Day 3: Waimea Canyon
On Wednesday we woke up early but still managed a late start due to a breakfast buffet and a sunny balcony on our room. After rolling off the chairs we made our way in our little Ford Mustang that could to the base of Waimea canyon. The drive out to the canyon was about an hour. All we knew about the canyon, aside from being one of wetest spots on earth, was that we could buy a trail map at the something or other museum. According to the map it wasn’t that far.
This is about where god or the universe or something begins laughing at the funny little dumb mortals.
The ride up isn’t long in theory. It’s a short distance. However, it’s a narrow road with a drop on one side or the other and it gives new meaning to “winding.” How that little Mustang made it up the mountain without careening off the edge with Mr. Vertigo driving I am still amazed.
The nice thing about the canyon for you wimpy non-hikers is the abundance of lookout points. We of course stopped at every one and I took way to many pictures. I’m quite manic that way.
At each stop we found roosters, the seemingly king of the island.
One of the stops let you view Ni’ihau, The Forbidden Island. It’s home to over 200 Hawaiians which makes it the largest colony of Hawaiians left on the island. It’s privately owned and no one is allowed on the island unless invited.
Once we found the museum we purchased a map and asked the cashier for the best hike. The poor woman must go through the spiel about 23,983,321 times a day, but she is very knowledgable on the subject.
We ended up on a beautiful hike that was mostly shrouded in fog and covered in mud, but the occasional glimpses of the view were enough. Once done and covered in abundant amounts of red mud, we wearily drove home and enjoyed the view of the ocean. I do admit that we slept very well that night.
All Waimea Canyon photos can be found here. (Well almost all…I took a lot)
