The Road to Hana

The day after watching the sunrise at Haleakala Crater we woke up early again (not as early) to hit the Road to Hana. This 50 mile road winds slowly around Northeast coast of Maui with hairpin turns and tons of banana bread. We were ahead of schedule as we pulled out of Paia town with full bellies well before 8 am.

Then we hit our first "adventure" stop. The book made it sound so easy: pull over, hike through some bamboo, boulder hop and stream and make a quick hike to see 4 waterfalls with idyllic pools to swim in. 20 minutes later we had gathered a group of 8-10 fellow lost "adventurers". A quick look at the map and I realized our error and we were back on track.

That's us at the second waterfall. It was a slice of Maui jungle heaven. Peaceful waterfall with a crystal clear pool that we took a cooling swim in. Ahhhh, Maui. We should have stopped here.

We had to climb a very questionable wooden ladder and pull our selves up uncertain ropes to actually climb over the waterfall in the background. Then we had to hike along the stream above hopping from rock to rock on what I believe to be the slickest rocks on earth. At this point, Ami was less than amused. The trail eventually ends at a long pool that is about 100 meters long, which I had to swim to get to and over the 3rd waterfall (that's me jumping off of it on my way back below) to find the 4th waterfall. The 4th waterfall was a trickle. What a disappointment. But still kind of fun.

Well, that little sidetrip ending up take almost 3 hours and we were only 5 miles into the road! We went from ahead of schedule to way behind. Oh well. You can be in a rush on this highway. The speed limit is usually about 15 mph and you can see in the pic below that it winds right along the edge of the earth.

I did not follow the local kid above of that cliff. I did go swimming in the pond below and then the local kids through stuff at me and told me I "was muckin' up the water bro!". Welcome to Maui! We found the locals to be less than inviting. But we carried on and found ourselves at this black sand beach:

The beach above was my favorite beach. The combination of sheer cliffs, grass pasture with cows, sand, and pine trees in the distance was magnificent. If I were a cow, this would be the pasture for me.

We left the cows and headed for the scheduled stop - The Seven Sacred Pools. The guidebook says you should get here around 12-1 pm. We rolled in at 4:30pm just as the rain began to fall. Didn't stop us from jumping into the various pools though.

After the pools, you have a decision to make. Turn around and drive all the way back the way you came on twisty, well paved roads. Or continue the way you are going around Haleakala on straighter roads that are not as well paved. We chose the latter and here is what we were up against in a setting sun:

It was actually a great decision. Despite the bumpy road, the backside of Haleakala was incredible. The topography of the crater made it so you could just envision the lava running down the side of the hill. Plus, there were cows everywhere on the road! Our chariot was certainly made for bumpy roads:

In the end, we made it. We hit the upcountry for a great dinner and were in bed by 10 pm. One more post on Maui coming up, with all the leftover pictures....