9/17/09
Early morning! We were out of here before 6 heading for the Waipi'o Valley. This is one of the most sacred places in Hawaii. The valley once housed the kings of ancient Hawaii and served as a retreat for Hawaiian royalty. For this reason, the valley was bestowed the nickname "The Valley of the Kings". The valley is the largest of seven spectacular amphitheater valleys on the windward side of the Kohala Mountains. Waipi'o (Curving Water) is an emerald patchwork of forest, lotus and lo'i (taro patches) 6 miles deep where waterfalls plunge earthward from 2000' vertical pali (cliffs). The river continues on from the falls to the black beach and the sea. There is an overlook at the end of the road and then the road continues for only 4 wheel drive vehicles as it plunges down to the valley at a 25% grade. Or, you can walk down the road, which was how we got there. It's a mile down this curvy one-lane road that clings to the side of the cliff. At the bottom if you follow the road to the left you are rewarded with distant views of Hi'ilawe Falls which, at over 1400', are the state's tallest falls, with over 1000' of free-fall. There are also wild horses that roam the valley and we saw several of them. We then returned to the road and headed down the left road to the beach. The water crashes into the black sand beach. There were a good number of surfers. John had to forge the river to get to the far side of the beach and get more views into the valley. The telephoto lens was in the backpack. It was a very serene and peaceful place. We were heading back to the road up the cliff and ran into 2 boys who had just run down it. One said "People say it's 1 mile down and 10 miles up!" Steep hardly covers it, but there were always great photo ops so you could stop and rest. We took 25 min. to get down and 45 to get out so not too bad. I'm sure we'll feel it tomorrow though. Worth every ache though!! We then headed down the road to the Kalopa State Park. It's old forest and full of native Hawaiian trees. We had lunch in the arboretum area and then took the nature trail. There was a guidebook you could follow and it was a lovely walk. Lots of ferns and tree ferns which are our favorites. By then we figured it was time to head home to a shower and a nap! It was a quiet late afternoon around here, but a wonderful day!
