I somehow managed to wake up early enough to catch the sunrise and even though it wasn’t all *that* spectacular, I’ll take it. Brian sat with me for a few minutes and then went back to bed, that was allowed. We lazily made our way to breakfast at the hotel and then hit the road to Haleakala National Park. The road to Hana back here gets way worse, incredibly. Significantly curvier and more narrow. Still a spot to pull over to catch a waterfall. This one is Wailua falls.
It was about a 20 minute ride to Haleakala. We then hiked the Pipiwai Trail, which I had incredibly high expectations for and was looking to be the highlight of the trip for me and I’m happy to report it far exceeded them.
About a half mile in you reach waterfall number 1. Again it had rained over night so there was an awesome flow.
You come across a really big Banyan tree a little bit further.
Another small-ish waterfall.
A beautiful bridge leading into a bamboo forrest with, you guessed it, another waterfall.
Then you treck for what had to have been 3/4 of a mile through a bamboo forrest. It was incredible and the wind made the sound of the bamboo so cool.
And eventually you get to this sky-high waterfall called Waimoku falls. Because of the recent rain I imagine the falls on the left started flowing.
The picture of course doesn’t do it justice but it’s 200′.
And we made our way back down stopping for more pics to savor the moments and to listen to the bamboo. So incredible!
Toward the start of the hike there’s another scenic loop that brings you to the Seven Sacred Pools. There are actually a lot more than that but chop it up to marketing to use a catchy name. The pictures, again, don’t do this justice. It’s really beautiful.
That about wrapped up Haleakala, so we made our way back to Wainapanapa State Park. We stopped at one beach somewhere and got a better pic of the offshore island. It has a coconut palm on top, it was rumored to be planted by a father who lost his son in a war and planted it in his memory.
On our way back things got dicier on the road- we were finally kinda opposing a lot of traffic since we got to Pipiwai early since we were right in Hana and left relatively early. So we encountered a ton of cars going back, and the parking lot was nearly full. There was one point where these 2 20 YOs and us were stuck and they refused to go in reverse. Brian claims he was in the right and went through first, I was too busy looking around… we somehow managed to squeeze by but after that I pretty much made the decision we’d go back the way we came out of Hana as opposed to completing the circle.
Anyway, that was our only mishap, crazily and thankfully. Besides other people clearly not yielding… We found our way to Wainapanapa!
The Shaka app raved about this park, but to me it was kinda like eh just another black sand beach. There were some cool features, like this rock arch and lava tube to the ocean. Those people were in there for at least five minutes trying to take the perfect Instagram photo, so I just took a photo of them and left.
We did a walk around the coast for a bit, but we were already a bit tired from all the hiking earlier so we didn’t do the full thing. Just enough to get a taste and a better view of the bay.
And another small black sand inlet.
We also really weren’t wearing the right shoes for a long walk. So we called it and it was already around 3pm at this point and went back to the hotel to enjoy drinks at the pool.
Makiki Valley Loop Trail is in the middle of Tantalus, a protected forested area of Oahu. After all the hiking I’ve been doing, I thought this would be a walk in the park, but it was actually deceptively a bit harder. I didn’t realize it was rated moderate, it was 1000 ft gain but I didn’t look at the map hard enough to realize it’s all in the first mile or so, phew! This is the maze of roots we navigated working our way up. There were beautiful views of the valley on both sides.
The two other spouses who went happened to be sub spouses, it was great bonding!
There’s a secret extension to a waterfall and I was happy we found it and came across it. It was so beautiful.
It ended up taking us a little over two hours with time built in just to enjoy the moment, 4 miles, and 946ft elevation gain. There was a decently big parking lot, maybe enough for 25 cars, but it’s a really popular area and I think it was filled by the time we left. I’m glad we got there early. Still suffering from a low-ish turnout on hikes. But it’s better than the zero I had over the winter!
Maunawili Falls is a waterfall that is so popular among tourists, one hiking access route was closed shortly after we arrived in Hawaii in order for trail restoration to occur. This leaves a couple other, much longer, options to get to the waterfall- the one we took was a 6.5 mile total hike. A couple friends had been eager to go on it, so I asked them to choose a date so we could plan to go together with KOSC. Well, they both ended up needing to bail due to life circumstances, and in fact only 3/14 registrants ended up committing. It’s a pretty typical problem with my hikes. Nonetheless, we trekked and had a great time!
The parking for it is on the “hairpin” turn on Pali highway- it is a really small parking lot and there were threats of both tickets and broken glass. When we arrived, there was a ton of broken glass on the ground. Thankfully, even though we were out on the hike for four hours, my car was safe and sound.
The trail starts pretty ominously with this non descript warning… these signs are around Hawaii due to unexploded bombs I believe. Strange they wouldn’t take care of it but here we are.
Essentially you start with hiking the inside of this mountain range and have some amazing peak a boo views in the beginning. Eventually, we take a left and head down into this lower forested area to get to the waterfall…about 2.75 miles in.
The trail is a mix of about everything, from board walk to rock to streams to lengthy mud puddles. So many natural flowers along the way.
I took a chance on a puddle and unfortunately I sunk right in. Some are pretty dense and you stay on top.
This is where we took a left to get to the falls.
We made our way down some stairs cautiously and found the stream, we’re getting close!
Finally, the falls!
The path was blocked by a fallen tree, so we definitely needed to walk up the stream. This part was tricky, and one of my boots ended up filled with water. Thankfully Kaylynn was there to push us all the way because I had about had it with the stream and slippery rocks. I would DEFINITELY take my water shoes next time and changed quickly. Would’ve made a world of difference for this last section.
Now we turn around and climb our way back out. It was helpful to have beautiful views along the way.
Thankful for these ladies to have joined me. I would do this hike again if I gave it some time to dry out. I will also confess that this was a stressful day – Brian left the morning of this hike. His boat was departing later that afternoon and I wanted to go home, shower, and make it to pearl to see. So I was eager to go quickly. I think I’d like to go back under better conditions, with better shoes, and at a slower pace.
Here’s a post purely to document waterfalls created by a rain shower over Kaneohe! These are a sight to see and so unique to our side of Oahu. It was still raining when I was taking the pictures so it was a big hazy, but it’s the best you can get!
I captured these when taking Jess’ family to see the gardens. It was a bit disappointing it was raining, but they wouldn’t have seen this if it wasn’t! Hawaii is so different all the time, you can go back to the same place multiple times and get very different experiences, it’s amazing.
This hike was definitely challenging to navigate. A lot of reviews said that, but based on the map it looked pretty straight… the problem is it crosses the stream a couple (? Few?) times. There weren’t great markers and LOTS of stray paths. Some of the markers were the same colors and plant leaves… which left you questioning leaf or trail marker? There was one point we were hiking up a cliff face and my gut said it didn’t feel right because reviews had said their 8 year olds could handle it. I was right, and we backed down and found an alternative, much easier path.
Anyway, this was another nice walk through the jungle essentially… a really beautiful bamboo forest to start.
Eventually you get to the stream and trace it all the way up. This hike is NOT recommended during rain and I can see why… you can easily get trapped.
I ended up using my spikes toward the top, and I would highly suggest boots… we were crossing the stream a lot.
We made it there around 4pm on a Friday and there was hardly anyone there. We parked at this pull off off the highway… they were doing filming in the area so the parking was limited which could’ve kept it quieter. Also, you need to buy a pass for this hike… it’s limited to 100 a day or something. It was a whopping $2.50 and no one checked us for it, but I rather go with the integrity route.
It was a great hike, it took an hour and 15 minutes ish, 1.7 miles round trip, only 300 ft elevation. There were four other people there and they were swimming… I’ve heard bad things about the bacteria in these ponds, so I haven’t done it yet.
After this we made a stop at the Honolulu Museum of Art to pick up some pallet straps to reuse for this project. Stay tuned!
Finally, we stopped at La Casita restaurant to try to find some good pupusas. The pupusas were just OK, but the horchata was delicious and the empanada was as well. We would like to try their other food. This all started after a discussion about trying to find Arepa’s in Hawaii, which it turns out there aren’t any… so now we are pursuing (and succeeding!) at making them at home. I first tried arepa’s in Venezuela. They are delicious.
Sidebar conversation related to this afternoon… Leading up to this, I was very reluctant to drive. Growing up, my mom was very fearful of driving, and even to this day my parents are very particular about parking and where they drive. So sometimes that creeps up on me… we were going to three spots I had never driven before, one I had to take a left and then another left on a busy throughway, one was in the city… and I was going to ask my friend to drive. But I know, if I keep doing that, I will scare myself into never driving anywhere. Well, long story short, I told my friend this before we left, and she encouraged me to drive, and I did and of course everything went fine… in fact incredibly smoothly. Both lefts, navigating this tiny parking lot, and driving the H1 through Honolulu. It was a great confidence/anti fear builder! Funny anecdote about the tiny parking lot in the art museum- I parked in the museum director’s spot (at 5pm on a Friday, mind you) and the parking attendant got SO UPSET. So I had to move immediately. Meanwhile, this parking lot is 5 spots big and there were 8 cars trying to park in it… We all agreed afterward that he had definitely been chewed out for not leaving that space open previously and couldn’t let it happen again. How about next time pick a bigger parking lot to execute this in? Or get permission? Strange… Hawaii is strange.
Manoa Falls is a very touristy waterfall hike. It was closed for a bit and redone to try to prevent erosion. It’s really easily accessible, not much of an incline, and beautiful. However, definitely not as breathtaking as one that you’d find buried deep in the jungle like the last one I went to, Waipulani falls. I think the touristy feel takes some of the awe away. None the less, great little adventure to get some fresh air after what felt like weeks of rain.
OK, I take it back, you do feel a bit like you’re walking through the jungle…
But the path is mostly gravel and well kept bridges.
As you get closer you can only see the bottom tier.
In some of the pictures you can see people at the base swimming… you can, but swim at your own risk of infection with whatever diseases… I’ll take a pass. There are signs saying you shouldn’t, and with all the heavy rains I especially wouldn’t.
Parking is $4 for Kama’aina or military. The parking lot is small, but there was an additional one further. This trail connects to a large network of trails in the Tantalus area that I’ve yet to check out. Total was 1.7 miles round trip and 400 ft elevation. I think for a quick hit up of a waterfall without getting too dirty, it’s great. If it were me, I’d choose Likeke or Waipulani or even Waimea before I came to this one.
Wouldn’t be a proper birthday without starting with a sunrise walk!
I had to do a little bit of work, but then I took a half day and mid afternoon Jess picked me up for our grand Birthday adventure! We started with a hike to Likeke Falls with the grand plan to loop to Old Pali Rd or go back down and up Old Pali. At one point, the path splits and you have to follow the arrow to the right to find the falls.
The trail was not muddy, but sometimes this can be a disadvantage because there’s nothing to dig into and it ends up being slippery. Between the roots and rocks we made it without falling.
0.4 miles in and we made it! Really quick hike. I specifically chose this because I knew it was relatively easy and I wanted a low risk, high reward hike for my birthday. November is supposed to be the rainy season, but we haven’t received much, so the falls were pretty dry, but SO beautiful.
I chose my attire so that Brian would be there in spirit.
The water was cooler than ocean water, but pleasantly refreshing. The rocks weren’t slippery at all, which seems strange from what I’m used to in New England. Decision time, go down and find Old Pali or cut across? We decided to cut across because the trail was actually stone lined. The path itself isn’t an official trail in all trails, though, so we were going a bit into the unknown. I actually also decided to try my micro spikes on the way back (down is slipperier). Let me tell you, after putting those on I felt like Spiderwoman. Which is great because that was about to come in handy. Soon after stones the path became overgrown with leaves.
I know this picture doesn’t reveal much, but see how the path disappears in front of the tree? It’s a very steep uphill there. Hard to get good footing to get a picture, so just use your imagination. This is where my spikes really came in handy.
Little did we know we had to go down a very steep decline.
I learned that really leaning back on your way down so your feet are more horizontally planted and having cleats makes you feel like you can do anything (don’t worry, parents, had I slipped I would’ve merely landed at the bottom, unlike some Hawaii hikes where I would’ve landed 5K feet off a ridge).
Thankfully after this decent we were right on Old Pali, and now you can see pictures of it!
After this point, there’s a little shortcut to the left you’re supposed to take to get back to the parking… but we ended up walking all the way down to walk back up again. We also came across a father and son harvesting start fruit from a tree (the father is taking this picture). They let us each take two home.
Next we headed to get pizza at Pizza Mamo in Chinatown. I’ve heard a couple people recommend this place, and the real reason we went was because it was near where I wanted to get my cake. We parked at this lot and paid, but the receipt didn’t print… on point with Hawaii. Retrospectively we should’ve found a meter.
Anyway, we pre ordered the pizza leaving the hike and it was ready upon arrival. We originally tried to eat outside, but the sun was scorching us. So we moved inside, but then the guy told us about this place with a courtyard next door that would let us sit there. Turns out it’s a really cool Mexican bar place called Encore Saloon that we decided we’d love to go back to.
The pizza flavor was DELICIOUS. I am personally a thicker crust fan. We also worked up an appetite from the hike, so it was extra delicious. Chinatown was interesting… there was a homeless man outside PizzaMamo that was yelling a lot. But there were all these little hidden gems of restaurants. It was relatively quiet. We’ll definitely go back.
Then we made our way to Slice by HB Baking. I have had my eyes on this place for a while. Go look at their Instagram! They are ice cream cakes of complete decadence. Jess wanted to get two slices, but I encouraged us to start with one, and she ended up agreeing with me. This was pumpkin pecan ice cream, some fall flavored pound cake, and banana pudding with the best whipped cream frosting I’ve ever had. 11/10 would go back here.
Finally, as if all that wasn’t enough, we made it back to Lanikai in time to fit in some snorkeling.
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And even got a birthday honu! (It was really cloudy for some reason today, and the sun was behind clouds, so hard to see)
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I was in my pajamas by 6pm. I’ve been joking about how this sure beats any rainy November New England Birthday 😉
Not pictured/documented are the communications on a variety of platforms I received and the presents I opened.
I obviously missed having my best friend with me, and communication has been rough/non existent the last week or so. But he managed a couple Happy Birthday emails (in case one didn’t get through).
Here’s a throwback to our probably third date? We went for mimosa flights for my birthday at Friendly Toast in Cambridge and made it a tradition… well sort of… until COVID ruined it.
Let me start by saying that every year I feel loved on my birthday, and I know that that’s what matters. And that this day was GREAT. I had such an awesome time. This is just a reflection on them in general. The past couple were a bit tough, I think because I was hoping someone would’ve planned or done something for my 30th (they didn’t) and there were quarantine shenanigans (I actually had a nice lobster dinner that year, so actually that was great). I don’t know why it feels like I’m missing out on something… I think because I see “all” these people on social get parties planned for them, or surprised, or have something special, and it makes me feel like no one cares to go through the extra effort for me, and I don’t really get why. Ever since I lost my last best friends to weird circumstances, I feel like I haven’t been able to truly find that again (Brian is not much of a celebrator, nor was their family growing up, so it’s something I have decided not to expect from him). So I have no “bestie” to do things like that that seemingly everyone else does. Anyway, I’ve always just owned my birthday celebrations, because when I don’t I’m disappointed. I was sad Brian wasn’t there to experience these things with me, but it was the perfect day otherwise, and God has filled the hole with a new friend who was thankfully down for my crazy plans for the day. I’m not sure what I feel like I’m missing not having someone that would plan a party for me, but I think it comes down to social media and just how high expectations get set, and maybe feeling like I still don’t quite have a bestie. Again, this is simply a reflection and not meant to say I don’t feel like I’m loved or that I didn’t have an awesome day, because that’s certainly not true. My 32nd was a blast and I don’t think anyone could’ve planned it better/done anything to make me enjoy it more, and I felt completely loved. So I’m not sure what this dissonance is really about, but I’m sure it has something to do with social media. Anyway, here’s to hoping year 33 is a little less tumultuous.
I frequently get asked if I’ve been to the North Shore yet, and the answer was no until yesterday! The North Shore of Hawaii is known for its giant waves, sunsets, turtles, and agriculture. I finally took the trip because it was on my bucket list, and also because I wanted to go on a hike but had no one to come with me. When I searched hikes on AllTrails, I found one that was paved inside a botanical garden that ended at a waterfall just off the North Shore. I figured that was the safest option to do solo, so it worked out I could do that and explore the North Shore a bit!
The North shore takes a little over an hour to get to. I set off at about 7:30am, the botanical garden opened at 9am and I wanted to get there early and eat breakfast.
The ride isn’t incredibly impressive, but you do pass through a lot more agricultural fields out there. The funniest part was when I was coming down over a hill getting close and I saw the water, I was in awe of it and so excited, as if A: I didn’t expect to see water again and B: I haven’t seen beautiful water practically every day. It just felt different!
My first stop was Island Vintage Coffee (courtesy of a quick google search for breakfast). It turned out to be in this really touristy plaza.
I tried the fresh mango and peanut butter sandwhich… it was SO GOOD. And Guava juice, which was super fresh, like the orange juice we get at Fisherman’s when we visit Brian’s family in CA.
There was this fun historical protestant church across from the coffee place.
Then I headed toward Waimea Valley. The entrance fee is $10 for Kama’aina (Hawaiian resident) or military. Not bad for peace of mind about safety.
The grounds were so, so beautiful. It felt like I was walking through a jungle. It looks like they are still repairing some paths, but this is a good example of what it generally felt like.
I’m not entirely sure if these were all the known kings of Hawaii or… but they are big on teaching about Hawaiian culture and history.
There were some replicas of structures that would’ve been found on the land. There were also a couple sites of ancestral dedication.
There were a million flowers, and it was hard not to stop to take a picture every five feet. Here is some flower spam.
They are also big on restoring native species and do a lot of work to regrow them.
They had a whole path/grove just for palms.
I have no idea what month it is because we live in perpetual summer. If you ask me, I think it’s still August. But this reminded me of fall!
Some pretty foliage…
Fun plant name.
And finally… the waterfall! You can swim in it, but I decided not to… it seemed to be more hassle than reward, and I didn’t want to leave my nice camera alone.
I am going to start a second post with the rest of my day… spoiler alert it involved the ocean.
I spent almost two and half hours at this place, I was not expecting that! I could’ve spent more.
