2022 Nov 12 | Maui, Hawaii: Road to Hana, waterfalls, black sand beach



The hostel had a Road to Hana trip. That would be an easy way to do it; just ride with them. Although part of the fun is driving yourself, and we want to do the reverse drive. Instead of leaving at 8am and checking out the sights in the same direction as everyone else, we're going to leave at 4am, get to the end, and then check out the sights on the way back. In theory that makes it less crowded at the stops.



The hostel has a big kitchen.



Ogii bought me a sea turtle shirt. It goes well with my necklace.



Our Jeep is still there.



Nice mural.



The only thing open for breakfast at 4:30am is McDonald's. The clerk at the counter wanted to know all about our trip; where we're from, where we're staying, where we're going today, etc. Very friendly.



Google tells you to take this route, but the southern road is very bad, and everyone advises against taking it.



So we'll go the normal northern route.



Very windy.



A random cow standing on the road. Hopefully the people driving the other way miss it.



Tight turns and no parking.



Some waterfalls.



A cafe with restrooms and wifi; that's a big draw.



Some of the houses are very long. It looks like they just keep adding on.



Sea shell sale.



There are a ton of one-way bridges on the drive, but very little traffic right now.



More cows on the road.



Some Jeeps with tents.



A lot of the locals have lifted trucks.



Some cows.



Mountains inland.



A couple of young cows on the road.



They're looking at us like we shouldn't be on their road.



It's very much a jungle on the eastern side of the island.



One of the few cars we met.



There are a fair number of waterfalls along the side of the road.



Us with one.



We made it to the end by 7:30am: Haleakala National Park.



Trail this way.



We are taking the Pipiwai trail, four miles round trip.



Some warnings about flash floods and slippery rocks.



These plants had these bumps on their leaves.



Here are orange ones.



I think they're galls, bumps from some organism feeding on the plant, but they are very uniform.



There were lots of roots and rocks on the trail; you had to watch out.



An area to be careful.



Beautiful view with 185-foot Makahiku Falls to the left.



A giant banyan tree.



Some secondary trunks.



More roots.



More waterfalls.



A few bridges.



These steps were kind of a pain to walk on, so we'd walk in the dirt beside the path.



Some platforms.



Through bamboo.



Fruit.



Had to cross this little waterway.



Do not pass.



Although if you go just a few more feet, you can get a picture without the sign.



Us with the 400-foot Waimoku Falls.



Under the bamboo.



A huge spider Ogii saw.



A lock of love.



Big leaf.



Many stickers on this sign. I recognize Buc-ee's



A bit of traffic on the way back.



Seven Sacred Pools seaward.



And inland.



Nice views of the ocean.



Some surfboards.



Very pretty colors.



A waterfall.



Ogii accidentally took a selfie instead of whatever we were looking at.



Bright flowers.



Green Bay Packers fan.



An old car being eaten by the jungle.



Big tree and ruins.



Old building with a tree growing through it.



Another car left by the side of the road.



Ocean view.



A little lookout to the right.



We got lucky; it rained a bit on the drive there, stopped during our hike, and now started up again, so the cows are hiding under the trees.



Cat avoiding the rain.



Lunch at the restaurant at Hana-Maui Resort.



Burger and steak.



Lots of ukeleles.



We had originally planned on walking down to the red sand beach (Kaihalulu Beach), but it's a very narrow, slippery path, and some people fall down onto the rocks below and need to be rescued, so we decided to skip that since the rain started up again.



There were a fair number of fruit stands by the side of the road.



We rented a convertible in Oahu; here we went with a Jeep because we were driving on worse roads.



Skinny flower.



Parking at Waianapanapa State Park. This is one of the few things you need to make a reservation for (the others being a luau and Haleakala summit sunrise, although we didn't do that this trip).



The black sand beach (Honokalani Beach) below.



Us on the beach.



Tiny pieces of cooled lava.



A bit different looking.



Ogii getting pictures.



Me.



Back up the stairs.



They don't want you taking the black sand back with you.



Although it is all over my shoes. >


A smaller cove.



Sitting on the rocks.



Watching the water splash under the rock bridges.



Green plants on top of the black stone.



Another little cove.



Ogii out by the edge.