All Around Maui: West Maui Hike: Makamakaole Stream ("13 Crossings"). July 3, 2004

The Makamakaole Stream runs down the north slope of West Maui, one of the least developed regions of the island. This hike is nicknamed "13 Crossings," because that is the number of times the trail crosses the stream before the trail ends at a waterfall.
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The trail head

The trail head is located 8/10 mile west of mile marker 7 on highway 340.


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Tree crosses the stream with his "underwater airplane."


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Along the trail


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Blossoms


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Stacked rocks


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Guava tree growing over rock


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Tree flies his underwater airplane in the chilly water.


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Tree loses his balance on the unstable stream bed.

The waterfalls at trail's end


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The base of the waterfall has deep tunnels in the cliff. Here's an attempt to show the inside of one of the tunnels. It was too dark to see much with the eye, but a 30 second exposure sheds light on the back of the tunnel.


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There are actually two waterfalls here. The upper falls is far more beautiful, and larger, than the one you can see here. By scrambling up the slope at the right of the photo, and then crossing the top of the upper falls, you can get access to the upper falls. I took Tree as far as the people pictured here, but I was only that crazy. Crossing of the falls and climbing the short cliff on the other side are adventures that will have to wait until he's older.


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The cliffs at the base of the falls support a population of native plants. The large plant here is the endemic branched spikemoss, Selaginella arbuscula. The small plant growing against the rock looks like a filmy fern from the Hymenophyllaceae family, but I can't really tell.