The Very Long Road to Hana

It is difficult to keep up with writing in this blog, our days have been full and by the time evening rolls around, I'm pretty wiped out. So I tend to be a day behind.

Kipahulu: Seven Sacred Pools

Yesterday, we woke up early and were driving away from the Villa by 6:15 a.m. Our goal was the Road to Hana and some hikes at Haleakala National Park: Kipahulu Trails. It took us three hours to get to the park entrance not because it is really far away, but because it is 42 miles of very narrow curvy roads up the mountain and through a rainforest going 15 miles an hour. There are over 600 hairpin turns, and 54 one lane bridges. I have never driven on a road like this before.  Every time the road narrowed, you had to wait for oncoming traffic to go by before attempting to drive through. It was crazy!

Walking through the Bamboo Forest

We arrived at Haleakala around 9:30 a.m. and we were told that the pools were closed because it must be raining at the top of the mountain and they were concerned about flash flooding. So we went to a viewpoint, but couldn't go down to the pools. We then decided to start a two-mile hike on the Pipiwai Trail to see  waterfalls. The beginning of the hike was the hardest, but after a half mile, we came upon Makahiku Falls which is a 200-foot waterfall. The hike continued on and we walked through various ecosystems including past a huge Banyan tree, through an amazing Bamboo forest, up and down muddy rocks, and finally across a rushing stream until we came upon the majestic 400-foot Waimoku Falls. The sites and sounds were unforgettable as we ventured into these remote areas.

The hike took us about 2.5 hours round trip, and then we had a picnic lunch near the Visitor Center which was really just a trailer with some porta-potties nearby. After lunch, it was time to drive the another three hours back down the crazy Road to Hana. There were other stops along the way where we could have stopped and hiked, but we needed to get home for dinner, and we were all pretty tired both physically from the hike, and mentally from the never-ending winding road.

We arrived home around 4:30 p.m. And after dinner, I was in bed by 8:30 p.m. First because I was exhausted, and second, because the next morning, we were going to the other side of Haleakala National Park to watch the sunrise at the summit of the volcano. We were leaving the Villa at 2:00 a.m. (yes, you read that right). But more about that tomorrow. For now, I need to go to bed and catch up on some sleep!

The end of the trail at Waimoku Falls

Read my son David's perspective here: http://favoritesonsspiels.blogspot.com/