On Tuesday, January 15th I went on a learning trip to Hamama Falls and the dike tunnel. On Monday Mr. Blake had asked us to write down our feelings, our expectations etc. I wrote, "I'm super excited. I've been on this hike before and I remember it being super difficult even though majority of the class said that it was easy. I've walked to the ice ponds and by then I was tired I can't imagine how I'm going to be when I get to the falls. This whole experience is going to be really interesting. I'm excited for the tunnel because I've never seen anything like it. I didn't even know that those things existed before today. I know the falls are beautiful only thing is there's no pool to swim in. I imagine this tunnel being like the lava tubes at volcano national park. I'm scared that I'll be eaten by mosquitos."
The morning of the field I got to school and it was freezing cold. I started to regret the biker shorts and t-shirts. We hope on the bus and we drove towards Kahaluu. The mountains were golden and clear and absolutely stunning. We got the end of the road and we were dropped off. We need to walk to the gate and that was a hike before a hike. This was the view towards the gate.
We walked towards the ice ponds and when we got there we gathered into two groups and learned about the history of Hamama and waihe'e falls. He spoke to us about the dike tunnel and how our island gets it's water. We were then split into two groups. One group would hike up to the waterfall and the other would go through the tunnel.
The hike was packed with vigorous hills and it felt like ti was going on forever. It was very slippery and muddy. When arriving to the waterfall there was a huge concrete thing where apparently that where they take the water from. I learned that the hike ins't actually a hike but a maintenance trail for when they go up and service the pipes.
After the falls we went through the tunnel. It was made out of concrete and it was 1350 feet long until you reach the end. At there end it splits into two and there are two vault doors where the dike is. It goes on for another 200 feet behind the door. Since this was an area where two dikes meet it allowed water to gather. When walking through the tunnel there was 1-2 inches of water and my feet were cold and numb. By the end of walking through the tunnel I couldn't feel my feet anymore. The guy from the board of water supply shared that everyday there are over 5 million gallons of water that are used from those dike tunnel and the falls.
OLELO NOEʻAU Uē ka lani, ola ka honua. "When heaven cries, the land lives" The oleo noʻeau is trying to say that the land cannot thrive without rain. Ihe rain represents heavenʻs crying and without there can be no life here on earth. Our kupuna saw the importance of water and the connections between all life, from the heavens to the earth.