[9/2/08 UPDATE: by TEAMGEOBLAST
Here's what people should know to safely find this cache:
The trail is a loop and the only safe access is from the upper half of the loop. Put your GPS away and enjoy the walk to the falls, backtrack about 20 feet from the falls, and take the upper trail at the trail marker sign. You approach this cache from the trail and go DOWN to it. Although your coords will reflect that you are close to the cache, going UP from the lower side of the loop is very dangerous and certainly the cause of the most of the DNFs logged on this cache. I shudder when I think of how many people tried this following the Geotrail that is now carved through the bamboo.
Because your reception will be terrible, print the photo on the cache page and bring it with you. Your GPS will only be useful to get you close to these roots in the photo. The roots are the ONLY way you will know where to go down to the cache area. WARNING: You do NOT want to guess as the slope down to this cache is very steep and can get very slippery and the wrong choice could get you injured. You will go down about 20 feet to the cache from the trail. I think this bears repeating....if you are not going DOWN to the cache, you are in the wrong spot.]
[1/28/07 UPDATE: by Minnesota Dave
Updated description of Manoa Falls Plastic Pot to reflect the current hiding place. Revised coordinates from 04/04 got buried, and some people don't read the logs. Here is the log I gave:
My GPS was useless once off-trail, so my reading from the trail is
N 21.20.412
W 157.48.051
At that point you should be near some roots that are on the uphill side of the trail. Look downhill and the large tree there (20-30 feet or so?) has the cache hidden at the base of it. It's a bit covered over by debris. In keeping with tradition, it's a plastic pot. Enjoy!]
ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION:
A touristy trail, so lots of them come in touristy attire (skirts, flip flops, cameras, no water, repellent, etc.), rather than hiking gear so that's fun. Parking is usually not a problem, but it can be on busy days (Sat, Sun). As I bike around the valley I often get stopped for directions to the falls, but its not that hard to find. You may want to print directions or a map (search the web for manoa falls directions) before you go if you're not bringing someone who knows where it is.
My usual plastic pot (see my other caches). Has a can of V8 juice, and some jelly dessert cups (conjac-free:). If you are new to this trail, keep in mind that it rains often in Manoa Valley so plan accordingly (Jacket, towel, change of clothes, wash off mud, slippery - good shoes, mosquitoes) Watch your step for Wild Boar poop - they're huge, and smelly.
Keep valuables out of car as this has been a problem in the past. Drive all the way into the fence area and there is a handful of places to park. Otherwise, park outside on the neighborhood street (near the now defunct Paradise Park entrance sign). Or else you can go and pay those guys to use the old Paradise Park parking lot, but I wouldn't.
If you go to the falls when its been dry the prior few days, it will be but a trickle. If you go right after a big rain, it can be quite majestic and misty. So keep that in mind when you decide to go. But also, rain means a muddy, wet, slippery trail and mosquitoes! There was a landslide there last year but its the first i've heard of 'em here. So there's now signs posted for where to avoid and its roped off.
The trail goes along the stream and so you can hear it the entire way. Keep in mind that the water is often contaminated with Leptospirosis so you really don't wanna expose yourself to that, especially any open sores or your orifices. :o Nasty stuff! I've seen people wading in the pool at the waterfall. Brave!
Right near the waterfall, you will see a sign that leads to another trail connecting to the Makiki and Nuuanu Trail system. Most hikers to the falls seem to forego this part of the trail, probably cuz its TMW (too much work). You can take it up all the way to the Pauoa Flats lookout where you can see the Nuuanu Valley reservoir (catfish!). There's a few other caches hidden up here as of this writing so go get their coords as well.
I had quite a time trying to get the coords at the cache with my map 330 barely managing to get a lock on 3 satellites. The day was very cloudy and i had a lot of foilage and steepness but i think i managed to get a good lock so hopefully you will too. I had a full array of 7 sats as we walked out of the park, dang!
There's a few other caches in the vicinity so look them up and find them all on one trek! I was hesitant to place another cache on this trail since there are others already nearby, but since i live in the area and I haven't stashed a cache in months, I was itching to do it. We'll have to wait and see if this cache turns out to be as popular as some of my others. Have fun!