The Berreth Family: The Road to Hana

I now need a T-shirt that says, "I Survived the Road to Hana!" After our coffee and breakfast out on the Lanai, we donned our hiking shoes and headed to the Bamboo Forest and Infinity Pool on the road to Hana. The road to Hana is a very narrow, winding road through lush green paradise. Most of the road was only one lane and it is recommended that you travel around the mountain in a clockwise direction to keep the traffic going in one direction. But, you know tourists...we do what we want! We did follow the Maui guide book and went in the right direction. The good thing about going clockwise is that you are on the inside of the road against the mountain and not the cliff side. We crossed several, and I mean several, one lane bridges that people would stop on and look at the waterfalls. We decided that Oregon has much more impressive waterfalls than most of the falls we saw. We also saw several Lemmings along the road. They are rodents that are known for going over cliffs in masses because the ones in front of them are doing it! They look like ferrets and were harmless. It was interesting to note that the native people who live in East Maui are not as friendly and don't show their Aloha spirit like the natives on the other side of the island. We felt more like intruders rather than visitors. Although they were set up to sell their fruit and goods to all the tourists. We made a stop at Wai'anapanapa Park which has a black sand beach. The black sand is formed when lava flows into the sea and shatters on contact with the cool ocean water. Fragments smash against each other and form the black sand. A short hike down to the beach was easy and we were also able to crawl into a lava tube cave to see the ocean up close. On the road again we stopped in Hana at Hana Bay for a bite to eat for lunch. I had a Teriyaki Chicken sandwich for $8.95 and a small soda for $2.00. No french fries included. They were an additional $3.95! I think this shop called Tutu's is doing quite well and they didn't even show their Aloha spirit. After lunch we headed for Haleakala National Park where we hiked the Pipiwai trail. It is two miles each way. We made sure to wear our sunscreen and bug spray as we heard of many mosquitoes along the trail. All along the trail we saw many waterfalls and it had rained earlier in the day so the trail was quite muddy, you should check out our shoes! Because of the rain fall and the lush greenery, this is the side of the island that you see pictures of Maui from. Just past the Makahia Falls overlook, Jennie, Linda and I took a slight detour off the trail so we could see the natural infinity pool. Julie ditched us and kept going up the trail. Our detour took us past a warning sign that said "Do Not Enter." I felt like I was breaking the rules by going down this 'not so warn' path, but the Maui guide book said we could take this detour "at our own risk." Great, this seems like a bad idea but I did it anyway...Jennie said we could! After a short hike down a hill and over some huge boulders we saw the infinity pool, which sits a top a 200 foot waterfall. The water was clear and surrounded by lush tropical greenery. I am so glad I listened to Jennie and followed the guide book...it was well worth the short hike off the trail. After our detour, we were back on the trail which took us through a fence onto private property...yes, this is the trail, I was not breaking any rules here! Just past the fence we were able to see an old, huge Banyan tree and then came to a bridge that crossed the streams we had been following. As we walked onto the bridge we could see the beautiful Bamboo Forest up ahead. A long 1 mile hike through the bamboo forest eventually led to Waimoku Falls and the end of the trail. The Waimoku Falls slices 400 feet down the back of a three way sheer wall of lava. It was quite impressive and I got that information from the Maui guide book! Like I know what a three way sheer wall of lava is...it looked like a very tall rock wall to me! After seeing the falls we turned around and hiked back to the car. It was at this point we realized our marathon muscles and toes were still healing. Jennie and I did quite well but poor Linda struggled with very painful toenails for the last downhill mile stretch of the trail. Back at the car we scarfed down some fruit and chips...we were so hungry. Back on the Hana Highway, the road continues as a one lane bumpy, rough road. As we began to drive around the mountain away from Hana the scenery changed from lush green tropical forest to dry and desolate. We only saw a few houses on this side of the island and the ones that we did see are more like shacks and lean-tos. These people live with no power and no running water. The mountain is filled with lava craters and valleys and the road is so rough now I know why they don't want rental cars on this road. The road even dips down into a lava valley at one point crossing a dry river bed. There is no road you are literally driving on the dry river bed. We even passed a sign that warned of flash floods and not to pass through that area. Yikes...who knew this part of Maui existed? We drove slow and could tell the local from the tourists because the locals drove really fast and passed us even on blind corners! There were even signs that said honk your horn before going around a corner because it was so narrow. I'm so glad Julie was driving. By the way, she has driven this road about four times so I felt like I was in safe hands. The sun was going down quickly and we almost made it back to the condo before dark. Tired and exhausted from today's adventures we decided to have an upscale dinner at McDonald's!

Words of advise:
If you decided to drive the road to Hana, make sure you drive in a clockwise direction and start early because it takes all day especially if you want to stop and see the sights. You don't want to be driving on that road in the dark and there are free range cows running around! Good night Thursday!

We stopped at a rest stop to get out and stretch our legs.

Jennie and I