By staying in Hana for a couple nights, we had plenty of time to explore beyond the town.  We had a full day today going to O’heo Gulch, stopping at several waterfalls along the road, visiting the grave of Charles Lindbergh, and hiking to a red sand beach.  It was indeed action packed.

maui131We departed on our adventure to stop at a roadside waterfall. It is called Wailua Falls and was right by the road.  The sun was out and there was a rainbow through the waterfall which was very neat.  After taking the required photos, we departed for O’heo Gulch. 

O’heo is located in a national park so we pulled out our annual parks pass and ID only to determine that L’ had pulled a Zenia- she forgot her purse in the hotel room.  After driving back to get it, we were on our way again.

O’heo Gulch has been known as the "seven sacred pools".  This is wrong on two out of three accounts.  There are more than seven pools and they were never sacred to the native Hawaiians.  They are in fact pools and still very neat.  There are cascading water flows and pools where some of the earth eroded away.  The water is chilly, but refreshing in the hot weather.  We explore the lower pools and since we are here in the morning, it is not crowded. 

After a break for lunch, we start off on about a two mile hike (each way) to get to a couple of bigger waterfalls.  Except for some rain when we finally reach the furthest waterfall, it remains sunny and warm.  The waterfall is well worth the hike in.  We make it out in less time than going in and take in some views along the trail.

We now hunt down the grave of Charles Lindbergh who, battling cancer, lived out his final days on Maui.  The grave is out behind a small church.

maui235Heading back towards the hotel, we search for the Red Sand Beach.  Our gps comes through and it’s just down the street from the hotel.  The short hike down is a little steep, but nothing too bad.  The beach is very pretty, even in the rain (and much better than the green sand beach we saw on our last trip to Hawaii).

By now we are sufficiently stinky and hungry that we return to the hotel to clean up and find food.  Tomorrow we return to Kihei.

View all the trip photos here:

http://sanjoseabrams.com/photos/MauiDecember2010/