Iao Valley

Amanda, with her friend Cynthia, picked me up in Big Red (her monster truck) this morning to drive to the other side to hike Iao Valley.

The last time I was in Iao Valley was with Alex's family when they were visiting last winter.  I remember the rain was falling in thin sheets of mist, and I felt cold the entire time I was there.

Today's visit was very different.  The girls and I arrived at Iao Valley sometime before noon, and the air was thick with humidity.

Iao Valley (pronounced "EE-ow") is a lush, heavily forested valley cut by a stream that runs down from the mountains.  What most people come to see is the Iao Needle.  It is a lava remnant rising 1,200 feet from the valley floor or 2,250 feet from sea level.

It is hard to ascertain scale in these photographs, but the mountains rocket up from the valley in sheer cliff faces.  You feel very small standing in the valley.

Ti Plants

My hiking companions: Amanda and Cynthia

Palapalai ferns

Wild raspberry plants dotted the lower trail of our hike.

Our hike up was STEEP!  My photos don't do justice to the true incline.

Uluhe Fern Shoots

Almost to the top!  I felt like I was standing at the bottom of a very deep bowl with the sides of the mountains reaching upwards into the clouds.

Amanda (and I) stopping for a photo break.

Made it!!  The top of the trail is a small plateau where you can look out over the valley.

Cynthia found a pair of abandoned Aviator sunglasses on her hike up.  She chose to try them on over her existing pair.

A little hiking graffiti.

I need a plant and flower guide to Maui stat!  I want to know what that purple flower is.

More curling Uluhe fern shoots.  The shoots are about the size of drinking straws.

Uluhe fern unfurled.

Iao Valley looks over Wailuku.

More hiking graffiti.

There were strawberry guavas at the end of our hike.

We proceeded very cautiously on the way back down.  Did I mention this hike was steep?  We slowly edged our way down the path by clinging onto trees--as demonstrated by Cynthia.

Coffee beans!

We decided to pick them...

...and store them.  Amanda, Cynthia and I want to see if we can roast these coffee beans.

An upturned tree on our hike back down.

Another unidentified flower.

Wild raspberry!

Wild raspberry flower

Cynthia braved a small cloud of bumble bees and brought back two handfuls of these berries to try.  They were orangey red!  They are not as sweet as the ones sold in the grocery store, but I liked that they were so watery--not juicy, watery.  Important distinction to make. 

About halfway down.

I'm not standing on a rock in this photograph.  I'm just a few paces behind on the same trail as Amanda and Cynthia.  As I said, this hike was steep!

Iao Needle

After hiking, we went to Tiffany's for lunch.  I had never been, but it was clearly a favorite place for both Amanda and Cynthia.  It didn't take long for them to decide that this was the place to wolf down some food.

Tiffany's looks like a dive from the outside, but it's much nicer inside--although very dark!  Probably so there is no glare bouncing off the many TV screens inside.

The menu is extensive with lots of local eats.

I got the Bi Bim Bap bowl with lots of satisfying veggies over rice, and I sampled plenty of Amanda's Mochiko Chicken.  If I make it to Tiffany's again, I'm definitely getting that next time!

After fueling up at Tiffany's we had an epic shopping afternoon at Ross and Walmart.  I'm excited for the new set of sheets I got for my bed. They are lavender with stripes of satin.  I've washed the sheets and put them on my bed.  I can't wait to test them out...hopefully very, very soon.  I'm exhausted!  I'm not sure if it's the hike that did me in or all that shopping...