While trail clearing the McCandless Ditch on 8th, 2006 a few
friends and I discovered another entrance to the Ditch. The name
McCandless Ditch really is inaccurate. It is really a system of
tunnels with a few open ditches now and then. At that time we only
just did a little bit of exploring and I decided that it would be a
great new UNDERWORLD cache site. So on October 22 I returned w/one
of the guys from two weeks earlier and a few others. We then
entered the UNDERWORLD deep in Waimalu Valley. As you can see from
me posting we lived to exit and tell our tale.
The trail head is at the end of Onikiniki Street which is at the
top of Pearl Ridge. Take Kaonohi Street all the way to the top and
turn right onto Onikiniki. The trail begins just to the left of the
gated community. Walk right up to their wall and turn left and go
down along the chain link fence. That’s all the help you get for
now.
Sometime around 1912 workers for the plantation in this area
completed the McCandless Ditch to supply irrigation water to their
sugar cane fields. What is amazing to me is that the tunnels run
sort of parallel to the stream from a dam way back in the valley to
a reservoir somewhere in the area of the Kaonohi Playground. Every
once in a while they would blast a side tunnel to the stream side
of the main tunnel so they could get rid of the rock they were
blasting to make the main tunnel. These side tunnels were later
“bricked” up so the water would not escape and flow down to the
stream. The Ditch/Tunnel system is approximately 3.2 miles long;
again most of this is tunnel not open ditch.
You can get more information by the links to hikes I’ve done in
the valley at the following
Link
Ok, now you get more information about finding the cache. This
map will get you to the FIRST crossing of Big Waimalu Stream.
As you see on the map you have to cross Small Waimalu Stream first.
We only count crossings on the main stream.
The above coordinates were taken with only a 2 D reading as I
stood in the middle of the stream at the 6th crossing. I had 6
satellites but only a 2 D reading. I think the coordinates are
good, as when I placed them on a map (not one you’ll see) it was
RIGHT ON where it should be.
At the 6th crossing walk down stream IN THE STREAM about 50 feet
and look for some of the Hau Bush that has been cut with a saw on
the far bank. I did not cut a good trail to the Entrance which is
less than 50 feet from the stream.
The WAIMALU ENTRANCE to the UNDERWORLD can be seen in picture 2
below.
Once you climb up and into the entrance you’ll have to walk in
about 15’ to a “T” in the tunnel. To your left, picture 4 below,
you’ll see light. That is the beginning of the tunnel system and
where the intake from the stream is/was. The intake is now silted
up and very little water flows into the system.
At the “T” turn right and proceed into the DARKNESS! You’ll find
the tunnel is quite wide and high. You should be able to walk w/out
bending over. After about 500 feet you’ll find an exit from the
system very much like the one you entered. There is NO TRAIL
leading from there to the main trail. Just keep going in the
tunnel. Now it gets YUCKY! You’ll be walking in perhaps 6” of water
and at times boot sucking mud. The tunnel ceiling seems to be
getting lower but in reality it is the bottom silt that is bringing
the bottom UP!
Along the way I saw some white bones resting on small flat
sections of the tunnel walls. Floating in the water you might see
two skulls that seem somewhat human. You will begin to see some
light ahead where in time you will exit the UNDERWORLD if you are
lucky ?.
The cache is hanging from a nail on the right hand side of the
tunnel see picture. It is full of some creepy “stuffs”, a log sheet
and a FIRST TO FIND CARD. You will have traveled about 800 feet in
the UNDERWORLD to reach the cache. The exit is only 150 feet in
front of you. BUT YOU’LL HAVE TO GET DOWN ON YOUR KNEES to crawl
out. Of course you could always go back the way you came!
If indeed you crawl out you’ll find yourself in a little valley
choked with Hau Bush. Just follow the valley down and you’ll soon
see the main stream. When you reach the stream cross it by angling
a bit to your right. When you climb up the bank on the other side
you’ll find yourself on the trail. Turn LEFT, and just keep going
and in about 2 hours you’ll be back at your car.
USE CAUTION WHEN CROSSING THE STREAM. THE ROCKS CAN BE SLIPPERY,
AND THERE IS ALWAYS THE CHANCE OF A FLASH FLOOD IF IT BEGINS TO
RAIN HARD. USE YOUR BRAIN AND TURN BACK IF THE WATER IS TO DEEP OR
MOVING TO FAST. IF IT BEGINS TO RAIN VERY HARD GET GOING BACK AND
GET OUT OF THE VALLEY.
ENJOY YOURSELF AND BE GOOD WHEN IN THE UNDERWORLD!