Day 2 we began heading east to Hana. This highway is a winding road, mostly at 15 mph, that took us through tropical rain forest
and along sweeping cliffside ocean views. This road winds down the north side of Haleakala, and the whole way, streams have ripped their way down the mountain, falling eventually to the ocean. The results of this are many waterfalls sprinkled all over this side of the island, many of which you can view and even swim in.
One of the waterfalls we visited (here on left), was a boulder scramble up the river for about 800 feet to this towering cliff-surrounded pool - it was amazing! I hopped in and swam around a bit - one of the best things about this particular gem was that we were the ONLY ones here. Most of the time there are plenty of other people viewing the same thing - not in this case.
There were many waterfalls along the way of all sizes and waterflows. The Lower Puohokamoa Falls was a particularly spectacular sight, dropping 200 feet.
Then we ventured down a narrow road to Nahiku - this proved to be an extremely lush and gloriously colorful drive down to the ocean view.
Another stop getting closer to Hana was at the Blue Pool. This waterfall drops about 100 feet down a cliff right at the edge of the ocean and forms a beautiful pool there. There are boulders around the pool keeping the ocean from crashing into the pool, making it a calm and incredible swimming spot. To get there, we picked our way across boulders right at the edge of the ocean. Once there, we hopped in - waterfall crashing on one side, the ocean crashing on the other!
We also visited the Black Sand Beach in the Wai'anapanapa State Park - this was a beach made from volcanic lava crashing into the ocean, and it was very cool! The "sand" is really these tiny black rocks, and some larger ones. There were also a series of caves to explore - Bill did that - it was too cold for me!
Finally we landed in Hana and checked into our cabin. We rented a cabin that was literally feet from the ocean cliffs there in Hana - a million dollar view, but basically a camp-like cabin, although it did have a kitchen, laundry and so forth. Our bed (a little lumpy) was right in front of a bank of windows (a little rusty) that offered a spectacular view and a sunrise the following morning.
left - volcanic black sand beach below - blue pool
and along sweeping cliffside ocean views. This road winds down the north side of Haleakala, and the whole way, streams have ripped their way down the mountain, falling eventually to the ocean. The results of this are many waterfalls sprinkled all over this side of the island, many of which you can view and even swim in.One of the waterfalls we visited (here on left), was a boulder scramble up the river for about 800 feet to this towering cliff-surrounded pool - it was amazing! I hopped in and swam around a bit - one of the best things about this particular gem was that we were the ONLY ones here. Most of the time there are plenty of other people viewing the same thing - not in this case.There were many waterfalls along the way of all sizes and waterflows. The Lower Puohokamoa Falls was a particularly spectacular sight, dropping 200 feet.
Then we ventured down a narrow road to Nahiku - this proved to be an extremely lush and gloriously colorful drive down to the ocean view.
Another stop getting closer to Hana was at the Blue Pool. This waterfall drops about 100 feet down a cliff right at the edge of the ocean and forms a beautiful pool there. There are boulders around the pool keeping the ocean from crashing into the pool, making it a calm and incredible swimming spot. To get there, we picked our way across boulders right at the edge of the ocean. Once there, we hopped in - waterfall crashing on one side, the ocean crashing on the other!
We also visited the Black Sand Beach in the Wai'anapanapa State Park - this was a beach made from volcanic lava crashing into the ocean, and it was very cool! The "sand" is really these tiny black rocks, and some larger ones. There were also a series of caves to explore - Bill did that - it was too cold for me!
Finally we landed in Hana and checked into our cabin. We rented a cabin that was literally feet from the ocean cliffs there in Hana - a million dollar view, but basically a camp-like cabin, although it did have a kitchen, laundry and so forth. Our bed (a little lumpy) was right in front of a bank of windows (a little rusty) that offered a spectacular view and a sunrise the following morning.
left - volcanic black sand beach below - blue pool
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