A Grand Day for a Grand Canyon

I'll keep the intro quick as it starts to get redundant. Breakfast ... I had the buffet ... Archer had the "Chorizador" (a ficoccia bread sandwich with eggs, goat cheese, 

chorizo and stuff) ... it was quite delicious. After breakfast we prepped for a surprisingly lengthy road trip. Apparently this island's driving routes are ridiculous. 16 miles to destination, 66 miles and 1 hr 15 minutes to drive; we were required to circumnavigate the island! Fortunately, the drive was long but uneventful, and became much more interesting in the final 10 miles once we entered the Na Pali coast State Wilderness Park. The route changed from a mostly flat-coastal route to a steep incline with switchbacks that climbed the ridges into the park.

We arrived in the park just after noon. Our route would take us through the Waimea Canyon State Park and into the Koke’e State Park, both subdivisions of the Na Pali Coast State Wilderness Park. After a while of driving up this incline, we began to catch glimpses of beautiful views on our right hand side. The terrain began to change from grass hills and plains to red dirt and clay and varied forest areas. Before long we stopped for our first overlook. It was 

immediately clear why the Waimea overlook. It was immediately clear why the Waimea Canyon is called the “Grand Canyon of the Pacific”. From our overlook the massive ravine seemed to stretch endlessly in both directions. As you looked down you could identify the main river, responsible for cutting the gouge through the mountains. Looking into the distance you could see numerous waterfalls falling from the many walls along the canyon. Every hill was a jagged drop from the tall ridge with spires, cliff faces, and intermediate ravines. Regardless of the direction you look, the vibrant colors of green forest, red dirt, gray rocks and white waterfalls made for impressive views.

We continued our drive to our first official overlook, the Waimea Canyon Lookout, 

between mile markers 10 and 11. Here we climbed to an elevated platform view of the canyon, and had views of the gorge for about 250 degrees of rotation. Again, if the sheer drop-off wasn’t breathtaking enough, the way the colors blurred into each other and the uniquely untouched terrain was truly staggering. As we viewed to our left, we lost sight of the canyon as it wound behind further cliff faces. Meanwhile our views to the right spanned over the massive canyon, over a coastal town, and out into the great blue of the ocean. Fun fact, even here – seemingly on top of the world – the roosters were quite abundant.

Our second official stop was at the Pu’u Ka Pele Lookout, just before mile marker 13. Note – we enjoyed observing that the mountain crest/ridge was incredibly uniform in height. At this point we were looking for some hiking trails. Unfortunately, we’d 

forgotten our map – WHICH YOU SHOULD NOT DO! There is no cell phone service at this point, and we could not find a map anywhere here (eventually you can get some further on but it was a long time before we discovered this). The views at this lookout were similarly beautiful. We had some better views of waterfalls, but a little less range. We did not find any trail suggestions here, so we continued on the road. About a mile later, we came to the Pu’uHinahina Lookout, and this offered us what we wanted (even if it wasn’t what we originally set out for). As we looked into the canyon from this perspective, we could see a trail down to the left that walked along an open spine, high above the gorge, before disappearing back into the trees. Around the corner from the lookout was the entrance to the Cliff Trail, a 1.8 mile (1 way) hike downhill into the canyon a bit.

The hike was a step decline (in this direction). The path was clear, and the 

surroundings were a lush forest. There were frequent patches of Eucalyptus Trees, thick shrubberies, colorful flowers, and so much more. The soil was a packed clay-like dirt, often with the bright red color present on many of the hills. Along our descent, we reached a short trail offshoot to one of the hike’s primary lookouts. From here we were tucked into more of a corner of the canyon, offering more of a 1-way view out in to the gorge. After a short break, we returned to the main trail and resumed the descent. At some point we reached a break-off for the Black-Pipe Trail, which we did not do, and soon we reached the ridge we’d set out to find.

The path took a small uphill climb. The trees on our right side suddenly fell away and 

the view opened up into a massive, unobstructed panorama of the valley. The path lost all sense of mud and dirt and became a rough, dry path of golden dust, red clay, and gray rocks. From the spine we could look almost straight down into the gorge, and back up to the clifftop lookouts we’d come from. Helicopter tours passed frequently, and we enjoyed sticking out tongues out at them as we felt we were taking the superior route. From our new vantage point we saw some crazy rock formations jutting out from cliff walls and being just a bit lower, we could see just how many numerous side-streams there were cutting their own paths through the mountains.

As we continued to complete the Cliff Trail, the path took a steep decline as it plunged back into the forest. With just a little bit further to go, we arrived at the Waipo’o Falls,

 one of the two waterfalls that ended the Cliff Trail. Unfortunately, warnings suggest that this Park is not a good place to go swimming, so we stopped here only for our packed lunch. There was some refreshing shade and many great rocks for sitting on, all with the wonderfully relaxing sound of the falls. We regret not re-applying sunscreen while we were here, but after a short rest and lunch, we turned around to hike out. Suggestions: look for walking-sticks on the way into the trail, because they are hard to find along the way, but certainly helpful. The hike out was tough, mostly a steep ascent and lacking the best footings everywhere. However, we were impressed with the time we made and felt accomplished with the completion of the excursion.

As we got back into the car I want to specially acknowledge Archer, who urged us to 

continue down the road. We left the Waimea Canyon Park and officially entered the Koke’e State Park. A few miles down the road (mile marker 12-ish) we reached the Koke’e Museum and Lodge. This is the “base camp” we’d initially set out looking for, and is where you would be able to pick up a map had you forgotten yours. Here we took a brief excursion to view the Nature Trail, a 700 meter walk that explained much of the vegetation living in the area. We read about some of the local history in the Lodge, and learned that the summit of the ridge/final Lookout point is one of the most rainy locations in the world.

After a brief stop we continued to the final two viewpoints. The first was Kalalau Lookout as we approached mile marker 15. We were expecting to get more views of the Canyon, but this was completely different! The view from this outlook faced the north-side of the island, the opposite side of the mountain ridge through which the canyon cut. We looked out across the Kalalau Valley, a massive green ravine that cut down to the ocean, just one mountain ridge 

apart from the beach view we’d obtained the other day! As you stood here and looked at the small white egrets swooping around, and the waterfalls pouring out of the green mountains, you couldn’t help but feel as if you were in any number of overhead movie scenes. It is hard to image a place better. Another mile up the road was a different but similar view of the Kalakau Valley from the Pu’u o Kila Lookout. This is the final official stop on the road and is absolutely worth the extra minutes of driving. Centered on the valley, you’re flanked by tall cliffs and feel like you can look anywhere, down into the valley and ocean, or up into the blue sky and clouds. Interestingly, the weather was just right so it was impossible for us to see the horizon. The blue ocean simply faded into the hazy clouds and blue sky. It was truly stunning.

And this ended our sightseeing for the day and we began the long drive home. Once again, it felt ridiculous, as the Pu’u o Kila Lookout, in a straight line would only be about 8 miles from our hotel. But, instead we drove the 2 and a half hours, and 72 miles around the island’s border to get back home. We took a quick, relaxing interlude in the hot tub to sooth our muscles and minds, before heading back to our room for dinner with the sunset outside our room with an ocean view. We recreated our tacos from the previous night and ate as the sun fell down below the horizon.