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Gordon & Zoud's Excellent Journey to Maui, Hawaii - Page 2
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We were up at 7am with tea and coffee on the lanai. Heading south toward Hana we encountered partially cloudy skies and some sprinkles, which is normal for the "wet" side of Maui. On the way, Gordon found some great Hawaiian shirts at a very reasonable price. We also picked up some fresh shrimp for our lunch. We passed by Mama's Fish House, which is one of the most famous restaurants on the island and made a note to return that evening for dinner. Reaching Ho'okipa State Park we stopped for a quick look at the coast and at all the surfers riding the great surf there. My nephew, Alex, surfs at this spot and I looked in vain to see if I could spot him. He works at the other great restaurant on the island called the Haliimaile General Store.
We now began our trek to Hana in earnest. The road narrows with 56 one-lane bridges awaiting us. In the past, this was a hellish drive, but now it is well-paved and merely strenuous. We passed by myriad waterfalls and rushing rivers. We experienced torrential downpours, fog, mist, and clear vistas as we made our way along Maui's southeast coast. From time-to-time we stopped to take pictures and to take in the beauty of the tropical rain forest. It is so lush as to be overwhelming. You cannot believe how many shades of green exist in this landscape. Arriving at Waianapanapa State Park we stopped for lunch. Sitting out in the bright sunshine at a picnic table overlooking the black sand beach, we enjoyed our lunch of shrimp, crackers, and bottled water.
With the weather now clearing, we drove down to take a look at Hana Bay. We marveled at the waves crashing into the lava cliffs but didn't remain there for long. I wanted to show Gordon where a famous aviator was buried so we headed off for Kipahulu. Few people know that Charles Lindbergh is buried on the island of Maui. He made his home here in the 1970's. Even fewer folks know where his gravesite is. So, off we went in search of this elusive location. We entered into the south portion of Haleakala National Park and passed the Seven Pools area. After a while, I realized that I had passed the turnoff that I was looking for. Certainly, the scenery has been fantastic, so the trip was not wasted, but I really wanted to find this site.
I turned around and headed back to the Ranger Station in Haleakala National Park where we discovered that the sign post demarking the location of the Kipahulu church has fallen over. This being Maui, after all, no one had put it back in place. The very friendly ranger gave us the precise directions and we found we were only one mile away! We backtracked, found the turnoff and visited the grave site. This is a very quiet and beautiful spot in which to be interred. After spending a little while here, we headed back to Hana. We stopped briefly to visit Hamoa Beach, another highly rated beach in Maui. There were body boarders and surfers alike riding the waves here.
It has been my experience in the past that traveling approximately 60 miles could easily take three hours or more. Impediments such as stuck tour buses, accidents, traffic in general, and washed out bridges all contribute to the driving time. But, of course, we were leading a charmed life and found no traffic, no tour buses, and no trucks. Even being barraged with pouring rain, it only took us about two hours to make it to Mama's. We dined on cold ginger soup, Maui tomatoes and onions with crumbled blue cheese, and Polynesian lau lau. Lau lau consists of mahi mahi, salmon, and Kalua pork baked in a banana leaf and served with coconut milk poured over it the moment it is opened up by the server. It is accompanied by fried plantains and baked papaya. They served freshly baked bread with fresh Maui made butter. It was the best that I have ever tasted. We enjoyed a great meal and marveled at how well run this restaurant is. It has been operating on Maui for decades. They print up a fresh menu every day. When they list the fresh fish that they have available, they also tell you where it was caught, and by whom. All in all, it is a very impressive operation.
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We were up and moving about early once again, this time courtesy of our three personal Chukkars. These quail-like birds, (think Hawaiian partridge) are not content to merely forage for food quietly. Oh no! Their loud, raucous calls work better than an alarm clock. This morning we were greeted with a light but steady rain. We had our tea and coffee out on the lanai and discussed this day's activities. Around 9am the sky began to clear and we went for breakfast at Lahaina Coolers. After our repast we conducted another stroll along Front Street, then headed over to Kahului for more shopping. Gordon wanted to pick up some more Hawaiian shirts and I wanted to find something for my daughter, Naia, and my wife, Debby.
Yesterday, my nephew, Alex, returned my call and told me that he would be working at the restaurant on Monday evening. We made arrangements to see him Monday for dinner. He told me that the Haliimaile General Store was conducting a food drive for the local food bank and if we brought canned goods we would receive half off our entrée. This was a pretty good deal, so we also picked up a couple of packs of Spam. I should mention that Spam is practically the staple food of the Hawaiian diet.
Returning to Lahaina we spent the day relaxing, reading the Sunday paper, and going for a swim at the beach. After swimming we served ourselves pupus. This time we enjoyed shrimp chips with mango/papaya salsa and beer. Gordon put together another delicious seafood salad, this time with shrimp, imitation crabmeat, avocado, papaya, and fresh Maui pineapple. It was delicious!
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We were awakened at 6am by my cell phone. Gordon got up and went for a quick dip in the swimming pool. After his swim, we pulled our cold-weather gear together: sweaters, jackets, shoes and socks. Our plan today was to climb Haleakala Mountain.
It was a beautiful morning with clear skies, no wind, and lots of surfers out all along the coast. Once again, we visited Lahaina Coolers and found that now we are their regular customers. Gordon had his usual fare of granola with a cup of coffee. I settled for an English muffin and a cup of hot tea. Gordon decided to add some scrambled eggs to his order and the waitress brought out a bottle of their homemade sauce. It's very hot and very tasty. I brought back two bottles for my own kitchen.
"Haleakala" is Hawaiian for House of the Sun. This is the site where the demigod, Maui, harnessed the sun and slowed its pace across the sky so that the people could benefit from its warmth and light. The summit of this dormant volcano is at 10,023 feet. The area is a national park and the road is quite good all the way to the top.
We began our ascent at sea level, where the temperature was a warm 87 degrees. When we finally reached the top, the temperature was 54 degrees! As we ascended the slopes, we passed through rich, lush pastureland dotted with contented cattle and horses. This is paniolo country. Paniolo is the Hawaiian word for cowboy. We passed by the little farming community of Haliimaile, and the "western" town of Makawao on our way to Kula. This area is at the 3,000 to 3,500 foot level and is generally referred to as "Upcountry." We were treated to views of beautiful homes and even more beautiful gardens. The main road was lined here and there with jacaranda trees and various stands of eucalyptus. We also passed many protea gardens. This flower grows extremely well in this climate and altitude. We continued ascending higher and higher until we reached 6,500 feet and entered into the clouds. At almost the same moment, a Chinese Pheasant (see banner above) flew low over the road and glided by right in front of us. Gordon said that it was one of his countrymen giving him a special welcome.
As we climbed we encountered very little traffic. Again, this reflects the low number of tourists on the island. We did see a number of bicyclists, however. There is a thriving business - offering folks the chance to coast down the flanks of Haleakala. This has become quite the thing to do on the mountain. Gordon and I decided that it is not our thing at all. While most groups were coasting down, we did run into one group that was climbing up! These are the real hard-core aficionados, that's for sure. At 7,500 feet we were still in the clouds and I expected that we'd soon break through their cover. But, as we continued our climb, the clouds remained overhead. This was not a good sign at all. Arriving at the entrance gate to the Haleakala National Park, I showed my Golden Eagle pass and I.D. and we were allowed to enter for free. My plan was to head right up to the summit, but I could see already that the crater was totally socked in with thick, heavy clouds. Bummer!
We continued to the summit anyway, and took a few photos. One of the many tour guides shepherding groups around offered to take our photo under the sign stating 10,023 feet of altitude. We had made it to the very top. We got along so well with this tour guide he thought that we were members of his group. He admitted that he couldn't remember us getting on or off his van and was very disappointed when we didn't come along on his tour. As we were standing on top, there was a break in the clouds and we could see Moana Koa peeking through from the Big Island of Hawaii 80 miles away. We hiked about a bit just to get a sense of the mountain top and witnessed some random guy lose his footing on the "a'a", (rough lava rocks), seriously puncturing open his left knee.
After our survey of the surroundings, we headed down to the main visitor center proper. I was hoping for the clouds to clear out, but Mother Nature was having none of it. We decided that we didn't care about the clouds, fog, and mist and that we would descend down the Sliding Sands Trail for aways, just to get a taste of hiking down into the crater. To descend into the crater from our present location on the rim involved 6 miles of trail and an elevation change of 4,000 feet. I had no intention of challenging us with so much exertion. We trekked down only about 2 miles and 1,500 feet. We were enveloped in this fog that was constantly shifting and moving all around us. I just wanted to hike in far enough to get a sense of what it was like to hike into the crater.
There were others on the trail having a similar experience. We witnessed a women stumble and fall just ahead, cutting open her right knee. One of the hiking groups close by had a first aid kit and helped her. This was the second fall that we saw just within an hour. Hiking up here was treacherous, indeed. It seemed like people were dropping like flies, but not us! I queried some returning hikers about whether or not they managed to get under the clouds farther down the trail. They reported that it was socked in all the way down to the crater floor. We turned around at that point and headed back up the trail.
Climbing up, one begins to experience the lack of oxygen at this altitude. We stopped to let a couple of horses pass by on their way down. The horses and riders were headed all the way across the crater, some 13 miles to spend the night at Paliku Cabin at 6,380 feet. As I relayed this information to Gordon, it meant very little since we were surrounded by fog. Visibility was no more than 20 feet at best so talking about the vastness of the crater and distances in miles meant absolutely nothing. Proceeding ever upward, huffing and puffing, we were about halfway back when we stopped for another in a series of rests. All of a sudden, in less than a second, we went from opaqueness to a vista across the crater. The cloud cover lifted and Lo and Behold!, there was the entire crater, 13 miles long by nine miles wide laid out below us. What an incredible sight! All the colors, all the cinder cones, the trails, the pali (cliff) at the far "Hana" end of the crater and even the famous Kaupo gap was there for us to see.
We returned to the car without incident and headed back down the mountain, stopping for a quick look at the Leleiwi Overlook. This gave a different perspective of the crater and one could see a couple of the hiking trails way down on the crater floor. We also stopped in at the lower visitor's center to see if we could spot the Hawaiian Nene. This bird is a distinct species derived from the Canada goose. It is thought that some migrating geese found Haleakala thousands of years ago and liked it so much that they never returned to Canada. They have evolved into their own unique species and are protected in the park. Alas, although they always seemed to be hanging around this area, it was not to be this time. Undaunted, we continued on down the long and winding road back to Kula where we stopped in at the Kula Lodge for a light lunch. As we made the long descent, Gordon declared that he had waited 60 years to have this glorious experience! I agreed that there was no time like the present to start a fun life. The food and view from the Kula Lodge at this elevation were terrific as usual. After lunch we stopped in next door and checked out the Kula Marketplace. They had some excellent art work and sculpture among many other items for sale here.
We still had plenty of time before our dinner rendezvous with Alex at the Haliimaile General Store, so we back-tracked a bit and visited the Tedeschi winery at the Ulupalakua Ranch. This winery is part of the vast (75,000 acres) Ulupalakua Ranch which has existed, in one form or another, for about 150 years. Driving on these twisty, narrow roads left us in no mood for wine-tasting, so we looked around a bit and then continued heading out on the Piilani Highway. If you take this road far enough you will eventually wind up in Hana. We just wanted to take a look at the scenery along this virtually unknown stretch of Maui. Almost all of the land belongs to the ranch and the property backs up to Haleakala National park. The road surface was quite good and once again we encountered very few cars as we motored along. We did encounter some live-stock "on" the road, but we managed to pass them by without incident.
We drove almost to the Kaupo Gap but decided to turn around and head back to Makawao. The road stays up in elevation at about 3,000 feet until it reaches the Kaupo Gap whereupon it drops to almost sea level. This stretch of road is constantly being redesigned by Mother Nature and it is quite easy to tear your car up in the myriad potholes one encounters.
We returned to civilization and Makawao town. We drove around the area for a bit, cruising through endless acres of sugar cane. We passed through Haliimaile, and noted the location of the restaurant, and drove along Main Street. in Makawao. Still having a couple of hours before our reservation time, we drove down to Wailuku for another souvenir shopping spree. After walking around the Ka'ahamanu shopping mall for a while, we realized that it was finally close to dinner time at the Haliimaile General Store. This restaurant is owned and run by Beverly Gannon and her husband. Beverly was voted the top chef in Hawaii for 2009. My nephew, Alex, 21 years of age, works there as a busboy which leaves him plenty of time to surf and play music. He's supposed to be attending Maui Community College, but, instead, is working two jobs, playing in two rock bands and, as previously mentioned, surfing. I gently remonstrated with him that evening to get his butt back in school. We'll see how that goes over.
At the appointed hour we headed back up the mountain about 15 miles to enjoy a gourmet meal. We dined on salad, calamari and braised short ribs. After deciding not to partake of desert we headed back home. We had enjoyed a long but terrific day.
