Maui Day 2

Our day 2 itinerary was a bit shorter than the previous day’s but it wasn’t short on excitement. We tackled our first hike of the trip. I think it goes without saying but I’m gonna say it any way, but the mountains of Maui are much different than the mountains back home. While we have our share of elevation change, we rarely have a constant up. And most always a good mountain hike is well shaded. Not so when the mountain is a dormant volcano.

We parked the trusty Jeep and headed toward the trail head. One advantage of staying with friends? We didn’t have the token rental car that screams “rob me – I have valuables”. We frequently left our windows down when starting out on hikes – that way we didn’t have to worry about getting into a sweltering car after a tough climb.

The Ridges hike was hard yo. The first part was straight up. Sure it was paved, but that didn’t really help. Jay ran off and left me and waited where the trail started into the woods.

There were lots of beautiful sights along the way, but unfortunately when we got to the top the clouds had rolled in and the view was nonexistent.

Once again we lunched in Wailuku, but this time we found a local Italian restaurant to enjoy. I had the lasagna plate – with salad, at this point I was desperately craving one – and Jay enjoyed a Philly cheese steak. Not exactly traditional Hawaiian cuisine, but very tasty.

The weather had held out, so we headed to the Swinging bridges trail. We’d be cautioned about flash flooding problems that came with a rain storm, but since it hadn’t started raining yet we thought we were in the clear.

Pulling up to the pay gate, we noticed rescue vehicles at the trail head. “Flash flooding?” Jay asked. Turns out a woman had hurt her leg on the trail and was being airlifted out. I had seen a helicopter at a baseball field at a nearby school, but I assumed they were running a drill.

Guess not.

When we came to the first bridge, we ran into some of the rescue personnel. They advised us to not proceed because of the flash flood threat. Chad had told us that as long as it wasn’t raining we were fine. We smile politely and continued on our way.

We made it safely across the 2 swinging bridges as well as the creek crossings that required us to take off our shoes and socks.

 I had learned my lesson the day before and had my bikini conveniently under my clothing.

We enjoyed ourselves at the final pool until it started to sprinkle. Definitely our signal to head back. At this point the trail was deserted and I started to get worried. Then I heard the first thunder crack. I started to get annoyed that Jay insisted we push on.

The real rain didn’t start until after we made it across the last creek crossing. I don’t know if God was holding back the storm or what but I was very much relieved to be on the right side of the trail. Once we made it back to the car Jay checked in with Chad. They discussed potentially going out to eat but I was tired and drenched so I just wanted to go home.

A showered and a wonderful homemade hot meal rounded out our 2nd day in paradise.