Road to Hana - Day 1

This was the best part of our trip to Maui!  It was everything that I expected Hawaii to be!  Brian and I snuck off after the wedding brunch for an adventure.  We set off on the Famous Road to Hana.....everything that I read said that most people miss out because they try and do the whole thing in one day (i.e. get up uber early and drive to hana....turn around and drive back).  The guidebook that I had said if there was anyway possible that you should drive to hana leisurly, stay the night...if not two....go past Hana for the waterfalls and then drive back.

Boy were they right!  This is the part of the trip that made the 12 hours on a plane worth it!  I will say that I don't think I would have wanted to stay in Hana for more than one night.  When I say there is nothing to do but listen to the ocean....I am not exagerating at all! 

 

I had mapped out something like 25 stops on the Road to Hana (everything from waterfalls, scenic viewpoints to take pictures, to lava caves).  Needless to say we only had time for a fraction of those and keep in mind we broke the trip into two days. 

The Four Falls of Na’ili’ili-Haele.

This gave me a new appreciate for Bamboo.....I can see why it is such a sustainable product.....

 

This was our first stop and by far the best thing we did the whole time in Maui.  The guidebook listed this hike under the "Adventure" section of the book meaning it is not for the faint of heart.  This had Brian and I all over it.....something to get our heartrate up.  So we pulled over on the side of the road (litterally in a ditch) and entered a "trail" in the bamboo.  This could have very easily been the beginning of the show "I shouldn't be Alive". 

 

Hiking in and around the bamboo (with a wrong turn or two!), we finally came upon the first waterfall.

Number 1

P.S. It is daytime...and it is abotu 1pm in the afternoon.  The bamboo is so dense that it can get really dark under the canopy.  Among the many things I have wanted to do swimming in the pool of water at the foot of a waterfalls is right up there for me. This is one of those things which I saw in the movies and it left an impression. I got my chance!

Number 2

The trail was fairly challenging and we had to jump across boulders and walk across streams to get to the first two falls. Both were very beautiful and as we kept going higher we found fewer people. For the third falls the trail leads you up a steap wall, where a rope and bamboo are present to help you up this semi vertical muddy incline.  With some difficulty we got up the rocks with our hands (lets be honest our everything) all muddy from the rope. Once we concquered the wall we walked a short ways to the second waterfall.  Another 20-30ft beauty

 

If you look at the photo above on the left you can see the perspective of where the ladder (photo below) was next to the waterfall. 

To get to the third falls there was a major obstacle. It's another steap wall and then the top of that is a cliff to climb.  The ladder is definitely a little sketchy but it was the only way....so up we went. 

These are pictures from standing on top of the waterfall after we climbed up the ladder!  Next step was following the trail and jumping from boulder to boulder.

 

Then we reached a gully where the trail ends. This is where the bags, non-waterproof cameras, clothes and shoes are left behind!  It sucks because I was not able to take my camera to take any pictures....but in a way it is nice because it will always be Brian & I's secret!

 

After a small debate in whether or not we actually wanted to swim in the mirky, rotten guava infested water we took the plunge into the water (freezing by the way).  We swam a couple hundred feet around the bend to the third and smallest fall. It wasn't as jaw droppig as the rest but it was the funnest (scariest) of the obstacles to get around. The prize of the adventure was over the top of this fall. Again it was time to climb over this 6 foot vertical waterfall.  The challenge was that there was no ropes/bamboo or sketchy ladder to help.  This was all us!  The lava rock is slippery and hand/foot placement has to be right in order to not fall back onto the sharp rocks in the water.  I have to tell you that I almost didn't make it.  I have almost no upper arm strenth so Brian went first and then he coached/pulled me up.  I couldn't believe we made it up those falls.  A few minutes later we saw the fourth falls.  A 70-100ft breathtaking waterfall with a gorgeous pool below!  Brian and I were the only ones there.  We were truly all alone in paradise!  I will always remember this time we had together!

 

The trip back was quicker.  We actually jumped off the 6ft waterfall into the pool.....swam back to the gully....picked up our clothes and the camera....hike back to the sketchy ladder....climb down (actually scarier then going up)....hike.....go down the sharp incline with the help of the bamboo rope....hike...hike...hike (we got a little lost and started to get nervous)....found our way...hiked out of the bamboo....back to the car!  I think that all of this took 3 hours!  Worth every minute!

 

We then continued our journey on the Road to Hana which is a super winding road along the cliffs of Maui!

The whole road was lush and scenic like this!  Brian drove the whole way which was great because the roads are very narrow and they go from two lane to one lane across the bridges and around the turns.  The natives do really submit to the yeild signs....nor do the tourists that are on their way back from Hana.

 

This is the best picture that I got from the Road to Hana from one of the lookout points.  It shows the road along the clifts

This is a cool area where they grow whatever it is that the use to make POI!

We got lucky as there was another family at the lookout point taking pictures.  It was great to get one picture of us together.

Hana Bay

This was the little house that we stayed in right on Hana Bay....I would highly recommend it to anyone looking to stay in Hana.  The house was called Bayside Hana House!  We were really tired/hungry when we arrived in Hana!  There is nothing there...it is truly a place you can go to disconnect from the world.  The man we rented the house from said that there was 1 restaurant in town that might still be open.  He wasn't kidding!  We got to a little corner store 5 minutes before they closed and we were able to pick up some snacks for breakfast.  We then went on to the restuarant which had a big outdoor eating area decorated with twinkle lights.  I thought the food was awesome but because they are the only place to eat they can charge you anything they want....and boy did they! 

This was the view from our house the next moring!  Famous Hana Bay

We woke up to the sound of the crashing waves of Hana Bay two feet from the house!......well if I am being honest I woke up to the sound of Brian microwaving Queso in the microwave in 30 second increments (so annoying)