are ropes on this waterfall and its one of the ways to get to the next part of the trail. Theres suppose to be 10 waterfalls but we were lucky we made it to 8. Next time we might plan on tackling the last two and see how far we can push up.

Taryn couldn't get decent shots of me because I left the lens on manual mode haha. She did get some nice shots of me in the moment. I wasn't expecting to jump in the water but decided to anyways. Felt hella cold but it was very refreshing, good thing I didn't have my phone in my pocket. Having this moment of peace and relaxation for a few minutes was something I needed all this time.

How I felt all weekend and what I wanted to do all weekend.

Ryan making his way back down from the 8th waterfall. At this time we were heading back down to finish the day.

Candid shots from the second waterfall we stopped at while heading back from the 8th waterfall Loving Taryn's shirt though, thats what I always want to do.

The last stop of our trip was right back towards the 1st waterfall. It was the second waterfall but we went past it in the beginning. On our way down we stopped here since Ryan decided to come here last. Looking at this waterfall, it tustve been at least more than 100ft high and to think we were that high up in the valley. I think this was my favorite waterfall because of how tall it was and the feeling of making it look really, "Hawaii". This is a type of adventure I live for and I was happy to have been able to go on this hike. Looking forward to doing this hike again and also many more like it.