Pretty awesome day enjoying the sights and sounds on the Hana side of the island. Nice, slow day, but full and saw a lot of things!
Photo Gallery: https://pics.mattichan.com/-uwc066/gallery
Morning Start
Woke up and drove the 2 min to the visitor center even though it wasn’t open, because it has bathrooms with flushing toilets, so did my morning business, getting ready for the day, and was treated with some nice views of some birds chilling before all the people came.
Pīpīwai Trail
Set off on the Pīpīwai Trail which I didn’t get to do last time cause the trail was flooded. Since I was up super early, and coming from the campsite, instead of from central maui, I was the first person on the trail, and got to see all sorts of things during my nice and slow hike taking photos as I went. Two couples passed me at points, but really wasn’t a ton of people going up to the falls.
Saw a mongoose, that came out and looked at me for a bit before bolting, and then made it to the Makahiku Falls for a quick look in the morning sun. Lots of spider webs glistening in the morning sun without being destroyed (yet).
As I rounded a bend, I noticed a glint of sun up in the trees, and as I zoomed in, found that it was reflection of the sun in a drop of dew. Pretty cool. Saw a whole bunch of huge dragonflies as well, which felt like they could eat my face.
Finally made it to the gem of the hike, Waimoku Falls was definitely worth the hike, and since there were no people up there (I thought), got even more peace and quiet for about 20 minutes, just enjoying the falls.
I did notice that two couples had passed me up the hike, but only one had passed me on the way back. I wondered where the other couple was, when I saw them coming back past the “Do Not Pass” sign as I was leaving….people really are the worst.
Rant: Seriously, for the life of me, why can’t people just follow instructions? You’re in a national park and there’s signage literally everywhere for your safety. Why do YOU have to be the special person that has more privileges than everyone else? Why do you think the rules don’t apply to you? Freaking….humans. Not the first time, certainly not the last, but humans make me so frustrated sometimes (let’s be honest, most times).
The walk back was great as well, stopped to take a bunch of scenic shots in the bamboo forest as I hiked back down. LOTS of people coming up the trail at this point, and it was definitely getting hotter, so I’m thankful for the rangers suggestion to go in the morning to avoid people and the heat.
Kahanu Gardens and Pi’ilanihale Heiau
Finished the hike, and stopped in to chat with the rangers again to see if they had any more recommendations. They recommended a couple spots that were on the GuideAlong tour as well, so I headed out back down the Road to Hana.
First stop was at the Kahanu Garden and Pi’ilanihale Heiau. Lovely space and well worth the National Tropical Botanical Garden label that they have. Enjoyed walking around for awhile, and particularly enjoyed how large of a space it was and there were only a few people around, so got to really just enjoy the peace and quiet.
The Heiau itself is gigantic, you can’t walk up it, but it’s a fascinating structure.
Gotta be aware of your surroundings too. Coconuts could fall (or be thrown down at you) at any point. Awesome space though.
And in another edition of “humans are the worst”. Freaking trash everywhere that the wildlife are impacted by.
Hana Bay
Next, did a quick stop at the Lava Tubes, but I’ve seen a lot of caves in my day, and wasn’t really feeling it (nor wanting to pay), so skipped it and headed on toward Hana. Stopped at Hana Bay, since I had skipped it previously as well to get to the campsite (both last year and on this trip). Lovely little bay and quick trail off to the side that climbed up the rocks for a really short way.
Food
Stopped by a food truck to get some food, and the special was some sweet and sour spare ribs, so of course I had to get it. It was delicious, and the mac salad was delish (as usual).
Koki Beach
On the way back to the campsite, made a stop at Koki Beach. Really nice, smaller beach with an arch in the distance and lots of little crabs running around if you looked close enough.
The island off on the side was apparently pulled up out of the sea by maui’s hook according to legend.
Was going to stop by Hamoa Beach as well, since it’s right there, and supposedly, SUPER beautiful, but there were SO many people, and no parking, so I just skipped it to head back to camp.
Wailua Falls
Stopped again to get a quick pic of Wailua Falls (at different times of the day). Really nice, and ALMOST went down the trail to go into the pool, but it was getting a little later in the day, and wanted to make sure I got back in daylight.
Kūloa Point Trail
Got back to the National Park, and decided to finish the other trail which I’ve done before, but always nice around sunset. Went down and explored a bit and around the ‘Ohe’o Gulch with the oddly named Seven Sacred Pools (since they aren’t sacred, and there aren’t seven of them).
Some some really small critters running around too, and that wasp / hornet looking bug was legitimately ginormous and terrifying to look at…waited for it to finish its business before continuing down the trail.
Back to Camp
Got back, finally, and finished eating dinner, and doing a little bit of photo transferring to clear space for the next day, before turning in for the night. It was a little cloudy, so not a TON of stargazing today, but a little bit every now and then through the clouds.
Vibe Check
3 parts joy
2 parts anger – for humans being the worst…just leave no trace and follow instructions…
Feedback
Leave a comment or question if you have any thoughts! Anything you want to know about as we go around the world? Any things you want to share as feedback, or any images that particularly spoke to you. I’ll try to read all of them as time permits!
Matti 
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