Jackass Ginger

Aloha!

O.K., so it's been a few weeks, and a few setbacks, but we finally made it to Jackass Ginger. Jackass Ginger is on the Judd Trail. Once you reach the trailhead for Judd Trail, simply descend to your right toward the stream. You will see a trail marker. Cross the stream at this point. On the other side of the stream, you will see another trail marker. This indicates that the trail goes upstream and downstream. Proceed downstream for a short while, and you will be at Jackass Ginger. This is a small local swimming hole. There is a rope swing, and part of the falls can be used as a slide.

*CAUTION* As with any inland water in Hawai'i, leptosporosis is always a concern. Swim at your own risk.

As for the trail, it is a loop trail. If you continue past Jackass Ginger, you will eventually come full circle back to the trailhead. About halfway through the trail, you will see another marker. This is for the Nu'uanu Trail. Continue straight past this marker to stay on Judd Trail, or go right to start a new adventure. As of this post, we have not hiked the Nu'uanu Trail yet. This will be a future adventure, and we will inform you when we make this hike.

While on the Judd Trail, keep your eyes open. Parts of the series "LOST" were filmed here. Check out http://www.lostvirtualtour.com/ for comparison photos with scenes in the show.

Happy Trails.


Someone about to slide down.

Jumping from the rope swing.

Queen Lili'uokalani Botanical Gardens

Aloha!

Welcome to Queen Lili'uokalani Botanical Gardens. OK. So it's not really a hike. But with the small waterfall on the Nu'uanu Stream running through it, it makes a nice place for a picnic. After you finish one of the other hikes nearby (ie. Judd Trail, Kapena/Alapena Falls), this is definately a nice place to stop for lunch if you were just doing a short morning hike. On one side of the stream is the majority of the botanical gardens, and the other side is shady with lush grass perfect to throw down that picnic blanket. Or, if just relaxing with a book is your thing, there's not much better of a place in Nu'uanu. Truly a relaxing retreat from the nearby busy downtown Honolulu.

Judd Trail

Aloha!

Finally, we found Judd Trail. After 2 weeks of being given wrong directions, we made it. This is a nice hike that runs partially along the Nu'uanu Stream. The day we got here, we were on a limited time schedule and could only hike part of the trail. Though we didn't make it to our goal destination of Jackass Ginger, it was still a nice hike. There will definately be another segment on this trail in the future. Jackass Ginger is a locally famous swimming hole along this trail. This will have to wait for another day.

Caution about the trail: heed warning signs. There is private property very close to the trail. Stay on the trail and out of other peoples yards. Unfortunately, when going upstream, we did not know the trail was on the opposite side of the stream. We ended up running from someones large dogs as we quickly tried to hop slippery rocks across the stream. We didn't really need that adrenaline rush.

Oh, by the way, parts of the series "LOST" was filmed along this trail as well. Check out http://www.lostvirtualtour.com/ for comparisons in scenery.



Small falls near the trailhead.


This is where we should have been on the other side.



This is the area where the dogs chased us.

Kimi walking through the bamboo.

We were somewhere up there.