Oct 13, 2006
Entry Submitted by: Merlin
November 12, 2005 - Ma'akua gulch - A Flood, A Deathly Drop, & a Long Night
We had hiked the Ma'akua Gulch before this day. On a previous trek we used a lot of time securing ropes on waterfalls so that we could go further up in future trips. November 12, 2005 was that future day. We got up early, packed up, and headed out Saturday morning. This time it was
Jared and his wife (Suzy), Merlin, Jason, Jonathan, and Becca. We took our rope and climbing gear,
flashlights, food & water and a couple of cameras. We reached the first waterfall at about 9:30am and began
multiple ascents over a series of eleven waterfalls. From the beginning of the trail to the eleventh
waterfall we made an elevation gain of 2000 feet (measured by GPS). Anyway, the sky was pretty clear for
the first few hours of the morning, but clouds rolled over and it rained off and on throughout most of the
rest of the ascent up the stream and waterfalls. The rain wasn't extremely heavy or alarming and didn't
have much impact on us other than it made us a bit cold when we weren't moving. After we got up the first
three waterfalls we stashed a lot of our extra hiking gear and food and continued with just the ropes and
rappelling hardware. We got to the fifth waterfall (86 feet in height) where we placed a rope on our
previous trip and climbed up to unexplored (for us anyway) terrain. For the next few hours we continued
hiking up the riverbed and climbing another 6 waterfalls ranging from 20 to 40 feet in height. We reached
the 11th waterfall around 3:00pm and decided to turn and head back down. By this time the rain was coming
down pretty heavily and didn't let up at all for the rest of the night.
We started descending back down the river and waterfalls and I could already tell that the stream had risen
quite a bit. (We stopped taking photos at this point - mostly worrying about getting down). The falls we
were going down would have been nearly impossible to climb up now with the amount of water coming off of
them. I was anxious to get down the 5th one as it was the biggest and most dangerous. The sixth waterfall
poored into a pool the dumped directly off the fifth waterfall. At the top of the falls the riverbed
narrowed to about three feet and the water shot down it like a water cannon. I was pretty worried about the
two girls, but they managed to get down safely. Descending that waterfall was actually one of my favorite
parts of the trip. It was definitely one of the most "Rambo" moments of my life. I'd get my footing and
lunge off of the wall and out of the water then release the rope to rappel down. I did this in a cris-cross
pattern along the sides of the big waterfall and sometimes part way into it. (Photo at left is the 5th
waterfall and the 6th one directly above it. On the first trip I made to Ma'akua there was no rope on these
waterfalls. Jon and I climbed the canyon wall to get to the ridge top and hike past the waterfall then drop
back in above it to secure some ropes on each drop. This is the view we had of the two waterfalls.)
We continued heading down stream to the 4th waterfall. It already had a rappelling rope on it so we clipped
in and rappelled down without having to set up our own ropes. Jon, Jason and Becca had gone on ahead so
Sue Jared and I reached the 4th falls and started rappelling down. When I got to the bottom there was no
footing – only a pool and a knot at the end of the rope. I almost drowned trying to get my rappelling
device (ATC) disconnected from the rope with the big waterfall shoving me underwater. When I finally got
off the current flushed me out of the pool and I climbed out on some rocks. Then I realized Sue was coming
down next and would have to get off the rope as I did (as quickly as possible). I could see she was
struggling to get down through the water pressure and I knew she was going to have trouble when she hit the
knot just a few feet under the water in the pool. Another Rambo moment was needed, actually this was a
"pirate" moment. I grabbed by pocket knife, opened it up and put it in my teeth. I ran along the side of
the pool and up the wall with as much momentum as I could muster (imagining myself pulling a Matrix stunt)
and lunged into the pool. I swam in place against the current but managed to get around it a bit and grab
the rope as Sue reached the bottom. I cut the rope just above the knot and Sue slipped off then we both
flushed out of the pool.
 
We all met up near the top of the 3rd waterfall where we had stashed our food and water. Feeling mostly
starved we spent about ten minutes stuffing our faces while the rain continued to pound down. I became
instantly alarmed when our bags (while we were on higher ground) started floating away. The river was
rising pretty fast now and it was getting dark. I put on my head lamp and yelled over to Jason to come with
me and to descend down the 3rd waterfall (photo at far left). This photo was taken of us (Merlin at bottom,
Jon climbing and Jason at the top) on the way up. The one next to it is the same falls with a little more
water (on a different outing), but still quite mild in size. The falls poured into a pool that was laden
with boulders that were only a few inches under the water in some places. There was already a rappelling
rope on the waterfall so Jason clipped in and started heading down. When Jason started rappelling I noticed
that the rock that split the two waterfalls was only 6-10 inches out of the water. The two falls had almost
become one. After the first 8 feet he disappeared into the water. At that moment I began to be really
afraid for the first time that day. I was hoping he had enough self mastery to just feed the rope through
the hardware and get down and off as soon as he could. After what seemed forever but was probably less than
a minute I could still feel his weight on the rope. I gave it a good tug and heard a muffled yell barely
audible over the sound of the rushing water. I didn't know what to do so I waited a little longer. Was he
stuck somewhere? Was he at the bottom? Was there another knot at then end of the rope that he couldn't get
released from? Why didn't I check the rope first? Questions and regrets filled my mind. I tugged on the
rope again but there was no response. Feelings of horror began to develop as I began imagining what I would
have to do and feel if Jason died. I felt helpless to the circumstance. I turned to the other four and
asked what I should do. I received blank faces for a reply. The reality of what I had to do, the only
thing I could do, struck me with as much terror as Jason drowning. It seemed however to be the most logical
and the most likely means of his survival even with possibility of serious injury. I grabbed my pocket
knife and began cutting the rappelling rope. With Jason's weight on the rope my sharp knife sliced right
through and I instantly jumped up on the rock (that split the two falls) and looked down. I watched his
body wash out from the falls then he rolled onto his back and stuck his arms in the air and gave me two
thumbs up. When he got to the edge of the pool he crawled out onto higher ground and lay motionless. "He's
alive! Jason's ok!" were the first words to escape my mouth. I jumped off the rock and over to the group
and repeated that Jason was going to be ok. The horror was replaced with relief. Though our circumstances
were still dangerous, I felt that we could manage our situation enough to survive. I knew none of us would
go down the waterfall for a while and we would have to wait up there until the river dropped. The rock was
now completely submersed and that the two falls had become one massive unforgiving rush of death. I tried
to yell down and communicate with Jason, but neither of us could make sense of it over the sound of the
water. We both knew that everyone was going to stay put for a while. I turned my attention back to the
group. Becca looked at me and, pointing at Jon, mouthed the words "he's freezing". Jon had rolled onto his
side and was shaking uncontrollably.
All five of us were shivering and I went and huddled with the other four while I thought of what to do and
the best way to stay warm. A moment later Jared said somewhat sarcastically "I wish we hard a tarp". Then
I remembered that the rope bag had a small tarp built into it. I jumped up, ran over to the bag, pulled the
rope out, and then unfolded the small 4x5 foot tarp. I brought it to the group and we put it over our
heads. It was just big enough to keep our heads and upper bodies out of the rain. Before getting snug I
looked around to see the best escape route if the river rose to the little pad that we were sitting on
which, at the time, was only two feet above the water level. One side of the canyon wall was slanted enough
that we could climb up a little ways if we had too. We would have to secure our ropes somewhere on it and
hang from them, but it would be our only choice if the stream came up. I got under the tarp and with the
five of us huddled together we had just enough body heat to stop shivering. We adjusted our position
multiple times over then next 30 minutes and finally settled on putting our backs to the center and faced
outward. Needless to say it was the most physically uncomfortable evening of my life. There was a small
lone palm tree near us – probably the only one in the gulch for hundreds of yards. It was growing on a
small dirt ledge near the top of the falls where we were sitting. Jared used the saw tool on my pocket
knife to cut all the palms off the tree and we added them to our shelter to help keep the rain off our legs.
The rain continued for about three hours. We waited and hoped the river wouldn't rise anymore. At about
9pm the rain stopped. We saw a light shining up at us from below the waterfalls and we wondered how someone
had gotten up to us. Was it search and rescue? We all got out of the shelter and looked down. It was
Jason – apparently he had a small high powered flashlight on him. We tried to communicate again, but it was
impossible. The stream was still too high to descend the waterfall, but the rain had stopped, the clouds
completely cleared from the sky and the moon was directly above us between the two canyon walls. It filled
the gulch with light and we could see multiple waterfalls pouring down into the canyon in both directions.
It was quite a site and I wished I could have gotten a picture of it all. Out spirits were lifted and there
was a little more optimism in the group. It was still chilly so we got back in our shelter and waited.
Jared snapped a photo of the shelter before getting in. About four hours later, around 1:00AM Sunday
morning, we saw Jason's light again and heard his voice. We could tell that he wanted us to try and come
down. We could see the stream had dropped a bit – the rock between the waterfalls was about a foot out of
the water now. Jason seemed to be signaling for us to come down the right side of the waterfall. It was
obvious that the right side had less water coming off of it, but would take a little more work to keep the
rope anchored there. By this time we were warm and dry and getting in the cold water was quite an unwelcome
thought. I discussed it with the other four. The idea to stay and wait until morning was brought up and
preferred by the girls. We would have light and the water level would be down a little more. I was really
tired of being there and was hurting (as were the others) from sitting in awkward positions on the rocks.
We had enough flashlights and once we got down and started on the trail we would warm up. I told the group
that I would rappel down first and if I thought it was safe enough for the others then I would signal them
with my light to follow. We lowered the rope on the far side of the rock at the top of the waterfall and I
started the descent. I held my breath as I began dropping into the cold water and carefully planting my
feet as I descended over the rock. The water pressure was lighter than I expected and I began rappelling
down under the rock between the two waterfalls. When I got down and out of the pool I talked with Jason for
a few seconds just to ensure that he was ok. Even if the others didn't come down I was glad to be reunited
with him. I felt that the drop was easy enough to rappel for the other four. The placement of the rope
made a big difference as it allowed the rappeller to drop between the falls out of the way of the water
pressure. I signaled for them to come down and one by one they each made the descent.
Jared doubled the rope so we could retrieve it from the bottom and then came down last. By this time I was
shivering again and anxious to start moving. Once we packed up the rope we headed to the second waterfall
and rappelled down it with out trouble. The top of the falls was wide and we could get out of the way of
the water altogether as we dropped down (photo at left – taken that morning). The last waterfall was just
the opposite.
It was narrow at the top and the water was moving swift, but it was short – a 15-20 foot drop into a pool
deep enough to land safely (photo at right). We all jumped down and hiked/swam a few minutes to get out of
the narrow portion of the canyon. After we got situated and got as much water as we could out of our bags
and gear we started the long hike home. We each had a few slips and falls but we made it back safely
just before dawn on Sunday morning (around 5am). One of Becca's roommates knew we were still on the trail
during the heavy rain and, when we didn't come back by midnight, she called Search and Rescue. They would
have started their search by sunrise so we quickly called them up and reported it as a false emergency. We
made a few other calls to people who knew about our predicament to inform them that we were fine. I dropped the others off at home then Jonathan, Jason, and I came home, got cleaned up and went to bed. After we were rested and fed we discussed the story a bit and agreed that it was a positive experience for each of us - even Jason.
On a seperate occasion someone once asked me about the 'falls disaster' and I was confused about what she was refering to. The story could have ended with a deathly disaster, but it didn't. It ended with success. The well-being of my hiking companions - my friends, became more important to me than I ever realized was possible. The emotions and impressions that I experienced have been with me ever since that adventure. The decisions I make in my every outing still reflect a little something of what I felt and learned from that night.
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Oct 17, 2006
Reply by: Jared
Not a lot to add to Merlin’s thorough and by all means accurate account of this amusing little outing. I had never thought that while living in Hawaii I would be as cold as I was that night, and Jonathan and Merlin really need to get more body fat before they are going to be able to endure another night like that one. One of the funniest things I remember not covered in Mer’s account was Jonathan’s reaction when the girls wanted to call Search and Rescue to come get us. It was basically; “Hell no…we aren’t about to call them just because there is a 75 % chance that we could die tonight.” I don’t think Jonathan believes in Search and Rescue, and Mer and I weren’t about to admit defeat either. Also not addressed and at the risk of sounding like the spiritual individual I’m not, I attribute the cessation of that night’s rain to the little prayer offered by Mer. He prayed, we “amen-ed” through chattering teeth, and an hour later the rain stopped. In all Mer got the feel and covered everything, it was a crazy/fun trip, and ultimately just another great story of fun times with Merlin and Jonathan. |
