Makawao Forest Reserve Hike

Ashley and I had been craving some outdoor action, so when Ashley's friend, Alex, suggested hiking the Makawao Forest Reserve we jumped at the chance despite the icky weather.

The wind and rain picked up as we left Lahaina and drove Upcountry.  When we got to Makawao, it was pouring.  Once we crept into the parking lot at the Reserve, we decided to be adventurous since we all had packed a dry change of clothes for later.

We hopped out of the car, donned our rain gear and headed into the forest.

{single file}

{Alex and Ashley--yup, that's right.  Alex is hiking "Hobbit-style"--sans shoes}

The rain faded in and out.  If it wasn't a complete downpour, it was a constant mist.  

The loop that we hiked was 5.2 miles after hiking about a half mile from the parking lot.  At the very beginning of our hike, we ran into one of my old friends, Owen.  He was on his mountain bike, spattered with mud from head to toe.  Owen was on his way back to his truck after cruising the muddy and wet trails with his friends.

As we hiked through the trees, we came across lots of other trails and meandering paths.  The Makawao Forest Reserve is probably more well known for mountain biking rather than hiking, but pedestrians and equestrians are allowed on this multi-use trail system.  

Hiking through Makawao reminded me of the trails back in Portland.  I'm sure the rainy weather had a lot to do with that.  Just teasing, Portlanders!  The trees and trails reminded me of the running paths in Tryon, and it made me miss Portland a bit.

{following the red markers}

{crazy close-up of this mysterious foam that we spotted on several trees along our hike.  What is this?}

The rain was coming down so hard, that rainwater sloughed down the tree trunks like waterfalls.  Watching the rain course down the smooth trunks like the Eucalyptus shown above was especially beautiful.  We should have thought to have taken a video instead of just a still picture.  If you look closely you can see the tree is absolutely glistening.

{Muddy shoes, wet feet, soaked pants, rainy camera lens}

{Look up!}

{Hiking through ferns}

One of the informational signs along the hiking trail said that most of the trees in the park were planted by Makawao prisoners.  As we hiked, it was obvious to us all that the trees were planted since they were uniformly spaced all around us.

Our last mile of the hike really sunk into us as we all got cold and hungry and fatigued.  I have never been so happy to see a sign pointing the way to a parking lot before.  We were practically jogging back to the car over the last half mile.

By the time we got back to the car, it was pouring again.  I'm sure we looked like a well-practiced clown act as we tried to strip out of our rain gear and change into our dry clothes in and around the car before we wiped down T-Bone and threw him in the car.

Once we got back inside, we blasted the heat and careened down the hill back towards town to feast on well-deserved Mexican food at Polli's.  I sucked down hot tea, chips and salsa and a Pork Chile Verde Burrito Supreme.  No meal has ever tasted better.

And nothing has felt better than my blasting hot shower that I took the second I finished hanging up all my soaked rain gear to dry.

And now, I'm going to curl up with my book.  Good night.