Waimea Canyon FTW (Spoiler Alert: Waimea Canyon Wins)

Day 11 (Monday): We get a later start on Waimea Canyon because we had to wait for 9:00 to take the rental bikes back. Vacation hassles are the worst kind, as you so want every expensive moment to count.

Traffic around Kapa'a and Lihu'e is a problem. They try to help by borrowing a lane into Lihu'e during the morning commute and taking it back going the other way in the evening, but I'm not sure that it does anything more than employ orange cone movers and confuse the tourists. Nevertheless, we make it through the rough spots in the late morning with little delay and head toward the east side of the island.

Waimea Canyon is very similar to the Grand Canyon in depth (if not length or size) and general eroded-away look, but with a much larger palette of colors in use.

One of the many views of Waimea Canyon.

With our little blue island guide book to, um, guide us, we have chosen the Canyon Trail, which takes us out to Waipo'o Falls and back.

On the way down on our hike. Yes, we have to hike DOWN from here.

We have not consulted with anyone who had hiked it recently, who might have told us that it is a four mile round trip hike, mostly straight up or straight down, which ends at the top of the falls of a VERY small stream which is VERY anticlimactic.

The "waterfall"

There were great viewpoints, though, and the satisfaction of a hike well and bravely done.

The view from the top of the "waterfall" at the completion of our hike.

It was probably more strenuous than my doctor would have liked me to take on, but hey, it was more strenuous than I would have liked to take on. I just didn't know it until I was at the end, dreading the climb back up.

I know I am barely, not quite, four weeks from major abdominal surgery, which was award winning in its amount of tumor removal, but it is still frustrating to realize so graphically how much stamina I have lost, either through the surgery or through the preceding (and very slowly improving) anemia. This hike would not have been such an ordeal before. I am impatient to regain what I've lost.

After making it back to the car (thank you Jesus), we complete the drive, first to the Koke'e Lodge for lunch (thank you Jesus for conveniently located mediocre food), then to the end of the road for some jaw-dropping views of the green Na Pali coast valleys.

From the Pu'u o Kila Lookout

Now it is happy hour on the lanai. Aloha.


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