ijm5012
Mu-43 Legend
Back in July, my wife and I headed to Hawaii for vacation. In doing our research about the islands, many people said "only do one island, there's so much to see!". While they're not wrong, my wife and I said to hell with that, and decided to split our time between two islands: Maui and Kauai. We spent the equivalent of 5 days on Maui, and the equivalent of 6 days on Kauai. While I considered combining the entire trip in to one thread, the islands are so vastly different from one another that I decided to split the trip up, giving each island its own write up. This write up focuses on the first part of our trip, Maui.
The trip out was pretty simple. We had a short first leg from Pittsburgh to Chicago, which made for a long (~8 hour) second leg of the trip. Fortunately, we made the conscious decision and splurged for the "Economy Plus" seats for that long flight leg, and it was money well spent. I'm 6'4", and had plenty of leg room. If you can afford it, I highly recommend doing something similar to this, as it makes the long leg of the flight much more tolerable. Unfortunately, it doesn't make the flight go by any quicker, as my wife can attest to.
After many hours, the pilot came over the intercom with the words everybody was eagerly anticipating: "Ladies and gentlemen, please fasten your seat belts, as we will be beginning our descent to Maui shortly". Finally! However, when making our approach to the island, I wasn't certain if we were actually in Hawaii, or if we had accidentally taken a detour to Iceland. We connected through Iceland on our way to Switzerland last year, and the red/orange/yellow tones in the landscape immediately made me think back to our brief time spent in Reykjavik. Fortunately, the weather that greeted us as we walked off the plane confirmed that we were indeed in Hawaii.
The rest of our first day was spent getting situated at our rental in the small surfing town of Paia on the island's north shore, and then getting a good night of sleep. The sleep was much needed, as we had an early 3:00AM start the next day to make the 90 minute drive to Haleakala for sunrise. For anybody who's done any research, it's everything you've read: dark, cold, and windy. But if the weather cooperates, you'll witness one of the most incredible sights you'll ever see, as the sun rises from beneath the clouds to illuminate the crater valley in golden light. I was shooting stills on one camera, while shooting images for a time-lapse video with the other. Once the sun was up, I made sure to grab a quick shot of my wife and I before we headed back to our car to continue our tour of the island.
After sunrise, we made our way down to the south-east coast. When driving down to this area of the island any green vegetation quickly disappears, turning in to the dry and barren landscape reminiscent of what was seen when flying in to the island. While not what one typically thinks of when someone says "Hawaii", I actually found this region of the island to be quite beautiful. The colors and tones in this area are very rich and vibrant, especially when shooting with the vibrant blue ocean as a back drop. I should add that it's windy. VERY windy when you're down along the coast. The shot of my wife's hair was literally how it looked the entire time due to the roaring wind on the coast.
Our plan was the continue driving on this road, which is the back road to Hana. However, the back road to Hana is only open on the weekends, and this was Friday. So we decided to adapt, and drove across the island to the north-west coast. I really wanted to see the Olivine Tide Pools. Fortunately when we got there, it was low-tide so there wasn't much risk to venture down to pools and take a swim for a bit.
After going for a swim, we continued to drive around the west coast of the island before heading back to our condo for the evening. The next day was another early start, as we drove the road to Hana during sunrise. While the road is definitely a scenic drive, our true goal was to get down to the town of Hana and hike the Pipiwai trail. It's a pretty easy trail that exposes you to a giant Banyan tree, a Bamboo forest, and finally the Waimoku falls. In you do make the drive down to Hana, I HIGHLY recommend driving a bit further to do this hike. It's well worth it.
After the hike, we began to make our way back to our condo. However, along the way we decided to stop at the Waianapanapa beach, more commonly referred to as "Black Sand beach". Despite its name, it is not actually sand that lines the beach, but rather black rock pebbles. Regardless of whether it is sand or not, it's an absolutely gorgeous place to relax. However, the beach tends to be extremely crowded. To beat the crowds, I recommend hiking up around the left side of the beach, which provides you with an overlook of the beach, bay, and vibrant vegetation.
The next day, we decided to go back to Haleakala for sunrise again. Yet another 3:00 AM alarm, followed by a 90 minute drive in the pitch dark. Unfortunately, the weather was not as kind to us this time around. For the ~90 minutes we were up on the volcano, we were stuck inside of a very wet, very windy cloud for ~80 minutes. However the 10 minutes where we emerged from the cloud, we were treated to yet another spectacular, albeit different, view. No views of the valley below this time, but rather a blanket of clouds. I managed to grab a few images during this time, before another cloud consumed us. By the time we decided to leave, my wife and I were soaked, as was my camera gear.
In an effort to explore more parts of the island and do some more hiking, we ended up at the Waihee Ridge trail. From what I had read online, people said that this was one of the best hikes on Maui, not only for the views, but also for the exercise. Having done it, I must agree with them on both counts. The views are absolutely stunning, but this trail will get your heart pumping and your legs burning. The views on the way up were magnificent. Unfortunately, by the time we reached the summit at the end of the trail, some high level clouds had rolled in and obscured our view of the valley. At the end of the day, that didn't matter much because of the views we had on the way up were stunning, and the experience was fantastic.
By this point, our time on the island was nearly over. When trying to figure out what to do on our last morning before heading to the airport to catch our flight to Kauai, I decided that I really wanted to go back to the Olivine tide pools and shoot the sunrise there. Another day, another way-too-early alarm for vacation followed by an hour long car drive. When we got there, it was still pitch black out. Fortunately I had brought my LED headlamp with me, so we used that the navigate our way along the lava rock, doing our best not to fall on the rocks below. We finally found the perfect spot where I was before when we visited it originally (although it's much harder to find without the aid of sunlight). I got everything set up, and managed to capture the image below. In my opinion, it was a perfect way to end our time on the island of Maui. Spending time together, without anybody else around, taking in the beautiful views and power of ocean.
From here, we headed back to town to get some breakfast, before heading to the airport to catch our flight to Kauai. We enjoyed our time on the island immensely. There's so much to see and do that I'm sure we could've spent our entire vacation on Maui, however we saw and got to experience so much during our time there. Knowing that there's more to see, I imagine that we'll be back at some point in the future, and we'll be better prepared when that time comes.
Ultimately, I'm glad that we decided to split our trip up and spend time on another island. Maui was beautiful, but Kauai was simply out of this world. If you liked these images, just wait to see the thread detailing our time spent on Kauai
The trip out was pretty simple. We had a short first leg from Pittsburgh to Chicago, which made for a long (~8 hour) second leg of the trip. Fortunately, we made the conscious decision and splurged for the "Economy Plus" seats for that long flight leg, and it was money well spent. I'm 6'4", and had plenty of leg room. If you can afford it, I highly recommend doing something similar to this, as it makes the long leg of the flight much more tolerable. Unfortunately, it doesn't make the flight go by any quicker, as my wife can attest to.
Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
After many hours, the pilot came over the intercom with the words everybody was eagerly anticipating: "Ladies and gentlemen, please fasten your seat belts, as we will be beginning our descent to Maui shortly". Finally! However, when making our approach to the island, I wasn't certain if we were actually in Hawaii, or if we had accidentally taken a detour to Iceland. We connected through Iceland on our way to Switzerland last year, and the red/orange/yellow tones in the landscape immediately made me think back to our brief time spent in Reykjavik. Fortunately, the weather that greeted us as we walked off the plane confirmed that we were indeed in Hawaii.
Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
The rest of our first day was spent getting situated at our rental in the small surfing town of Paia on the island's north shore, and then getting a good night of sleep. The sleep was much needed, as we had an early 3:00AM start the next day to make the 90 minute drive to Haleakala for sunrise. For anybody who's done any research, it's everything you've read: dark, cold, and windy. But if the weather cooperates, you'll witness one of the most incredible sights you'll ever see, as the sun rises from beneath the clouds to illuminate the crater valley in golden light. I was shooting stills on one camera, while shooting images for a time-lapse video with the other. Once the sun was up, I made sure to grab a quick shot of my wife and I before we headed back to our car to continue our tour of the island.
Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
After sunrise, we made our way down to the south-east coast. When driving down to this area of the island any green vegetation quickly disappears, turning in to the dry and barren landscape reminiscent of what was seen when flying in to the island. While not what one typically thinks of when someone says "Hawaii", I actually found this region of the island to be quite beautiful. The colors and tones in this area are very rich and vibrant, especially when shooting with the vibrant blue ocean as a back drop. I should add that it's windy. VERY windy when you're down along the coast. The shot of my wife's hair was literally how it looked the entire time due to the roaring wind on the coast.
Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
Our plan was the continue driving on this road, which is the back road to Hana. However, the back road to Hana is only open on the weekends, and this was Friday. So we decided to adapt, and drove across the island to the north-west coast. I really wanted to see the Olivine Tide Pools. Fortunately when we got there, it was low-tide so there wasn't much risk to venture down to pools and take a swim for a bit.
Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
After going for a swim, we continued to drive around the west coast of the island before heading back to our condo for the evening. The next day was another early start, as we drove the road to Hana during sunrise. While the road is definitely a scenic drive, our true goal was to get down to the town of Hana and hike the Pipiwai trail. It's a pretty easy trail that exposes you to a giant Banyan tree, a Bamboo forest, and finally the Waimoku falls. In you do make the drive down to Hana, I HIGHLY recommend driving a bit further to do this hike. It's well worth it.
Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
After the hike, we began to make our way back to our condo. However, along the way we decided to stop at the Waianapanapa beach, more commonly referred to as "Black Sand beach". Despite its name, it is not actually sand that lines the beach, but rather black rock pebbles. Regardless of whether it is sand or not, it's an absolutely gorgeous place to relax. However, the beach tends to be extremely crowded. To beat the crowds, I recommend hiking up around the left side of the beach, which provides you with an overlook of the beach, bay, and vibrant vegetation.
Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
The next day, we decided to go back to Haleakala for sunrise again. Yet another 3:00 AM alarm, followed by a 90 minute drive in the pitch dark. Unfortunately, the weather was not as kind to us this time around. For the ~90 minutes we were up on the volcano, we were stuck inside of a very wet, very windy cloud for ~80 minutes. However the 10 minutes where we emerged from the cloud, we were treated to yet another spectacular, albeit different, view. No views of the valley below this time, but rather a blanket of clouds. I managed to grab a few images during this time, before another cloud consumed us. By the time we decided to leave, my wife and I were soaked, as was my camera gear.
Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
In an effort to explore more parts of the island and do some more hiking, we ended up at the Waihee Ridge trail. From what I had read online, people said that this was one of the best hikes on Maui, not only for the views, but also for the exercise. Having done it, I must agree with them on both counts. The views are absolutely stunning, but this trail will get your heart pumping and your legs burning. The views on the way up were magnificent. Unfortunately, by the time we reached the summit at the end of the trail, some high level clouds had rolled in and obscured our view of the valley. At the end of the day, that didn't matter much because of the views we had on the way up were stunning, and the experience was fantastic.
Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
By this point, our time on the island was nearly over. When trying to figure out what to do on our last morning before heading to the airport to catch our flight to Kauai, I decided that I really wanted to go back to the Olivine tide pools and shoot the sunrise there. Another day, another way-too-early alarm for vacation followed by an hour long car drive. When we got there, it was still pitch black out. Fortunately I had brought my LED headlamp with me, so we used that the navigate our way along the lava rock, doing our best not to fall on the rocks below. We finally found the perfect spot where I was before when we visited it originally (although it's much harder to find without the aid of sunlight). I got everything set up, and managed to capture the image below. In my opinion, it was a perfect way to end our time on the island of Maui. Spending time together, without anybody else around, taking in the beautiful views and power of ocean.
Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
From here, we headed back to town to get some breakfast, before heading to the airport to catch our flight to Kauai. We enjoyed our time on the island immensely. There's so much to see and do that I'm sure we could've spent our entire vacation on Maui, however we saw and got to experience so much during our time there. Knowing that there's more to see, I imagine that we'll be back at some point in the future, and we'll be better prepared when that time comes.
Ultimately, I'm glad that we decided to split our trip up and spend time on another island. Maui was beautiful, but Kauai was simply out of this world. If you liked these images, just wait to see the thread detailing our time spent on Kauai
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