Em worked Saturday, so Maddie and I were on our own for the day. With lots of rain and high winds in the forecast, we decided to forego the standard Saturday hike and drove to the North shore instead to view the surf, predicted to be 22-26 feet. We had a nice time, but the surf forecast had certainly overestimated the size of the waves.
The following morning, Em decided to clean so Maddie and I headed to Kokee despite questionable weather. We were greeted in Kokee by high clouds and wet ground, but no rain. We kept our fingers crossed and turned onto the muddy Mohihi road for the 4 wheel drive approach to the Alakai Swamp Trail. As a side note, Maddie used to hate four-wheeling, but now seems to enjoy the scenery and the bumps as long as she's warned with a "bouncy-bouncy". The road was slick and muddy, but we hit the trailhead easily and quickly.
Maddie had never been on the Swamp Trail all the way to the Kilohana overlook and at 7 miles round trip, this was the shortest way. Hiking was occasionally slippery on the boardwalk and muddy ground, but generally very pleasant with blue skies over the swamp. I began to think we might see something at the overlook.
I've been to Kilohana overlook 5 times now and spent about 2.5 hours there waiting for the view of Hanalei, the bay and Wainiha Valley...and I've gotten about a 5 minute glimpse of Hanalei Bay from this overlook...and nothing more...and I've begun to wonder whether or not this view actually exists...and on arrival to the overlook, I wonder again, because all I see is clouds. Maddie is being delightful so I spread the blanket on the viewing platform and start feeding her lunch.
More than we usually see
No more that 10 minutes into lunch, the clouds become wispier and soon I see sunshine. Next thing you know, Maddie and I are looking down to unobstructed views of Hanalei, the bay and Wainiha Valley notched with thin, ribbon-like waterfalls from yesterday's rain.
We spent about an hour intermittently eating, playing and viewing this awe-inspiring sight.
I don't think Maddie was as impressed as I was, but then again she got the view on her first trip out. She hadn't invested 24 hours of hiking and 2.5 hours of waiting in cold mist to see this. I'm glad she got to see it on her first try since she is probably one of the youngest people to make the trek back to Kilohana Overlook. We got a lot of "aren't you a lucky girl to be all the way back here" on the way to and at the overlook. Maddie behaved perfectly on the way back to the car and on the way home. She's become more and more well-behaved in the carrier on hikes, but I fear this will be short-lived once she starts walking. Time will tell.
No comments:
Post a Comment