KAYAK TRIP January 25,2006

We went on a guided kayak tour along the Pali coast of Maui to celebrate Gwen's birthday. On this trip we started at Papalaula Beach park, which is across the road from the Pali Trail head on the Lahaina side. (See previous entry) and kayaked south along the pali coast, visiting a couple of coves to snorkel, including the Coral Gardens cove. We saw lots of humpack whales, some of them came well within 100 yards of our group, we had to hold position and yield to the whales. Some even went swimming right were we had been snorkeling not two minutes before. The most pleasant susprise of this trip was that we were able to clearly hear the whales singing while we were snorkeling. Also, our tour guide dove down on the reef and pulled a small octopus out of the water, which he placed in our arms.

View of West Maui Mountains.

Another pair of Kayakers on our tour, watching the whales.

Another view of the West Maui Mountains.

The tour started at 7:00 AM and ended about 11:30 AM. Our Kayak tour company was South Pacific Kayaks, they also provided lunch. We were satisfied with their service.

Aloha.

Camping at Kipahulu February 18-19, 2006

This weekend, we decided to get out of town and go around East Maui and camp in the Kipahulu area of the Haleakala National Park. We took the "long route", that is we drove counter-clockwise around East Maui, through upcountry Maui and the Kaupo road towards Kipahulu. After camping, we returned via the Hana highway.

We visited a black sand beach near Kaupo. At Kipahulu we took a swim at the Pools of Oheo ("Seven Sacred Pools"). There was a lot of whale activity off the coast by the campgruond and we enjoyed a great, quiet evening of grilling, eating, resting, and of course, beer drinking!

Here are some selected photos of the trip. (Please be aware that some of the photos show the wrong date 1/1/2003)

Aloha!

Black Sand Beach Near Kaupo

Sign posted at the black sand beach by private property owners.

Enjoying a coffee break at the black sand beach.

What else? Goofing off.

Kipahulu Campgroung.

"Living La Vida Laidback"

Pools of Oheo.

View of the coastline from the campground.

PALI TRAIL HIKE February 11, 2006

In February, we joined the Mauna Ala hiking club. Our first hike with the club was the Pali Trail Hike, which crosses the West Maui mountains from Ma'alaea to the Lahaina side of the mountain. The trail is about 5 miles long. We started at the trailhead on the Ma'alaea side (About 300' above sea level) and it gains about 1300 ft in elevation half-way through the trail before it drops back to near sea level on the Lahaina side. The hike is moderate to strenuous with excellent views of the central valley, Ma'alaea, Haleakala, Kaho'olawe, Lanai and the coast along west Maui.

Here are some selected photos.

At the Ma'alaea Trailhead

Climbing on the Ma'alaea Side

Near the top of the trail, overlooking Ma'alaea Bay. Kihei and Haleakala are across the bay.

Near the summit. Pali Trail

View of Lanai from the Pali Trail

Coral Gardens Cove, as seen from the Pali Trail. Part of the old Lahaina Highway are visible on this photo. This road, built about 100 years ago, was abandoned when the new highway was built in 1951. The new highway is below the old highway, and it is not visible on this photo.

This is the same cove where we went snorkeling two weeks later on our Kayak trip. From this point on the trail, not only we could see humpback whales, we could also hear them exhale when they surfaced. This happens because the mountains shields the noise from the Pali Highway below.

Aloha.