Maui, January 2012, part ‘the road to Hana’
Leave early. Check. Bring food. Check.Wear your swimsuit and good water shoes. Check. Full tank of gas. Check. Let’s go! The “road” to Hana “starts” at highway 360 and goes for 34 miles; but really you start at Kahului for a total of about 50 miles.
Obviously, the views and the scenery were spectacular. Lots of water, waterfalls and lush green gorgeous foliage. Our first stops were near mile marker 11, spotting two small falls, the Lower Puohokamao and Haipuaena Falls. Then at mile 13 is Punalau Falls, or at least what should be these falls; there was no water, and also no cache. This is the part where we learn about reading the recent logs for caches, to make sure it’s still there before searching. At least it was good practice walking on rocks, though.
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Panalau “Falls”
Between mile 14 & 15 was a cache Winding It Up, which was hidden in a guard rail, a spot that is not uncommon for caches to be.
Mile 17, nicknamed “Halfway to Hana” is where we stopped to visit Ching’s Pond, and where Deb took the requisite pictures of her toes in the water.
Ching’s Pond
Around mile 19 things really started to pick up. We stopped to take pictures of the Waikani Falls, aka Three Bears; I think you can see why. Cute, right? I was perfectly happy taking pictures from the bridge, but THEN this family started their dissent under the bridge and over the rocks to the waterfalls. It was this dad and his two daughters, they looked about 5 & 7 maybe. Well, they hopped and skipped and jumped over there and frankly guilted me into doing the same. We arrived there around the same time as another couple of young women, and they decided to take a dip to stand in the waterfall. It wasn’t long before we did the same (although I went in my awesome Cabelas zip off shorts, as I hadn’t yet put on my damp bikini bottoms.) Awesome. Exhilirating. Cold.
Waikani Falls
Shortly after this we stopped at Wailua Valley Park for some great views and a snack of fresh banana bread. There was a cache along the way, but construction equipment was in the way, so we skipped it. Mile 22.5 had another beautiful waterfall, as well as a much needed bathroom.
Around noon we made our way down Nahiku Road to the village of Nahiku and the beautiful and spectaular shore line. Really, a paradise in and of itself. I also found another cache in the guard rail.
Wailua Valley Park
We couldn’t pass up an opportunity to see a Lava Cave, now could we. Of course not. Very cool. And dark. And there was a cache there too, woo hoo!
Lava Cave
Getting close! Mile 32 brings us to Wai’anapanapa Black Sand Beach. The sand indeed was black, and a bunch of it ended up in my bikini as I was reminded once again that water is powerful. There is also a blowhole here, which we stared at hopefully for about 12 minutes, then walked away just as it was blowing! Dammit!
Black Sand Beach
Mile 34, Hana. We stopped at the public beach, trying to find the Red Sand beach, but decided to skip it based on the effort described to get to this particular site. Instead, we had some ice cream and contemplated whether to keep driving all the way around back to Kahului, or turn around and head back the way we came. We opted to go back on the Road to Hana. I may or may not have had some random moments of grief during the drive back; which actually weren’t that random since this day marked the third anniversary of my dad’s death. I like to think he would have enjoyed this adventurous day.
