Maui Day 12

Saturday July 12th we decided to head to the road to Hana to play and hike on that side of Maui. We made a quick stop at the swap meet in the morning for some fruit and gifts we still needed to get. Then we ate at Mc Donald's as we headed out.

It took us 2 hours on this beautiful, but windy road to get to our destination Haleakala State Park. We wanted to hike up to the falls. The Pipiwai trail is one of the most best hikes on the island. It's 2 miles each way and you gain 650 feet. We didn't think the girls would make it, but they did an amazing job.(it took about 3 hrs.) We passed by several mango grooves, thick grassy areas, several falls, including Makahiku Falls which falls 200 feet. We crossed a couple of bridges and walked through an incredible thick bamboo forest. And then we saw the 400 foot waterfall slicing down the back of a three way sheer wall of lava. Waimoku Falls is where the trail ends and what a way to end it.

When we got back to the parking lot there was still enough sun light to play in Ohe'o Gulch aka Seven Sacred Pools. We needed to cool off, relax and swim in one of the most amazing settings ever. We left the park at dusk and had a long way home. We got back to what seemed like civilization around 9pm but the girls and grandma were all sleeping. So we ordered some pizza as we got closer to our condo and picked it up on the way. I think we finally turned out the lights around midnight. What a fun, but tiring day we all had.