Though we came to Maui for the beaches, our day of play yesterday pretty much beached us out. We decided to consult the guidebook for other things to do in Maui and it turned out there were a couple of interesting-sounding hikes we could go on. So we filled our Camelbaks, tightened our hiking boots and set off.
First on our list was 'Iao Valley. It used to be forbidden for anyone but Hawaiian royalty to enter the valley, but the kapu has been lifted and the site is now a state park. There are all sorts of mythologies and histories behind the place which I'll leave to you to Google.
The hike was more of a paved walk, but it was quite beautiful. Lush green mountains lined every side and multiple streams flowed through the site. There was a zen botanical garden you could walk through that was very beautiful. The highlight of the walk, though, is the 'Iao Needle, a giant spire of rock climbing into the clouds. I took probably 20 pictures of the Needle but restrained myself to only posting two or three.
It was pretty clear that the locals considered the place to still be restricted to tourists, and only to tourists. We passed many groups of natives wearing swim trunks, walking back from behind signs that clearly say to stay on the trail. At one point we even came across a couple of girls lounging in a stream and I felt like a bit of a voyeur zooming in to snap a picture.
'Iao was nice, but we were definitely ready for something a bit more challenging. Waihe'e Ridge Trail definitely delivered. We drove past a gate that was very clear on the fact that it would be shut at 5:00, and we'd better be on the correct side of it when that happened. After a short paved incline we reached a gate. To one side of the gate was a zig-zag path that Elly and I had to carefully squeeze through to keep from tearing our packs. I'm glad I lost that extra weight, otherwise Elly might have had to leave me behind!
The trail then zig-zagged up and along the ridge at a pretty steep climb. Sometimes the trail was deep in the forest offering excellent shade, and other times it wound along the top, exposed to the sun but also to a cooling breeze. We weren't too hot, but the extra humidity and the steepness of the climb meant we were both sweating buckets. On and on the trail climbed. We'd see something ahead and say "Surely this is the top, I can't even see anything further up. We couldn't possibly go any higher" yet on we climbed. At one point after passing a sign that said "Stay on trail" Elly joked "I know the sign is meant to say 'Don't take shortcuts.' but to me means something else. To me it says 'Don't give up! You can make it.'"
We kept climbing until we broke through into the clouds. Finally, after climbing a bit further, we reached the summit! We were drenched from sweat (drenched is not an exaggeration here. It was sincerely gross. -E) and cloud condensation and completely exhausted, but we were rewarded with an incredible view! In one direction we could see down into a beautiful valley, and across the valley we could just barely see the mountains across through the fog of the cloud. Turn 90 degrees and we're looking at the ocean, and a beautiful neighborhood built on the top of a mountain overlooking it. Turn again and we can see a city below, built along the coast line. Everywhere we looked was cloud just barely obscuring a beautiful view below. It felt very mystical, like it should somehow be the end of an epic journey, where we'd talk to a wise yogi or something, and learn the secret of the future.
The trip back down was much faster, but we were definitely stressing the time a little bit. We joked that we'd only barely make it into the car, Elly peeling out in the gravel and zooming away even before I'd had a chance to shut my door. Ahead the gate would be closing, and we'd gun it, barely making it through, losing a layer of paint as the closing gate scraped across our side. Inexplicably, half-naked dark-skinned warriors in elaborate face-paint would shake spears at us, cursing us in a language we didn't understand. But, in reality, we made it through the gate driving a normal speed, and with almost 10 minutes to spare. I like the other version better, though.
We finally made it home, utterly exhausted. We fried up the rest of the fish and had a repeat of the previous night's dinner. I blogged while Elly packed. Then, due to a miscalculation on my part, we have to each eat most of a pint of ice cream or resign ourselves to throwing it away. There are several hours of hot car between check-out tomorrow and check-in at the resort, so we can't keep it. Bon appetite!
Hikes
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bwn0Nhn0wkPTN2V0azRDMnY3ZE0/preview
Photos
https://plus.google.com/photos/105719328153023565846/albums/5943403874258174401
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