Hawai'i 5: Maui, Day 4

Today, I got up early and took the long and winding road along the north coast, to the eastern tip of Maui, and via Hana to the Haleakala National Park on Maui's south-east side. The national park is pretty large, and has two access areas: One from the coast in the south-east, and one from Kahului (north) for the road to the top crater (the yellow circles in the picture below show the two visitor centers).

The main attractions on the coast side are a number of waterfalls, and already the drive to the park. The road is pretty narrow and winding, and for a long time you can hardly go faster than 20mph at all. And, of course, it is full of rental cars... There are plenty of great views along the road, and people just stop anywhere and everywhere - often quite dangerous. Here is a photo of what appears to be a car park:

But it is actually the main road! This photo shows it a bit better, as well as the bridge from where you could see the waterfalls in the next photo...

Here another nice view from the road:

I finally made it to the Kipahulu visitor center, and instead of paying my $10 entrance fee, I bought the America the Beautiful - The National Parks and Federal Recreational Land Pass, a card that gives you and a second person one year free access to all American national parks, national historic sites, national battlefield parks, national monuments, etc. And all this for only $80! This is a good deal, and I can make good use of it tomorrow, in Seattle/Pacific Northwest, and when Neil and I will be traveling together in the southwest (Grand Canyon, Death Valley, etc.). I parked the car and went on the trail. First, it took you to the coast and some smaller falls:

From there the Pipiwai trail led inland, and up the hill, then mountain:

The hike up the mountain was beautiful, most of the time along the river. There were quite a few rapids and waterfalls on the way.

Basically, waterfalls everywhere! Some you could see in the distance, for example this one:

Eventually, the trail turned into a wonderful boardwalk, through a very dense bamboo forest. It was so dense that it was pretty dark. The wind went through the tree tops, and the bamboos were squeaking and creaking - it was kind of eerie! The photo shows the lighter part of the bamboo forest, before the board walk started:

And after another while, I finally reached the Waimoku Falls. I had to take my shoes off to cross the river twice, but it was well worth it! Shortly after that, the falls came into sight:

It was amazing, and - in contrast to the many cars on the visitor center car park - there were only two other couples here. It was quiet, except for the thunder from the falling water! I had to go the same way back to the car park, and also drive the same way back to Wailuku, because the road, which used to be around the island, is now blocked by lava in some southern parts. I stopped a few times on the way, including a stop at the world famous surfer beach of Hookipa. The swell was minimal, and the few surfers that were there were paddling and sitting on their boards more than actually surfing. I guess it wasn't the right day!