Warning: Hazardous Cliff

Warning: Hazardous Cliff! The ground may break off without warning and you could be seriously injured or killed. Stay back from the edge. Well, we can't say they didn't warn us.

Friday was our only other early wake up call.  We set alarms, woke up and went to breakfast at Kalaheo Cafe & Coffee Company to fuel up for our hike day at Waimea Canyon.  I had delicious french toast and coffee.  I was ready to go.

We hiked the Canyon Trail to Waipoo Falls which is 3.4 miles round trip.  I was disappointed that it was so short because I love hiking in the wilderness and like to challenge myself but it turns out that it was plenty long enough.  The terrain was rugged.  The boulders in the ground were quick to roll under our feet and we all lost our footing more than once.  Some parts were so rough that the trail seemed to run out and we had to figure out where to pick it up again.  Other areas were so thick with bushes and undergrowth that we had to push our way through without really being able to see where we were going.  It was awesome!!

The views are spectacular.  They call Waimea Canyon the Grand Canyon of Hawaii and while I've never been to the Grand Canyon I do believe this has to be the next best thing.  Standing on the cliff  looking across the massive canyon to the other side is like being on the edge of the world.  By the time we made it to this look out point we were pretty worn out, so it was a perfect resting point to take a break and take it all in.

I don't ever plan to, but sometimes my thoughts go morbid.  I think, what would happen if my foot slipped and I fell?  What if someone came out here with a devious plan to push someone else over the cliff? There is no railing, no safety net and nobody watching.  The answer is obvious.  There is absolutely no coming back from that, but it's just so crazy to think that something like that could happen.  Did happen.  There was a cross memorial marker at the very edge of the cliff.  I had a general idea, but I wondered what happened. Who was this Devin Conrad Goetsch?  These days, we don't have to not know anything so later, when I came across the picture I googled the name and found his obituary from almost exactly a year ago.  So sad.  It seems he was a hiker just like us who lost his footing and went over the edge.  Seeing something like that makes you feel very small, but also very lucky to be alive because it only takes a second for something horrible like that to happen.

After we rested up and had a few snacks we kept going and made it to the waterfall.  It looks like the end of the road.  The pot at then end of the rainbow.  We probably would have stopped there, but another group told us that we could keep going to another waterfall.  MJ's mom decided to sit that part out and waited for us there, and it was a good thing, because it was one of the toughest parts of the hike.  The trail thinned out considerably and there were several areas that required climbing.

I don't know how MJ managed to get over there without falling, because those rocks were slick.  Like, slip and slide slippery slick.  He made it look easy enough, but right after this picture was taken I fell in.  Water.  That's why I bought the sandals.  I tried to be more cautious and find solid footing but it was like rubbing my shoe against soap suds.  then I had to figure out how to get out without taking another dunk. From this waterfall you can see the backside of the big waterfall Waipoo Falls.  The ones we actually got to see were small, but they are still so lovely to look at.

The way in was a lot of downhill so you know what that means on the way back.  Lot's of inclines.  Lot's of huffing and puffing and lots of pushing ourselves to keep on going.  All together it took us around three hours to finish the whole thing and our legs were so dusty we probably could have written our initials in them. 

On the drive back to the hotel we saw these red dirt hills on the side of the road so we pulled over to check it out and found waterfalls in the middle of a red dirt desert.

I love, love, loved hiking Waimea Canyon and would have loved to go back and tackle more trails, but there are only so many days in a vacation.  Plus, I'm not sure if my knees could take it.  I wasn't sore the next day so maybe I am in shape, but my body was definitely worn out.  When we hiked in Maui I was covered in mosquito bites, but this time we actually used the off spray instead of just bring it with us (what a concept) and I only had a few.

Luau's are fun, but they are expensive so I kind of feel like if you go once you probably don't need to do another.  We'd all been to one except his mother so MJ surprised us with tickets for Luau Kalamaku at Kilohana Plantation.  This one had a wide variety of really interesting local vendors.  We all bought something.  I don't remember our last Luau having an open bar, or being all you can eat buffet so that alone made this one better.  They guys got beaded necklaces.  The flower lei's were beautiful, but it was so hot and humid I had to take it off.  I went back to the bar a few times, but was too stuffed after round one of food to do more than pick at my second attempt.

Dinner was really good, we enjoyed the show and that night like every other night before it I fell into bed in a cloud of exhausted glee and slept like a rock.

Hanalei, Bay