Hana Ho!

Another long weekend afforded us the opportunity to continue our long-planned exploration of the island ( and still left us 2 solid beach days!).  This time, we drove around the East Side of the island - out to Hana and then all the way around the back side (as it's commonly called).

About 150 miles, 8 hours, 97 waterfalls, 600 curvy curves and 200 other cars doing 60% of the same trip as us, a little rain with a lot of road washouts ... we did it!

No details on this one... just some highlights.

First.. the waterfalls.  Yes, many are spectacular, some just trickles.  Pools and rushing water tumbling over boulders green with moss & fern.  2 foot falls and 200 foot falls.  And so damn many falls.  After the first - oh, I don't know, 15 - we became jaded and lazy.  Come around a corner, eh, look, more falls.  (Go ahead, call me Ronald Reagan... but you do get a bit of waterfall fatigue... seen one fall, seen 'em all.)

You thought I was kidding about the 200' fall,
didn't you

So beautiful.

(Yawn) Lovely.

And a bird's eye view.

And the green, lush trees and bushes.  Thickets of tangle trees, kudzu vines hanging down, giant elephant ears wrapped around tree trunks and telephone lines.  Every corner you came around (and there are PLENTY) there would be a new commune of some genus of trees, standing at attention, guarding the road.  Manzanitas (with its amazing, smooth multi-colored bark), eucalyptus, bamboo and zillions more that I have no idea what they are.  And flowers... orchids - wild orchids - everywhere along the road, bright colored hibiscus, ginger, birds of paradise, lipstick red heleconia.  And this lovely, orange flower that was everywhere - even scattered along the road like wind blown raindrops.  They were so abundant all long the road that I never got around to taking a picture, until it was too late.  And now I can't figure out what it is.

Our girls in a cave of tangle trees.

You know how the Eskimos have 100 different words for snow?  I believe the Hawaiians must have at least 100 different words for green.  Maybe 1,000.

We made stops in lovely little towns, visited ancient Hawaiian churches each with it's own cemetery of wind and weather-aged, moss-covered headstones. On the back side (past Hana) in the town of Kipahulu is one such graveyard, where lies Charles Lindbergh.  It is peaceful, quiet sanctuary on a bluff overlooking the vast Pacific Ocean.

I read that he died of cancer in 1974 (having already lived for some 6 years in East Maui).  When it had reached the advanced stage and he was told he had a very short time left, he said, "I would rather spend two days alive on Maui, than two months alive in New York."

There are several black sand beaches on this side, and a red sand beach.  I'm jaded - I still prefer the more mundane, white sandy beaches on our side of the island.  Of course at each of our stops, we had to let the girls out for a run, a pee, a drink of water.

Finally, we slowly come out of the tropical lushness and into the more stark, moonscape of Kaupo and the wilds of the east side of the island.  No more trees to speak of.  We would have had spectacular views of the mountain to our right, if not for the crown of clouds clinging to the barren slope.  And then the rain started.

What do you suppose happens to a slope of land covered in red dirt, rocks and vast lava fields with little vegetation to anchor it?  Running water, and lots of it.  And quickly gathering loose dirt (now mud) along it's path washing across the ribbon of road in first trickles, and then gushes.  And there's us in our little Scion, the bottom of the car being about 3" off the road.  Huh.  Interesting.

But, needless to say, we made it.  Touch a go for a couple of miles, but we forged the gathering washouts, white knuckling across the un-guardrailed road, and made it.

Finally got back down to Kihei around 5:30 pm... just in time for one happy hour cocktail at the Tiki Lounge.

Life is good.